G. Raymond Carlson: Assemblies of God Pastor, Educator, General Superintendent

This Week in AG History — September 11, 1960

By Ruthie Edgerly Oberg
Originally published on AG-News, 12 September 2024

Guy Raymond Carlson (1918-1999) led the Assemblies of God through some of its greatest growth and some of its greatest controversy as general superintendent from 1985-1993. His service to the church grew out of his life of integrity, commitment to evangelism, and a pastoral heart that rarely forgot a name or a face.

Born to Norwegian Lutheran parents, Carlson’s parents took him to a Pentecostal meeting at the age of 7 to hear evangelist Blanche Brittain in Crosby, North Dakota. Both father and son walked down the aisle of the storefront mission, beginning their public commitment both to Jesus and to the Pentecostal message.

Carlson was baptized in the Holy Spirit at an early age and sensed a call to ministry while praying at the Lake Geneva Bible Camp (Alexandria, Minnesota) when he was 15. The Crosby Assembly of God provided multiple opportunities for the members of their youth group to be involved in ministry and Carlson immediately began preaching in his church, in the outstations the church supported, and in jails. His mother, Ragna, raised turkeys to pay her son’s tuition at Western Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After only one year of higher education, Carlson returned to help his parents with the family farm at the height of the Great Depression.

In 1938, Carlson married a young lady from the Crosby church. Mae Steffler was the only girl he ever dated and soon they were pastoring together in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, at Assembly of God Tabernacle. Soon they were parents of Gary and Sharon. In 1943, Paul was born.

Paul was only a few months old when his parents noticed that he seemed to not be progressing at the same rate his brother and sister had. Doctors soon confirmed that Paul had Down’s Syndrome. This diagnosis shook the young family, but they believed that God had a plan for every life. Paul soon became one of the brightest spots in the life of his parents and siblings, as well as their church.

In 1948, Carlson was elected as district superintendent of the North Central district (later called the Minnesota district), making him the youngest man to serve any district in that capacity. He came into office at a time when the district was in danger of being divided over the Latter Rain controversy. The struggle was very difficult for the 30-year-old Carlson who at heart was very much a peacemaker. Agonizing in prayer over divisions within the church was common for him as a young leader. But God ministered to him through the Scripture, especially Philippians 1:22, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

Carlson’s cool head, God-given wisdom, and gentle sense of humor not only guided the district through this difficult time, but it would continue to mark his ministry for the rest of his life.

When Frank Lindquist retired as president of North Central Bible Institute (NCBI, now North Central University) in 1961, he recommended that Carlson follow him and lead the Minnesota school. Carlson served as present of NCBI from 1961 until 1969. Carlson’s heart for future ministers was evident in that when he had to deal with a troubled student, he always sought to save the student for ministry, if he could, believing that discipline should always be redemptive, not punitive.

In 1969, the family left Minnesota for Springfield, Missouri, following Carlson’s election as assistant general superintendent. In this capacity he oversaw the educational departments of the Assemblies of God. Once, when the writer for the Adult Sunday School curriculum failed to meet the deadline, Carlson typed up a lesson transcript in the back of the family Volkswagon while Mae took the wheel so that the lesson could make it to press on time and the writer not be penalized.

A firm believer in the local church, the Carlson family joined the newly formed Park Crest Village Assembly of God upon their arrival in Springfield and faithfully attended that church for the next 30 years, serving on outreach teams and supporting their pastors in every phase of the church’s ministry.

At the 1985 General Council in San Antonio, Texas, Carlson was elected as the 10th general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. In his prayer time the morning after the election, Carlson sensed God giving him a three-fold burden for the next years of the Fellowship: a renewed sense of holiness, a renewed fervor for evangelism, and a renewed sense of servanthood discipleship. Little did he know that all three of those would come to mark his time in that office.

It was during Carlson’s tenure as superintendent that the Assemblies of God faced the most difficult public days in its history. Two nationally well-known television evangelists were caught up in moral scandals that dominated the national headlines for more than two years. Looking back on those days, an AG spokesperson later said that “Carlson’s commitment to scriptural principles and his gentle, Christlike spirit helped steer the Movement through those troubled days. Even the media was complimentary of the way things were handled because he had chosen to deal openly and honestly with the situations.”

Carlson also oversaw the development of the vision for the “Decade of Harvest,” an intentionally aggressive evangelism and church planting effort for the 1990s. During his tenure, the worldwide AG grew from 15 million to 25 million and the number of churches in the United States grew by almost 10%.

As to his vision for a renewed sense of servanthood discipleship, Carlson not only preached and promoted the concept, but served as one of its greatest models. Seeing himself in the role of “pastor” to the Fellowship, Carlson treated each individual with kindness and respect and seemed to know almost everyone by name. Even in his international travels, he viewed every national superintendent as on the same level as himself and almost always was able to bring a short word of greeting in the language of the people to whom he was speaking, before preaching through an interpreter.

When Carlson retired in 1993, he was asked how he wanted to be remembered. He thoughtfully replied, “That I was a decent man, that I fulfilled a leadership that pointed men to Christ, and set an example of Christian conduct and commitment.”

Carlson passed away in 1999, having lived for several months in a nursing home after a debilitating stroke. Upon his death, one of his nurses remarked that he was “no typical man. He made an impact on this entire staff. He not only knew my name, but my husband’s name, and the names of all my children.” At his funeral, Park Crest AG pastor Scott Temple remarked that G. Raymond Carlson was “a gracious man, a gentle giant, a humble servant, a man of strength — a leader and a friend.”

Read G. Raymond Carlson’s article, “What of the Future?,” on page 2 of the Sept. 11, 1960, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Sunday School is for All the Family,” by Billie Davis

• “What is the Assemblies of God?” by Thomas F. Zimmerman

• “Five Great Blessings for Everyone,” by Robert C. Cunningham

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.

Do you have Pentecostal historical materials that should be preserved? Please consider depositing these materials at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC). The FPHC, located in the Assemblies of God national offices, is the largest Pentecostal archive in the world. We would like to preserve and make your treasures accessible to those who write the history books.

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