Micahn Carter (born July 25, 1979) is an American pastor, author, and speaker who founded Together Church in Yakima, Washington, growing it from about 50 people into one of the largest multi-site churches in Eastern Washington.
He later authored the book Made for the Middle and became a nationally known voice on unity and reconciliation, before his ministry career was upended in 2019 by a rape allegation that has followed him through two lawsuits and a 2025 appeals court ruling.
Micahn Carter at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Micahn Carter |
| Born | July 25, 1979, Yakima, Washington, USA |
| Age | 46 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | April Carter |
| Children | Micahn II, Alijah, Dewey |
| Ministry | |
| Founded | Together Church, Yakima, Washington (dissolved 2020) |
| Role | Lead Pastor (2006 to 2019, resigned) |
| Prior church | Morning Star Baptist Church, Yakima |
| Later affiliations | Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Alabama (2020 to 2021, resigned) |
| Denomination | Non-denominational, Charismatic, formerly affiliated with the Association of Related Churches (ARC) |
| Career | |
| Books | Made for the Middle: Fighting Together in a Divided World (2019, Thomas Nelson) |
| New church | The Place, Indianapolis, Indiana (announced 2025, planned launch fall 2026) |
| Net worth | Not publicly documented or verified |
Early Life and Background
Micahn Carter was born on July 25, 1979, and raised in Yakima, Washington, where he has spent most of his life. He has described his childhood home as one marked by regular conflict, and has said that growing up in that environment taught him early lessons about trying to keep peace between people.
Carter married his wife, April, when the two were still young. They eventually had three children together, Micahn II, Alijah, and Dewey, and both parents became known for sharing family life, parenting struggles, and faith content on their personal YouTube channels.
Ministry Career and Together Church
Before launching his own church, Carter served as a pastor at Morning Star Baptist Church in Yakima.
He and April went on to found Together Church, which grew under his leadership from roughly 50 people meeting in one of Yakima’s rougher neighborhoods into a multi-site congregation drawing thousands each week across several Washington locations.
Together Church operated as part of the Association of Related Churches, or ARC, a network focused on evangelism and church planting.
April Carter served as the church’s executive pastor, overseeing personnel and day-to-day operations while Micahn led from the pulpit.
Carter built a large personal following during this period, reportedly reaching close to 40,000 followers on Instagram and drawing large audiences to his sermons on YouTube.
Resignation from Together Church
In early June 2019, Carter resigned as lead pastor of Together Church during a service, telling the congregation he had been involved in what he called an “inappropriate incident.”
He attributed the episode to a previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder and said he was entering treatment.
Together Church later closed, and the building that once housed it now belongs to a different congregation.
Carter then entered a ministerial restoration program through Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the largest churches connected to the ARC network.
He joined the Highlands staff in January 2020 and preached his first sermon there in July of that year, ahead of schedule for a restoration process that was supposed to keep him out of the pulpit for a full year.
Books and Publications
In 2019, Carter published Made for the Middle: Fighting Together in a Divided World through Thomas Nelson, one of the larger publishers in Christian nonfiction.
The book argues for reconciliation over division, encouraging readers to resist picking sides in cultural and political conflicts and instead pursue unity. It remains his best-known published work.
Personal Life
Carter and his wife, April, have been married since they were young and have built much of their public ministry around family life, parenting, and marriage.
The couple has three children, Micahn II, Alijah, and Dewey, and both parents have used social media and YouTube to talk openly about their family’s ups and downs.
Outside of ministry, Carter has said he enjoys sports, movies, video games, fashion, and staying current with technology.
Criticism and Controversies
The defining controversy of Carter’s career centers on his former executive assistant at Together Church, Mary Jones, who has accused him of raping her in a church office on April 29, 2019.
Jones, who had worked closely with Carter and his wife and considered them parental figures, says the assault happened during a leadership event while staff and her own family stood nearby outside the door.
Carter has consistently maintained that the encounter was consensual, describing it publicly as an affair or an “incident” tied to his bipolar diagnosis.
Jones did not go to police at the time, but she confided in her mother and a therapist, and initially planned to leave the church quietly without going public.
The Church of the Highlands Fallout
In July 2021, Jones sent a letter to Church of the Highlands founding pastor Chris Hodges, informing him that the encounter with Carter had not been a consensual affair but rape.
Jones also published a blog post describing the assault in detail, without naming Carter directly.
Within days, Church of the Highlands announced that Carter and his wife had resigned from their staff positions and that the church was no longer involved in his restoration process.
