previous homecomings

Dr. Carlton P. Byrd is currently the Senior Pastor of the Oakwood University Church on the campus of Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL, and the Speaker/Director of the Breath of Life Television Broadcast.

Dr. Byrd is a graduate of Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL with dual degrees, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management.  He is also a graduate of Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN, where he earned the Master of Business Administration Degree, and a graduate of Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, MI, where he earned both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry Degrees.

In his twenty-six years of pastoral leadership in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia, Dr. Byrd has constructed and renovated churches and schools, baptized over 20,000 persons, served on numerous church and community boards, along with serving as a guest minister on several religious television networks.  Since his appointment as Speaker/Director for Breath of Life, four new Breath of Life churches have been planted and started in San Antonio, TX, Stamford, CT, Las Vegas, NV, and Tampa, FL respectively.  Most recently, Dr. Byrd conducted an evangelistic revival in Tanzania, Africa where 16,706 individuals were baptized!  Plans are now underway to organize and construct the first Breath of Life Church

A very active participant in the community, Dr. Byrd founded the Berean Outreach Ministry Center in Atlanta, GA, which housed a food pantry, clothes’ closet, barber shop, hair salon, and fitness center.  Additionally, under Dr. Byrd’s leadership during his pastorate at the Berean Church in Atlanta, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a $5.2 million grant to the church, and the church constructed a 50 apartment Senior Citizens’ Housing Facility for church and community Senior Adults alike.

Currently, in his Oakwood University Church Pastorate, over 500 individuals have been baptized, the church has been completely renovated, and two new buildings have been constructed during his tenure, namely the Oakwood Adventist Academy (Kindergarten through Grade 12) building, and the Oakwood University Church Family Life Center housing a vegetarian food market, barber shop, health clinic, gymnasium, commercial kitchen, classrooms, and community service areas.

The recipient of numerous honors and achievements, Dr. Byrd received the coveted “Chosen Pastor Award” for Atlanta’s Gospel Choice Awards in 2007, was selected as the Oakwood University Alumnus of the Year for 2008, was inducted into the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta in 2008, was selected as the 2016 Pastor of the Year for the Alabama NAACP – Huntsville/Madison County Branch, was named the South Central Conference of SDA Pastor of the Year in 2012 and 2018, received the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award for Evangelism in North America in 2019, and was named in the Marquis Who’s Who in America in 2020.

Dr. Byrd is happily married to his wife of twenty-two years, the former Danielle Mounter, and they are the proud parents of three daughters, Christyn, Caileigh, and Carissa.