Carol Richardson
What do you love most about First Baptist Memphis?
I have always loved, since I was a little girl growing up in this church, its loving, nurturing people.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
Travel: say the word, “go” and I am on the train, plane or automobile; collecting nativities and Elvis memorabilia.
What is your favorite novel?
Several have impacted my perspective at different stages in life: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Good Earth by Pearl Buck; The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
What is your favorite movie?
“Sound of Music”, “An Affair to Remember”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou”, “Trains, Planes and Automobiles”
What are your favorite websites?
EthicsDaily.com, Wikapedia, Google
The Fine Print
Carol serves as associate pastor of the First Baptist Church, Memphis, becoming the first female to be ordained into the gospel ministry by her church. She was also among the first women in her church to be ordained as a deacon. She was enrolled in the cradle roll depart of First Baptist when she was only weeks old.
Carol received her B.A. degree from Baylor University, a M.S. degree from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Divinity degree from Beeson Divinity School, where she helped found the Women’s Theological Fellowship. In 2001 she was selected by the faculty as the Distinguished Student in recognition of outstanding achievement in scholarship, Christian spirituality and ministry involvement. She received her Doctor of Ministry degree from Memphis Theological Seminary, where her special focus was healing prayer and its renewal in the twenty-first century church. She continues to be involved in the holistic healing and health ministry of her church and is presently involved in inter-faith dialogue in her community in an effort to promote greater understanding among the faith traditions.
Carol has served and has been an active member of the Memphis Ministers Association, where she served in various places of leadership. She has served for many years on the board of Baptist Center of Ethics, a non-profit which provides proactive, positive and practical ethic resources to churches, as well as on the Arkwings Foundation Board, an organization for the holistic development of urban youth. She is a member of Leadership Memphis, class of 88 and has served as President of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union, serving mission and ministry causes across Tennessee. Carol has recently served on the boards of the national Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation as well as the Samaritan Counseling Center, serving the poor in the Memphis area.
Carol is the wife of Greer Richardson, a retired orthopedic surgeon. Together they teach a class of young adults. They have three young adult children, all in the healthcare profession, and are grandparents to three, Edens, Lockard and Annie Caroline. A fourth grandchild will be added in August of 2011.
Carol is intensely interested in spiritual formation, visits a monastery as often as she is able, is an avid reader of Christian mystics and suffers with her husband through every baseball season of the Chicago Cubs.
