Ole Miss FCA Ladies Luncheon: Keith Carter Speaks on Intersection of Faith and Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. — Fellowship of Christian Athletes is an organization whose mission and vision touch millions of lives…one heart at a time. This year’s FCA Ladies Luncheon, held today, carried on that mission and vision. Attendees heard Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter give his testimony about his Christian faith and discuss what FCA brings to college athletes at Ole Miss.
Carter told the audience of approximately 275 people that he grew up in Perry, Arkansas, a town of around 900 people. He and his sister were raised by Godly parents who took them to church regularly. Carter recalled his upbringing, saying, “One of those things I look back on, and it seems like every day there’s something that I kind of fall back on, is that upbringing, and the way they raised me, and the way they instilled values, and faith-based values, and those type of things.”
Ginnie Ingram, an FCA Board member, asked Carter to tell the audience about his coming to know Jesus Christ. Carter explained, “One Wednesday night, I was eight years old, and my next-door neighbor, an older gentleman named Ben Cole, was my RA (Royal Ambassadors) teacher. We had our RA class, and he talked about salvation… He said some things that triggered my heart a little bit. I went home, and I remember talking to my parents, and they said, ‘Let’s get back in the car. We’ve got to go back to church.’ So, we went back to church and found our preacher. I was led to the Lord that night at eight years old. I don’t have this fantastic transformational story of I was out on the streets and did this or did that, but I attribute that to a great upbringing and the fact that I don’t really ever remember a time when I wasn’t in church. Obviously, from 8 years old on, I haven’t been a perfect saint. But that’s when I met the Lord, and my life changed.”
The role of husband and father to three children is important, but adding the job of Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics increases the pressure exponentially.
Carter was asked how his faith helps him handle the pressures of his career and life.
“I think one of the things that we all – I know I struggle with – in our life is the journey. I think we’re always looking for that next destination instead of just enjoying where we are. One of the things that’s allowed me to do that, through all the years of going through sports and playing in different places, going away from home to come to Ole Miss, and going overseas and having Jill with me to kind of go through all of those things and new experiences, has been my faith. There’s a lot of diversity out there. There are a lot of things out there that are different wherever you go. But the one thing that I feel has kept us grounded has been our faith. There’s ups and downs. One of my favorite sayings is, ‘It’s never as good as it seems; It’s never as bad as it seems.’ That’s pretty true with life, right? I mean, sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes it’s good. But for the most part, we’re in this place where we’re just enjoying our journey. I think that faith, for me and for our family, has been a huge part of that.”
Keith Carter
Carter was asked to explain his view of FCA’s importance to luncheon attendees and why they should consider supporting it. “I see it every day,” Carter began.
“I’m a firm believer that you need to have a church. You need to be involved in a church body. You need to be going somewhere and be part of a community in a church setting. But as we know, in athletics, our schedules are crazy. Sometimes, you get home from a game at 3 a.m. on Sunday, and it’s just hard – you’ve got treatment and different things. There’s just a lot to that. So, having the outlet of FCA is great from that perspective. It’s also great that you’re in there with the same people as you that are going through the same things every day. We have about 415 student-athletes. They all go through the same trials and tribulations – study hall, class, practice, and coaches being coaches. Coaches can be mean at times. I know we have a few here. Sorry, just kidding. So, there is a like-minded spirit there, too, when they come to FCA.”
Carter recounted how he became a part of FCA at Ole Miss and how the organization evolved and grew during his time on campus.
“I don’t know if this is the exact fact,” Carter said, “but I think it is. In the fall of 1995, a guy named Wes Urey was here. Wes was one of the first people to start FCA at Ole Miss. I remember attending a meeting, and there were five of us there…I don’t know if FCA had been here before, but it was starting over at that point. By the time I left, there were a couple hundred showing up. It was just an amazing time. We all used to look forward to going to FCA over in Kinard. It was something that was an outlet that we had. Again, you’re 18 through 22. Of course, you’re trying to go to church. You’re trying to do those things. But having that outlet for FCA and just that release of I’m going to hang out with people who generally believe in the same things that I do. We’re going to have a great time. We’re going to sing. We’re going to fellowship. We’re going to get into scripture. We’re going to pray. I think it’s just a huge part of our experience, and that’s why I support it so much now.”
Ingram told the story of how she and her husband, Glynn, heard Carter speak at a Huddle meeting for FCA. When Ingram heard Carter talk to the student-athletes that night, she knew he was the right choice to be the guest speaker at this year’s luncheon.
Ingram asked Carter to tell the audience what he told the student-athletes that night.
Carter recalled his comments.
“The four things, if I remember correctly, I told them were: We really only have two ways to communicate with God, and that’s through prayer and through reading his Scripture. You need to stay prayed up, stay praying, stay communicating with Him, stay in your Scripture. Obviously, anything you need to know is in here in one way or another. Then, the last two things are that you need to find somebody who will mentor you and be a spiritual leader for you. In turn, you need to find somebody that you can pour into as well. I think if you can remember those four things, you can pretty much stay on the straight and narrow, knowing that there are going to be things that happen, but stay prayed up, stay in the Word, find somebody to pour into you, and pour into somebody who needs somebody to be poured into. Those were the words that I gave him that night.”
Keith Carter
Ingram closed the question-and-answer segment of the luncheon by asking Keith Carter one of the most critical questions of the day.“How can we pray for you?” she said.
Carter replied sincerely.
“I have a pretty visible job. If you work in athletics at a high level, that will just be part of it. But the problems I have are the same as the problems that everybody has. The things that I deal with may be a little more visible, and you can see them when they’re in the newspaper and those type of things. But we all deal with things every day that are hard, family issues, things at work, and things that are just tough. The main thing is just to pray that I can continue to find the right pathway to do the job that I need to do for Ole Miss. I mean, we love Ole Miss. Ole Miss is in our blood. I will never leave Ole Miss for another AD job. I may leave being an AD at some point, but we love this place. I wouldn’t want this job anywhere else. We’re going to put everything we have into it. I say ‘we’ because Jill is right there with me, and she’s doing just as much as I am. The main thing is to pray for me to find a way to do the job, do it at a very high level, support our coaches, and support our student-athletes.”
Keith Carter
In his closing remarks, Carter gave his thoughts on how he wants to leave an impact for Christ — not just in the world of athletics but on the world around him and those he comes in contact with by saying, “If you’re a preacher, you have a ministry, right? If you’re a missionary, you have a ministry. But in many ways, what we do in athletics is a ministry. You know, we want to win a national championship,” Carter said. “That’s why we come to work every day because we want to win, and we want to win at a high level. We’re judged by the scoreboard. But at the end of the day, if we look back on the day of our funeral and the only thing we did was win a national championship, then we fell short. I just ask for your prayers that we can find the right way at Ole Miss to continue to do great things, be competitive, and win. But also make sure that we understand there’s a bigger mission field out there.”
This year’s luncheon was quite a success, and many thanks were sent out to the volunteers and staff who made the day an enjoyable and rewarding time. To learn more about the organization, visit Ole Miss FCA. There, you can find opportunities to volunteer and financially support the ministry of FCA.
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(Feature image of Ginnie Ingram and Keith Carter courtesy Donna Sprabery, The Rebel Walk)
Donna Sprabery
Donna Sprabery is a former teacher, graduation coach, and academic coach for boys basketball. She graduated from the University of West Alabama with a major in business education and from Arkansas State University with a MA in Educational Leadership. A native of Meridian, MS, Donna enjoys traveling, gardening, writing, volunteer work, and cheering on the Rebels.
