OUR FIRST PASTOR: REVEREND ROBERT LESLIE CARTER

(1959 - 1963)

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Reverend R. L. Carter literally grew up in Metropolitan. As a child, he was very active in Sunday School. When he was five years old he told his Sunday School teachers he wanted to become a minister. After completing high school, he studied at Gordon College, Andover Newton Theological School, and Trinity Hall College and Seminary. He was ordained on October 16, 1955, under the auspices of the Boston West Association according to the standards of the American Baptist Convention. Prior to his pastoral appointment to Metropolitan, he had served as our Assistant Pastor beginning in 1949, and as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill Massachusetts, from 1956 until 1959.

As one who had worked closely with Reverend Minor, Reverend Carter continued many of the existing church ministries. Like his mentor, he was very active politically. His activities resulted in many politicians visiting our church. He worked tirelessly to encourage people to exercise their right to vote. Reverend Carter and his family lived in their own home so the parsonage was then used for community and church meetings.

Reverend Carter also continued Reverend Minor's legacy of working closely with youth, always stressing the importance of education, theology, and recreation. A Boys Scout Troop was started, and every summer Reverend Carter's aunt would host a summer camp for Metropolitan's children in historic Oak Bluff, Massachusetts. His concern for children was equally evident by his assistance in helping a Catholic priest from Chicago, Father George Clements, develop the One Church / One Child Adoption Program in Massachusetts.

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In 1963, Reverend Carter was called to pastor Douglass Memorial African Methodist  Episcopal Zion Church in New Bedford. He remained at this church until 1971. In 1974, he became the pastor of Congdon Street Baptist Church in Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as pastor for twenty-three years until his retirement.  He also served as the president of the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island.