Pastor Ron Carpenter, After Revealing Wife's Adultery and 'Sickness,' Says Bishop TD Jakes to Help Reconcile Marriage
Redemption World Outreach Center Leader Gives Update After Revealing Marital Woes in October
"She is a vibrant, very outgoing, outspoken individual who loves God, loves her family and is just always the life of the party and always a delight to be around," Redemption World Outreach Center Executive Director Travis Hayes said of Hope Carpenter in an interview with The Christian Post last October.
Pastor Carpenter shared with supporters at the time of Hayes' interview with CP that his wife had asked him during a meeting with both the Carpenter and Hilley families to let congregants know that she was "sorry for any pain she may have caused."
The last message from Mrs. Carpenter on her personal Twitter account, tweeted in early October, reads: "I'm asking people to pray for me and my precious family. The darkest time in my life. I need God to come to my rescue! And your love/support."
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This past Sunday, supporters of the Carpenters and their ministry took to Facebook to offer prayers for the restoration of their marriage.
"Thank you Pastor Ron for being real! You have broken the mold for the better for those of us in leadership positions! We are praying for you and your family!" wrote Pastors Herb and Susan Collins on Carpenter's Facebook page.
"As I write this tears continue to flow from my eyes," wrote Steve Shepard. "This pastor has touched my heart over the last few months more than it's ever been touched in my lifetime... I know his hurt, I have lived it... My prayer for him is to go forward and restore what the devil thought he took....Love you pastor and family."
Teresa Briner Mcqueary, calling Pastor Carpenter one of her favorite preachers, shared, "I wish I could come to your church. Thank you for keeping it real and telling like it is we need to hear it. I am praying for you and Hope. May God restore your marriage. God bless you and your family."
Pastor Carpenter had expressed awareness that his marital woes might turn some away from his ministry, and said he would have no issues with anyone who chose to leave Redemption World Outreach Center.
Travis Hayes, the South Carolina church's executive director, told CP last year that Carpenter's disclosure had the opposite effect, although some observers had questioned the wisdom of the pastor publicly disclosing his and his wife's personal affairs.
According to their ministry website, the Carpenters founded Redemption World Outreach Center in 1991 with just three members. The megachurch, now home to about 13,000, is affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, of which Mr. Carpenter's late father served as general superintendent until July 2012.
Listen to Pastor Carpenter's Sunday, Jan. 5, 2013, message in full here online.
