Guy Raymond Carlson (February 17, 1918 – January 29, 1999) was the 10th general superintendent of the
Assemblies of God USA (1986–1993).
Early life and ministry
Guy Raymond Carlson was born in
Crosby, North Dakota
Crosby is a city and the county seat of Divide County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,065 at the 2020 census.
History
Crosby was founded in 1904 at the end of a Great Northern Railway branch line that began in Berthold ...
, on February 17, 1918. He made a public profession of his faith at age 7, began preaching at 15 and received his ministerial credentials at 16. Following high school graduation, he went to
Western Pentecostal Bible College in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1938, Carlson married. Carlson began his pastoral ministry in 1940 in Thief River Falls, Minn., and was ordained in 1941. Three years later he was elected district presbyter and district Sunday school director. In 1948, he was elected superintendent of the Minnesota District. At 30, he was the youngest man to serve any district in this capacity. He led the district until 1961, when he became president of the church's
North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. He was assistant general superintendent from 1969-85.
General superintendent
Elected as general superintendent at the General Council in San Antonio in 1985, Carlson took office in 1986. He led the Assemblies of God during a period of significant growth before announcing his retirement in 1993. During Carlson's administration, U.S. Assemblies of God churches increased from 10,582 to 11,689. The church's foreign missions program assisted Assemblies of God fellowships around the world, and the worldwide constituency increased from 15 million to 25 million adherents. Under Carlson's leadership, a "Decade of Harvest" emphasis carried the Assemblies of God into the 1990s with the most ambitious evangelistic goals in the church's history. Carlson's term as general superintendent included sex-and-money scandals involving television evangelists
Jim Bakker and
Jimmy Swaggart
Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal televangelism, televangelist, southern gospel, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author.
His television ministry, which began in 1971, an ...
, whose preaching credentials were revoked.
Carlson also served on the board of administration of the
Pentecostal Fellowship of North America, the advisory committee of the
Pentecostal World Conference, the executive committee of the board of administration of the
National Association of Evangelicals and the executive committee for the
Religious Alliance Against Pornography.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, G. Raymond
Assemblies of God
American Assemblies of God pastors
1918 births
1999 deaths
People from Divide County, North Dakota