Kenneth Carder
Bishop Kenneth Carder
Retired
United States
Southeastern Jurisdiction
Bishop Kenneth Lee Carder is a retired bishop of The United Methodist Church, serving from 1992-2004.
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Kenneth Lee Carder was born in Washington County, Tennessee, one of five children of Allen and Edith Carder. He was graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University and Wesley Theological Seminary. In 1980 he received the Doctor of Ministry Degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Ken was ordained Deacon by Bishop Roy H. Short, and Bishop H. Ellis Finger, Jr., ordained him an Elder. Ken has served churches in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Bristol, Tennessee, Abingdon, Virginia and Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. While in Oak Ridge, he helped initiate an ongoing dialogue between scientists and theologians, including a dialogue between members of the Council of Bishops, on In Defense of Creation. He continues an interest in science/technology and theology/ethics. In addition to dialogue between science and theology, Ken has special commitment to Wesley studies, prison ministries, racial and economic justice, and ministry with those who live in poverty.
Ken was first elected to Jurisdictional Conference in 1980. He was elected to General Conference in 1984, 1988, and 1992. He was elected to the episcopacy in 1992 while serving as pastor of Church Street Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. He served the Nashville and Mississippi Areas. Upon retiring in 2004, Ken joined the full-time faculty of Duke Divinity School as Professor of the Practice of Pastoral Formation.
Linda Miller and Ken Carder were married June 30, 1961. Linda and Ken have two daughters. Sandra Carder Nash and her husband, Kyle, have two daughters, Katelyn and Emily, and a son Michael; and they live in Columbia, SC. Sheri Carder Hood and her husband, John, and their daughters, Megan and Julia Rose, also live in Columbia, S.C.
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