Pastor Keith Carringer

Pastor Keith grew up in a pastor's home, hearing the gospel at a young age. At age seven he trusted Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour, and preached his first sermon at age nine. At age eleven, he surrendered to be a preacher of the Gospel, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Throughout his teen years, he served the Lord in the various ministries of the church. He attended Landmark Baptist College in Haines City, FL under the leadership of Dr. Mickey Carter, where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Pastoral Theology. One month after graduation, he married his highschool sweetheart, Bethany Hodges. Bethany also grew up in a preacher's home. She trusted the Lord at age ten, and like her husband, spent her teen years actively serving in the ministries of the church. She also attended Landmark Baptist College and graduated with a Bachelors in Elementary Education. While evangelizing as a student at Landmark, Pastor Keith felt helpless every time that he encountered Floridians who did not speak English. It was during this time he got a burden for the Spanish speaking population of Florida. He decided to spend one year learning Spanish so the language would no longer be a barrier. In August 2018, the Carringers enrolled in New Life Baptist Language School in Sabanagrande, Honduras under the leadership of Samuel and Julie Hodges (Bethany's aunt and uncle). There they were able to attend Spanish classes in the afternoons, and be active in mission work every morning and weekend. After graduating from language school, they moved to Pastor Keith's hometown and spent two years on staff with his father, Rex Carringer as a Christian school teacher and Spanish pastor. It was not long before the Lord began to lead the Carringers to take a pastorate. In September of 2021 they moved to Lake Placid, FL to replant Highlands Baptist Church. God worked mightily, and in less than three years the church went from less than ten people to over one hundred in attendance. In October of 2024, God called the Carringers to Hilliard to be the Pastor of Buford Grove Baptist Church. God has worked in our church under the leadership of Pastor Keith and Mrs. Bethany, and Lord willing will continue to do so for many years to come! His life verse is II Timothy 2:4, "no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." They have three children, Ashton, Avonlea, and Wesley.