By Jerry Love, Director of Planned Giving Louisiana Baptist Foundation
It’s 1939.
A young lady steps off a bus in a small, predominantly French-speaking town in South Louisiana. She and the two friends with her spend the day going door to door, looking for people interested in starting a Bible study. Before the end of the day, and before the bus returns to pick up the three, they have found several adults and children interested in joining them to study the scriptures.
This was how young Kathryn Carpenter spent her life in those years. She and her friends were students at Baptist Bible Institute, now New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Over the next few years, the trio would return regularly to Napoleonville to worship, study God’s Word, and grow a congregation. Eventually the small Bible study became a new church. Carpenter was a charter member.
This story is but a piece of Carpenter’s lifetime of service and a building block in the Legacy of Faith she established through dedicated service to her Lord and Savior. Born in Baton Rouge and raised in the small town of Norwood, Carpenter accepted Christ as a young teenager.
By her own accounts, she felt as if God always had a specific task to do in His service.
“Having grown up in the church and being very active there, it was easy to feel that way,” she relayed in an interview several years ago. “So I just had always felt the Lord wanted me to do something.”
Carpenter accompanied her mother to WMU meetings for as long as she could remember. She also worked with Sunbeams as a teenager. It is no surprise that this laid the foundation for her life of service in mission work in many different capacities. Her formal education began at Louisiana College, continued at Women’s College (now William Carey University) in Hattiesburg, Miss., and finally Baptist Bible Institute in New Orleans. BBI was where she became directly involved in mission work after years of supporting and teaching about missions.
In her years at BBI, Carpenter was introduced to French mission work in South Louisiana by the Louisiana WMU president, Mrs. Mary Lou Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins took Kathryn to a worship service at a French mission located, as she put it, “down the bayou somewhere; I had no idea where it was.” Soon after, she began her involvement in those “mission trips” to Napoleonville. This wasn’t the only place she served. She and her two friends also joined other BBI students to minister in Donaldsonville, White Castle, Labadieville and Thibodeaux – often holding “street services” where their bus stopped.
As a teenager Kathryn felt a call toward rural mission work. God opened that door for her to expand the scope of her ministry after completing her studies at BBI. She first was selected to serve as a summer worker with rural evangelists, then as a Field Worker for the WMU.
From 1942 through 1954, Carpenter traveled the state with evangelism teams “doing WMU work,” as she put it. This included helping churches establish Women’s Missionary Societies, Young Women’s Auxiliary chapters (now GA’s and Acteens), teaching about mission work and encouraging personal involvement. In addition she assisted the evangelists with music for revivals, visiting, and personal evangelism.
One of the areas where Carpenter concentrated her efforts was in Franklin Parish.
The fruit of her labor there was evident, particularly in one young lady who later became a missionary.
In a video produced by the LBC to honor Kathryn, retired IMB missionary Blanche Wester remembered Carpenter: “In Franklin Parish the first church Miss Kathryn worked with was Crowville; I was 13 when that Girls Auxiliary started. As a GA, then called YWA, my call began with an interest in home missions, but God led [husband] Bill and me to Malawi for 33 years. I didn’t realize the impact that GA group would have on this life.”
There is no doubt that there were others called to missionary service at the encouragement of Carpenter. But her influence certainly also encouraged many others to be involved in their local church – giving to, praying for, learning about, and doing missions.
In January of 1955, Carpenter’s Legacy of Faith continued to grow and expand. After the retirement of Miss Hannah Reynolds, Carpenter was selected as the new Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Louisiana WMU. From this position she was to oversee mission education efforts and support of missions across the state and around the world for over 30 years.
Several of the individuals who worked closely with her through the years made these comments about her faithful dedication:
“When I was a young pastor trying to start mission churches all over Terrebonne Parish, she visited every mission and showed an interest in every detail. She encouraged the Allocations [Finance] Committee to extend support to us every year, and she always gave praise to us, never to her involvement,” said Leon Hyatt, retired from the Missions Department of the LBC
“Miss Kathryn was a great support in the beginning days of the Mission Builders Ministry [Baptist Builders], said Ed Jelks, retired leader of the group. “When I would share needs with Miss Kathryn, she would see that they were made available. Her heart and her life was missions and whatever she could do to promote them is where her energy was.”
Nelda Seal, retired WMU Director, had this to say: “Kathryn Carpenter was totally committed to missions around the world, living the Great Commission every day. Her delightful sense of humor lightened moments and often revealed thoughtful insights. She was a mentor, in the most meaningful way, and a devoted friend. I am who I am today because of her strong and loving influence.” Carpenter passed away in August 2008, when she was 91.
Carpenter’s Legacy of Faith did not end at her retirement, nor did it end at her death. She understood the importance of stewardship of the resources with which God had blessed her.
At Carpenter’s death, the instructions of her Last Will and Testament left the majority of the assets from her estate to an endowment held by the Louisiana Baptist Foundation. The Kathryn Carpenter Missions Endowment will provide ongoing support to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, and the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering to continue the mission work she loved so dearly. Her Legacy of Faith will continue to touch hearts and impact lives for Jesus Christ for generations to come.
In a video made only a few years before her death, Miss Carpenter had this to say about mission work:
“The purpose of mission organizations is defined as involving men, women, young people – everybody in the church – in praying for missions, learning about missions, giving to missions and being involved in witnessing and ministry .… Every one of us is responsible to pray and give and personally witness and minster.”
Kathryn Carpenter – a lifetime of service for Christ; a Legacy of Faith.
You can contribute to the Kathryn Carpenter Missions Endowment by contacting the Louisiana Baptist Foundation. To learn more about the work of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation, visit our website at www.LBFinfo.org. For more information about different types of charitable gifts visit www.MyLegacyOfFaith.org.
To view the WMU’s video in memory and honor of Miss Carpenter, please go to www.LBC.org/Women and select the link to the video “Miss Kathryn Carpenter: A Lifetime of Love and Le