“We are a come-as-you-are church…that is on the move,” said A. Kenneth “Casey” Carlton, who just started as the new pastor at Powells Point Baptist Church in February.

He’s already initiated some improvements to the church and grounds and is excited about where things are heading for his “church without walls,” reaching out into the community, sharing the message of Christ.

“Sharing the Gospel, Loving the People,” a sort of motto and mantra for the church, is also printed on t-shirts.

Getting to the pulpit was not a straight shot for this preacher, even though his grandfather was and his father still is a Southern Baptist minister, the Rev. A. Ken Carlton, one of the pastors at Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia.

“I was a Jack of all trades,” Rev. Carlton said of the years he spent as manager in the retail and restaurant business. He drove trucks for while, served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

But it wasn’t until he felt his heart pounding, found direction in his heart and mind, and answered the call, then he was on his path.

And now at 50, he says, “I’ve never been happier in my life,” grounded in the Southern Baptist beliefs in no variation from what the Bible says.

Rev. Carlton graduated with his Master’s Degree in 2016 from Liberty University Seminary in Lynchburg, Va., and was pastoring at a church south of Wilmington when the opportunity at Powells Point Baptist came up. He said he felt a calling to be there, was where the Lord was leading him, and so he and his wife, Rikki, made the choice to move to the community.

The couple has grown children living out of the area, Danielle and Jake, and Blake who passed away six years ago.

Powells Point Baptist, located at the corner of US 158 and South Spot Road, offers Sunday School at 9:45 a.m., followed by worship at 11 a.m., with a nursery available. A youth service is also held Sunday evenings at 7 p.m., and starts with a meeting and meal at 6 p.m. There is also a service Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

Rev. Carlton said he wants to hear from people in the community, whether they are church members or not. He can be reached at (252) 455-6756.