Alumni Council Spotlight: Rev. Dr. Charles Kyker
Rev. Dr. Charles Kyker’s own father was the one who brought him to the Lord. His father, Dennis, was a farmer and worked for the newspaper. Dennis would constantly share his personal salvation testimony with Charles and encourage him that the most important thing in life was to answer the question: “Who is Jesus Christ to you?” At the age of fourteen, Rev. Dr. Kyker attended a student ministry night at Tabernacle United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. A female Duke Divinity student offered a simple gospel message, and Charles felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to respond publicly to accept Christ’s invitation of salvation. During this same year, Charles began participating in United Methodist Youth Fellowship as a student leader, and he was invited to speak on youth Sunday. Charles felt like he “was ready to storm hell with a water pistol” at that point. Though he told all he knew about the gospel in that one sermon, someone saw God’s calling on his life and pointed it out to him. Rev. Dr. Kyker did not have interest in ordained ministry but wanted to be an attorney, and he applied to Emory University for Law School.
At the end of his junior year of high school, he was elected as the president of the Student Council for his senior year. When his grandmother figure passed away unexpectedly, Charles did not study for his algebra test and decided to cheat on it. This was a very low point for him, and he decided to resign from student council. When he apologized to the whole student body, Rev. Dr. Kyker felt extreme shame and embarrassment, but the students applauded him for five minutes and would not sit down. Rev. Dr. Kyker’s whole perspective on life changed when he was seventeen. He decided to get serious about life, death, and the gospel, and he began having dreams in which he was battling evil. He felt the Lord stirring his heart and would often be woken from sleep in the darkness of night with a burning need. He felt the Lord saying to him, “If you will share the gospel and speak my truth, the truth will defeat darkness.” He felt that God was calling him to ministry as more laborers for the harvest were needed. Instead of going to law school, Charles attended Greensboro College; he majored in Religion and Philosophy and minored in Psychology.
Rev. Dr. Kyker attended Candler School of Theology and received his Master of Divinity in 1988. During his time at Candler, he served United Methodist congregations in Buford, Georgia, and Fayetteville, Georgia. After graduating, he served as an associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina for two years and at Centenary United Methodist Church in Clemmons, North Carolina, for seven years. While serving at Centenary, he studied at Duke Divinity School and received a Master of Theology in Wesley Studies in 1993. Charles moved to Wilmore and attended Asbury as a Doctor of Ministry Beeson Scholar from 1997-1998. He describes his experience at Asbury as life-changing, both personally as well as in his marriage. Though he felt like a fruitful leader before attending Asbury, he learned how to really train, invest, and equip as a leader of leaders. In regard to discipleship, he said, “I knew addition before, and at Asbury I learned multiplication.” Rev. Dr. Kyker affirms that Asbury has a very healthy ethos that is certainly committed to holiness of heart, mind, and soul. Following his time in Wilmore, Charles began pastoring Christ Church in Hickory, North Carolina. He has been there for twenty years and has seen exponential growth. In 1998, they were meeting at a store front with approximately 150 people in worship. After twenty years, Christ Church now was five physical campuses and an online campus. They have an average attendance in worship of 2,250 people weekly and 4,750 people monthly as well as 450 people weekly on the online campus. There are over 275 lay pastors, 1200 adults in life groups, 225 adults in Celebrate recovery, 200 students, and 250 children who are actively involved in the life of Christ Church. Since 2009, Christ Church has planted twenty-eight churches globally in villages without churches: twenty-six in Ghana, one in Liberia, and one in Bulgaria.
Charles has been married to his wife, Julie, for over thirty years. They have four children and nine grandchildren. Charles and Julie enjoy partnering in ministry together, spending time with their family, singing and leading in worship, and traveling.
Charles, I have enjoyed your mini Sermon on your face book page, I also enjoyed knowing your father, and enjoying Sunday School with him. I hope you will continue to do these sermons on face book, and lots of people will listen to them. May God continue to bless you and what you do.