Alumni Spotlight – Carness Vaughan
Rev. Carness Vaughan, M.Div., 1995
Rev. Vaughan grew up in a Christian home, and he attended Kanukuk Christian summer camp in Branson, Missouri when he was twelve years old. During camp, he made his first decision to faith. However, he really grew in his faith when he was in high school and college. He attended the Wesley Foundation at the University of Arkansas and felt called to ministry there. The director at the Wesley was Gregg Taylor; he played a large role in Carness’ call to ministry and encouraged him to visit Asbury.
Carness and his wife, Ashley, discerned that they wanted to be a part of the United Methodist denomination for their ministry, and they visited many United Methodist seminaries. Greg Taylor drove twelve hours to show Carness Asbury’s campus. When they were there, Carness sensed the Holy Spirit and heard from God that Asbury was where they were supposed to be. Carness earned his Master of Divinity in 1995 and later began the Beeson Program’s D.Min. residency. Though he did not finish this program, he learned and grew immensely from taking part in it, especially from Dr. Ellsworth Kalas.
Carness has served The United Methodist Church in the Arkansas Conference and pastored several churches there. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, this summer. He loves pastoring and walking with people through their spiritual journeys, and he loves preaching and teaching people to love like Jesus. Carness is also passionate about Wesleyan theology and the Methodist movement. He grew up in London, and he now leads John Wesley heritage tours in England.
Carness and his wife Ashley have two kids, Katherine and Jack, and they are soon to be empty-nesters. Both he and Ashley are big Arkansas Razorback fans, and they love to travel.
Leave a Reply