MOULTRIE — Carlos McCloud grew up on Sixth Avenue Northwest in Moultrie, and at age 7 joined the Third Street Church of God in Christ. Who knew that 40 years later, he would assume leadership of this more than 100-year-old church, the first organized Pentecostal church of its kind in Moultrie.

He sang in the church’s choir, played keyboard for its choirs, and even became a junior deacon. 

Life went on but he continued to keep his church in his heart, he said, often visiting as he attended Mercer University, where he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1990.

As pastors came and went, he kept up with the church’s progress and often lent a hand to its causes.  

After completing his master’s degree at Albany State, he pursued theological studies at the United Theological Seminary, a seminary founded in 1871 by the United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree. This seminary is accredited by the highest accreditation agency, the Association of Theological Schools. He served various churches in Hampton, Virginia, and the Georgia cities of Swainsboro, Bainbridge, Ochlocknee, Brunswick, and Waycross. 

McCloud resides in Macon and serves on the Middle Georgia Regional Commission and is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 

“I was educated in this community and still remember the Moultrie Library as my second home. I’ve been around the world, but it feels so good to be back home,” he said.

He will serve as the interim minister at the Holy Temple Church of God in Christ, formerly the Third Street Church of God in Christ on Third Street N.W.