THE BEGINNING OF A LIFE IN MINISTRY

While Rick played for Spirit Express, he was a member of Ridgeway Baptist Church in Memphis. Eventually, Rick became the team’s general manager as well as a member of the playing roster. In the summer of 1987, as he was raising money and support for the team, Ridgeway’s administration asked him to be the church’s student pastor for the summer while they searched for a permanent one.

Near the end of the summer, Rick walked into the senior pastor’s office and said he’d be leaving his student pastor position in three weeks. He wanted to know if the church had secured another student pastor.

“He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got him.’ I said, ‘Do you mind giving me his name?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m looking right at him,’” Rick said.

After considering the offer, Rick realized that he could spread the gospel at home just as well as he could across the country or the world.

“I realized that the mission field wasn’t necessarily in Louisville or in France. It was right out my back door,” he said. “That began my life in the ministry. It was not the normal way to get involved in church life or ministry, but it was God’s plan for me.”

Despite Rick’s lifelong faith — he was saved at the age of 7 and grew up in a Christian family — he had never considered being a minister until the offer came from Ridgeway.

“I never saw myself in that role of being a pastor, a shepherd, a leader, until God put me there,” he said.

Rick’s younger sister, Kelly Carswell, said Rick’s decision to become a pastor wasn’t a surprise to her or to the rest of her family.

“We have a real strong faith from my parents, my grandparents,” she said. “I think (outreach through basketball) helped him decide that he wanted to become a minister. He’s very good at speaking — he’s always been good at speaking — and I think that helped him a lot.”