Carol grew up a Southern Baptist in Florida. From an early age, she felt called to ministry. After college and working for a few years, Carol attended Austin Theological Seminary where she was both a leader in the student body and excelled academically. While at Austin, she was the student assistant to the seminary's President and a teaching assistant in Reformed Theology, Church History, Hebrew, and Greek. She also served as Director of Evangelism and New Member Development at University Presbyterian Church in Austin.
Following graduation, Carol and her husband went to Louisiana. Carol served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Abbeville, Louisiana. While in this small church, the membership increased by 90 percent. More recently she served as pastor of Barrington Presbyterian Church in Barrington, Rhode Island. During Carol's time in R.I., the congregation experienced a 30 percent increase in attendance, membership, and giving. The Sunday school doubled in size. She chaired the Presbytery's Committee on Church Development, served on the Presbytery Council, and was president of the community clergy association.
Carol is married to Brian Merritt, an ordained pastor in our denomination and the Pastor of The Palisades Community Church. Carol joined Western's full time pastoral staff in Fall 2005. As of February, 2011, she transitioned to being Western’s part-time associate pastor with major responsibilities in campus ministry and worship leadership.
Carol has written for the Presbyterian Outlook and is the author of the book Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation, which was published by The Alban Institute in September 2007. Her blog is at www.tribalchurch.org. Carol cohosts the God Complex Radio podcast with Landon Whitsitt, the Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She writes regularly for the Huffington Post, Christian Century blogs, Duke's Faith and Leadership blog, Day1.org, and The Hardest Question. In addition to writing for magazines and journals, Carol is the author of Reframing Hope (Alban, 2010) and Tribal Church (Alban, 2007). She is a sought-after conference speaker and she consults churches, denominations, and organizations on vital ministry in a new generation. Her blog is at www.tribalchurch.org.