OUR PASTOR
Pastor Carl L. DeShay
Pastor Carl L. DeShay was born in Cedar Creek, Texas and to the late Chester and Virginia Carter DeShay. Pastor Carl spent over 15 years in Atlanta, Georgia, as a servant leader and ministry leader seeking to serve in any capacity in which God directed. While in Atlanta, Pastor Carl continued to hear God direct his footsteps back to Bastrop. Pastor Carl returned home and soon after married Chevalier DeShay. Several months after their marriage, God led them into the founding of Kingdom Harvest Ministries and several local families. In establishing Kingdom Harvest Ministries, Pastor Carl has devoted his life to building God’s kingdom through the lives of leaders and families in and around the Bastrop County area. A great deal of Pastor Carl’s time is spent mentoring and developing leaders within the church as they go out into the world, impacting it one life at a time.
Pastor Carl has a passion for education, culinary arts, empowering underserved communities, and knowledge which is shown in his academic journey. In 2017 Pastor Carl graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts of Scottsdale, Arizona, receiving his first Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2021 Pastor Carl took his next educational journey enrolling in Huston-Tillotson University to obtain his second Bachelor of Arts in Business Management, in which he will confer in 2023.
Pastor Carl has extensive experience in unusual and innovative approaches to entrepreneurship. Pastor Carl’s recent activities include founding BMiB (Black Men in Business Connect) an essential program whose aim is mentorship for both children and men within the organization to foster a community of support and resources that promote and enriches the lives of the individual.
Pastor Carl is a resourceful and diverse man who continues marching to the beat of his drum. Pastor Carl is never afraid to try something new, even if it means failing, maintaining his attitude that “you’ll never know until you try .”Pastor Carl finds it easy to take matters into his own hands, especially if someone says that it could not be done when God said differently. No was not an option, and excuses only added fuel to his fire. Nevertheless, Pastor Carl went through life with the mindset to beat the odds. After high school, Pastor Carl found a way to get recruited and earn a full scholarship to play college basketball at Wharton Jr College, and from there transferred to Howard Payne. In his early years, Pastor Carl took an interest in playing the piano. Within months Pastor Carl learned to play his first song, “God Has Smiled On Me” he continued developing his skills and soon started playing publicly at school, and soon joined his dad as the church musician. Taking over for his father, Pastor Carl soon became the lead musician working alongside his younger brother and his father, elevating the choir to one of the best choirs in the Bastrop and surrounding areas. As a musician, Pastor Carl continued expanding and growing in his craft by launching out and playing for different churches. In addition, Pastor Carl helped train and develop other musicians throughout the country through his mentoring of youth that took an interest in music.
As the Senior Pastor of Kingdom Harvest Ministries, Pastor Carl resides in Cedar Creek, Texas. Pastor Carl currently works on staff at Cedar Creek High School as a paraprofessional with students with disabilities and other physical or mental impairments within the school district. An additional benefit while working with students is that Pastor Carl gets the opportunity to work in an area of his passion by coaching and training basketball players.
Pastor Carl is married to his amazing wife, co-founder of Kingdom Harvest Ministries, Chevalier DeShay. The two of them are blessed and chosen by God to raise three incredible children, Ariana, Carl Jr, and Carl III. Pastor Carl has also had the fortune to be a father figure in the lives of Sadik and Salaam Gaskin of Atlanta.