Reverend Charles D. Carter, pastor of First Baptist Church of Oak Island began his ministry here on May 7, 2000.  Prior to relocating, Charlie served as the associate pastor at Creedmoor Road Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC.

In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, Charlie uses his talents in Storytelling and clowning to minister to a wide variety of groups.  Charlie has developed two characters which he uses to entertain and to point people to Christ.  "Charlie Beartalker" is his storytelling character's name and his clown’s name is, "Isaac".

Charlie graduated from VPI & SU in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry & Wildlife.  He later attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and in May of 1991 graduated with a Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis in Christian Education.  Charlie and his wife Joan have been happily married  for 33 years.  Joan is on staff at the NC Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell.  Charlie and Joan have two children; Jessica who is married to Joey Elias, and Matthew who is married to Anna Sweeting. They have 4 grandchildren; Caleb, Collen, Gwendolynn Marie and Hazel Grace.