Rev Luther Carroll

Rev. J. Luther Carroll went to be with the Lord on Friday, May 18, 2007, at the age of 85. He and his wife, Dorothy Pullin Carroll, served as missionaries to Guatemala and founded Christian Life Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where he pastored for thirty-seven years. He was raised in Cleveland, Tennessee, as part of the large Carroll clan on King Edward Ave. He and his brother, Ralph, and Jack Cunningham, all from Cleveland, served together in the Navy in World War Two, and were attached to the Seabees of the 3rd Marine Corp, where Luther was assistant to the chaplain in Guam. Following the war, he was a Biblical Studies major at Lee College, in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he was elected President of the Missions Club and Spanish Club. During college, he met Dorothy Pullin, born of missionary parents and raised in Quiche, Guatemala who shared his calling of missions. The young couple was married by Stewart Brinsfield at North Cleveland Church of God. Immediately following the wedding, they left for the mission field in Guatemala where Luther trained under his father-in-law, Thomas Pullin, who was superintendent of the work in Guatemala. He served on the ministerial staff of the Met at Broad and Poplar Street in Philadelphia, which saw some of the great revivals and gospel music of the 1950s. In 1960, he and his wife, Dorothy, and their two children, moved to Baltimore to start a new church. R.W. Shambach held a month-long revival at the old Harford Theatre and a new church was born. Since those humble beginnings, the church has moved three times, and now is a beautiful church, transformed from a synagogue, which supports missions around the world. During this time, he was ordained in the Assemblies of God. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy Pullin Carroll, sister Billie Jones Alford, and brothers, Paul and Jack Carroll. Survivors include his son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Jannuth Carroll, his daughter, Karen Carroll Mundy; five grandchildren, Lauren and Elizabeth Carroll, Matt, Ryan, and Andrew Mundy; one great-granddaughter, Kourtlenn Stone; brothers Ralph and Max Carroll and their wives, Ruth and Patsy; numerous nephews and nieces, and members of the Pullin family, including Alice Pullin and Martha and Richard Morehead. The family will receive friends at North Cleveland Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee, Monday, May 21, 6-9 p.m and Tuesday, May 22, 2007, from 2-4 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the church, Tuesday, 4 p.m., May 22, with Bishop Asbury Sellers of Charlotte North Carolina, and Rev. Oscar Castillo of Guatemala, Central America, officiating. Music will provided by Joe Paul Pass, Minister of Music at Christian Life Church, Baltimore Maryland. Pallbearers will be nephews and honorary pallbearers will be the men of Christian Life. Internment will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Cleveland, Tennessee, with the Rev. Hugh Bair, pastor of Christian Life, and Oscar Castillo, conducting a brief gravesite service, with military honors. Memorial contributions may be made to the James L. Carroll and Dorothy Pullin Carroll Missions Scholarship, c/o Central Gifts, Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37320.

Funeral arrangements by Grissom Funeral Home. Phone 476.8575 for more information. You may send online condolences to www.grissomfh.net