PRESIDENT – Dave Kistler, Evangelist

Dave-KistlerDave Kistler was born into a pastor’s home and received Christ as Savior at a young age.  Called to preach at the age of 16, Dave abandoned his pursuit of a legal career and began preparation for the ministry.  Following the completion of his undergraduate degree and two seminary degrees, Dave entered full-time ministry as a youth director in Tampa, Florida.  During those early ministry years, Dave responded to the call into evangelistic ministry ultimately relocating to North Carolina where he and his family now reside.

Evangelist Kistler’s ministry consists of local church revivals, city-wide crusades, as well as youth and men’s conferences.  In early 2000, Dave formed HOPE Ministries International, a multi-faceted ministry that emphasizes city-wide crusades as a way to impact major metropolitan areas with the gospel.  In 2002, HOPE Ministries conducted the first of three crusades on the National Mall in Washington, DC.  Additionally, HOPE has twice been invited into the Pentagon for evangelistic crusades.

As a result of his ministries in Washington, DC, Dave began “HOPE To The Hill” in 2012, an ongoing ministry to elected and appointed officials on Capital Hill.  At least four times a year, he leads teams of pastors and interested parties to DC for evangelistic and discipleship ministry to legislators.  Dave’s travels have taken him multiple times from coast to coast in the United States, as well as to England, France, Belgium, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Mexico, the West Indies, and Africa.

In 2013, Dave was elected President of the North Carolina Pastors Network (NCPN), a team of Biblically committed pastors who desire to bring God’s truth to bear on the moral and cultural issues of our day.  Dave is married to Betsy Silos Kistler and is the father of three children, all of whom are professional musicians.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – Kenneth L. Carrico, Ph.D.

Ken-CarricoKenneth L. Carrico was born and reared in Northeast Tennessee, eventually receiving his doctorate in Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Michigan State University.  After marrying his wife of 34 years in Des Plaines, IL, they returned to his childhood home of Kingsport, and raised 5 children.  Professionally, he practiced for 30+ years as a psychologist in both outpatient and inpatient settings.  After realizing the overwhelming costs of such demands upon him and his family, he withdrew from practice in 2003 for over two years, working in retail.  During this hiatus, he testifies that he endeavored to fully surrender his life to God, and with a new heart and mind, began to see the world from a wholly new and troubling perspective.  Briefly put, he saw the Church largely failing to confront the realities of sinfulness in our communities and nation, most prominently, abortion and homosexuality, voicing biblical truths, but devoid of faithful actions.

While initial and frustrating efforts were made to communicate his Christian worldview in Tennessee, often viewed as radical, he realized that God had prepared him to return to the practice of psychology, and through a remarkable series of opened doors, found work first in Winston-Salem (May of 2006), eventually securing employment in Morganton, NC (April of 2007).  His call to communicate this perspective to pastors continued, but the trials persisted: no one seemed to listen and take what he said seriously.  Finally, with the assistance of the Phil Oakley, Director of Missions of the Catawba River Baptist Association, a Marriage Amendment Rally was sponsored in the Spring of 2012, God using it in a mighty way.  The men of God who were touched by this effort eventually became the core of the North Carolina Pastors Network.

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