‘God’s perfect will’ for Jim and Jeannine Carter

When W.A. Criswell, longtime pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, officiated the wedding ceremony of Jim and Jeannine Carter, the couple prayed they “would always be in the perfect will of God.” 

The couple, who grew up together in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, graduated from W.H. Adamson High School and were active at the downtown Dallas church. Following their graduation from Hardin-Simmons University in 1961, Jim enlisted in the United States Army as part of the Medical Service Corps. After training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the couple relocated to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for Jim’s first assignment. 

Over the next 20 years, Jim was deployed on behalf of the Army in medical assignments that included tours of duty in Germany, Vietnam, Washington, D.C., and culminated with his final tour in Dallas, where he was senior Army advisor to what was then known as the 807th Medical Brigade, a large unit that covered five states at the time. By the time he retired from the Army in 1981, he had earned the rank of lieutenant colonel and received military recognition from both U.S. and foreign governments. 

While Jim earned a Master of Business Administration at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and graduated from the U.S. Army War College, Jeannine earned a master’s degree at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. When the couple resettled in their Dallas hometown, it allowed their sons to finish their education at First Baptist Academy, First Baptist Dallas’ school that was based on the downtown Dallas campus at the time. 

Jim began working as the controller of the InterFirst Services Corporation, which included 9,000 employees who handled the data and item processing and accounting for all the member banks of InterFirst Bank-Dallas, “which was the largest bank holding company in Texas at the time.” His career continued with roles at Bank One, Lyco Energy Corporation, and First Insurance Group as executive vice president. 

It is “an amazing thing to see how the Lord works in your life,” Jim says of God’s hand of leadership over the couple’s next steps. 

While he was working at First Insurance Group, the Carters moved into their “dream home” to be closer to their first granddaughter. The couple was still unpacking boxes when Jim received a call from Lifeway Christian Resources asking if he would consider joining their staff. Thinking “there was no way” Jeannine “would agree to move,” Jim shared the phone call with his wife and asked what they should do. She responded, “If the Lord is in it, then that’s what we ought to do.” 

Jim interviewed with Lifeway in Nashville, and upon his return to Dallas, Jeannine asked how the interview went. He told her, “Just keep unpacking. We aren’t going anywhere.” Two weeks later he returned to Tennessee for interviews with Jimmy Draper (’61, ’73), then president and chief executive officer of Lifeway, and other executives. Though Jim was “not interested in moving,” he knew he and his wife “needed to be in the perfect will of God.” 

Recognizing God’s plan included serving as vice president of the finance and business services division of Lifeway, in 1995 the Carters moved to Nashville where Jim assumed the leadership role. In 1997, Draper announced Lifeway would give all employees two weeks of paid vacation and pay half their way so they could participate in evangelistic mission trips, Jim explains. Draper tasked Jim with the role of mission trip coordinator in addition to his executive-level responsibilities. 

Working with the International Mission Board, Jim helped coordinate thousands of employees on hundreds of mission trips around the world until he retired from Lifeway in mid-2005. While Lifeway’s employees were impacted by the trips, the Carters were as well. Jim explains Jeannine, who is quiet and reserved, has been a part of more than 60 mission trips and has probably “led more people to Christ than most pastors.” Jeannine has served on mission teams in Cuba, Poland, and Russia among other places. After she was caught and interrogated for bringing Bibles into mainland China, she wrote a book about her experiences titled Have Heart, Will Travel. Jim notes his wife continues to lead a “lifestyle” of evangelism. 

Since moving back to Dallas following Jim’s retirement from Lifeway, the Carters remain active in mission trips around the world, many stemming from the relationships formed when he served with Lifeway. However, they are also faithful in investing in the next generation of kingdom servants. Jim explains he and his wife “very strongly believe in the Cooperative Program.”

In 2019, the Carters established The Kingsbury Endowed Scholarship at Southwestern Seminary. Named in memory of Jeannine’s parents, the scholarship assists a Master of Divinity, Advanced Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry, or Doctor of Philosophy student who is preparing for pastoral ministry. Jeannine explains her mother always thought the Lord would call the Carter’s son, David, into ministry. Instead, the Lord called Britton Carter, the Carter’s grandson, a 2021 Master of Divinity graduate of Southwestern. Britton currently serves as the senior pastor of Freedom Fellowship of Roanoke, Texas. 

“Our grandson benefited from the love gift provided by someone who gave in the past,” Jeannine says. The couple wanted to do the same for someone else. 

The Carters remain active at First Baptist Dallas, leading a missions-minded Sunday School department and leading the mission elements of the church’s Vacation Bible School. Their hearts remain focused on God’s will, though. 

“It’s all about His glory,” Jim tearfully concludes. 

Ashley Allen (‘03, ‘09) is managing editor of Southwestern News.