Meet Carson Holt
Who I Am Professionally:
My journey towards becoming a preaching minister began when I was sixteen years old. I grew up in a small church that gave my youth group several opportunities to participate in our worship services. One day I was asked if I wanted to preach on a Sunday morning, and I (nervously) said yes. As the saying goes, the rest was history. More opportunities to preach or teach surfaced throughout my time in high school. My early involvement in ministerial activities led me to realize that I had an interest in biblical studies and preaching.
Gradually, I began to feel a pull towards vocational ministry. I followed this prompting and enrolled at Lubbock Christian University to pursue a degree in Biblical Text and Preaching. During my time at LCU, I discovered that I took delight in studying not only the Bible but Christian history and theology as well. The whole of the Christian tradition became a source of intellectual stimulation and, more importantly, spiritual formation. In May 2023, I graduated from LCU with an excellent foundation for vocational ministry. Currently, I am adding to this foundation by pursuing an online masters degree in theology from Abilene Christian University.
I have also worked as a ministry intern in various capacities. For three summers I served as a youth intern at two different churches. In addition to youth internships, I also worked as a part-time college intern while going to LCU. The summer prior to my senior year at LCU, I did my senior practicum at a homeless ministry in Lubbock called Open Door. It was a profound and formative summer for me. The leadership at Open Door taught me that Christianity is a missional faith. The God revealed in Jesus Christ calls us to step outside our church walls to be God’s agents of hope and healing in a broken world. God’s mission for the world is to restore and reconcile all things, and God has graciously invited us to join God in what God is doing.
I come to Westside Church of Christ with a background consisting of various elements: a passion for preaching and teaching, a deep interest in theological studies, and an exposure to various types of ministry. It is my prayer that God uses my training and experiences for the common good of this wonderful church.
About Me Personally:
For the majority of my childhood and adolescence, I grew up in the area surrounding Abilene, Texas, what we called the “big city.” My hometown of Stamford, which is about forty miles north of Abilene, is a small town of about three thousand people. I’m thankful for having grown up in Stamford, as I had the opportunity to participate in multiple sports, UIL, and the FFA.
In the summer of 2020, I met my wife Ayse in Canyon, Texas, where we worked together as youth interns for the summer. In June 2022, we got married in Amarillo, Texas and went on to graduate from LCU together in May 2023. The most recent milestone in our life together is our move to El Paso in April 2024 to begin my service as the preaching minister here at Westside. In July of 2024, Ayse also began dental school here in El Paso.
As a married couple, Ayse and I like to do several things together. We watch movies and TV shows. We are recreational runners, which means we aren’t elite, yet we weirdly enjoy putting our lungs and legs through pain. In general, Ayse and I love to compete against each other, usually in very unimportant things like Spikeball and other backyard games. We have two dogs named Scruggs and Goose that we definitely spoil. Lastly, Ayse and I are foodies. We are always down to try new restaurants, especially the places that whip up tasty and unique dishes.
Personally, I’m an avid reader of theology and Christian spirituality. I take delight in training, playing with, and caring for our dogs. I also keep up with sports, especially college football and the NFL. While Ayse would jokingly call me a coffee snob, I consider myself a fan of craft coffee. This doesn’t mean I won’t drink a cup of Folgers; I definitely will. But it’s not uncommon to find me buying beans from a local shop that carefully selects and roasts their own beans, nor is it unlikely to find me grinding beans and making fresh coffee early in the morning.