Two Lawsuits and a Landmark Ruling
In October 2022, Carter filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones in Alabama, seeking at least $500,000 in damages and claiming her allegations cost him publishing contracts and speaking engagements.
That case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, since the alleged assault occurred in Washington and Jones had no ties to Alabama.
Carter refiled his defamation claim in Yakima County Superior Court in 2023. A judge initially allowed the case to proceed in February 2024, ruling that reasonable minds could differ on the question of consent.
Jones appealed, and on December 30, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Washington State Court of Appeals reversed that decision in a 100-page published opinion, dismissing Carter’s lawsuit entirely under the state’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act.
The court found that Carter qualified as a limited public figure and that Jones’s statements were protected, either as privileged communication to church leadership or as constitutionally protected opinion.
The panel also ordered Carter to pay Jones’s attorney’s fees at both the trial and appellate level. Jones has not filed criminal charges against Carter.
“Affairs of pastors demean the Christian message, shake the faith of believers, disband churches, and ruin lives,” the appeals court wrote in its December 2025 opinion.
Return to the Pulpit
Despite the allegations and the ongoing litigation, several churches invited Carter to preach in the years that followed.
He appeared at The Father’s House Orange County in 2022, at Forward City Church in Columbia, South Carolina, in both October 2024 and again in 2025, and at other congregations including River Church in New York City.
Forward City Church was founded by Grammy-nominated artist Travis Greene and his wife, Jackie Greene.
Net Worth
There is no reliable, independently verified figure for Micahn Carter’s net worth. Some low-quality aggregator sites publish speculative numbers, but none are backed by public financial disclosures, and Flicxa does not repeat unverified estimates as fact.
What is documented is that Carter built a following of tens of thousands on social media and earned income through book publishing, speaking, and his pastoral role at two different churches.
Interesting Facts About Micahn Carter
- Together Church grew from about 50 people to several thousand under his leadership before dissolving in 2020
- He appeared as himself in the reality series Savage Jesus in 2018
- His 2019 book, Made for the Middle, was published by Thomas Nelson, one of the largest Christian publishers in the country
- He and his wife, April, run active YouTube channels centered on marriage and parenting
- In December 2025, he and April announced plans to launch a new church, The Place, in Indianapolis for fall 2026
Timeline of Key Events
- July 25, 1979: Born in Yakima, Washington
- 2006: Together Church begins under Carter’s leadership
- 2018: Hires Mary Jones as his executive assistant
- April 29, 2019: The encounter at the center of the later rape allegation takes place in the church office
- June 2019: Resigns as lead pastor of Together Church, citing an “inappropriate incident”
- 2019: Publishes Made for the Middle: Fighting Together in a Divided World
- January 2020: Joins the staff of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama
- July 2020: Preaches his first sermon at Church of the Highlands
- July 2021: Mary Jones sends a letter to Chris Hodges and publishes a blog post alleging rape; Carter resigns from Church of the Highlands
- October 2022: Files a defamation suit against Jones in Alabama; the case is later dismissed on jurisdictional grounds
- July 2023: Refiles the defamation suit in Yakima County, Washington
- October 2024: Preaches at Forward City Church in Columbia, South Carolina
- December 30, 2025: The Washington State Court of Appeals dismisses Carter’s defamation suit and orders him to pay Jones’s legal fees
- December 2025: Announces plans to launch a new church, The Place, in Indianapolis
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Micahn Carter?
Micahn Carter was born on July 25, 1979, making him 46 years old as of 2026.
Has Micahn Carter written any books?
Yes. Carter published Made for the Middle: Fighting Together in a Divided World through Thomas Nelson in 2019, a book about pursuing unity instead of taking sides in cultural conflict.
What happened between Micahn Carter and Mary Jones?
Jones, Carter’s former executive assistant at Together Church, says Carter raped her in a church office in April 2019. Carter says the encounter was consensual. Washington’s Court of Appeals dismissed Carter’s defamation suit against Jones in December 2025, finding her statements protected.
Is Micahn Carter still a pastor?
Carter is not currently leading a church, but he has continued to preach as a guest speaker at various congregations and announced plans in December 2025 to launch a new church, The Place, in Indianapolis, with a planned fall 2026 opening.
What is Micahn Carter’s connection to Forward City Church?
Carter is not on staff at Forward City Church in Columbia, South Carolina, but he has preached there as a guest speaker multiple times, including in October 2024 and again in 2025, at the invitation of founding pastors Travis Greene and Jackie Greene.
What is Micahn Carter’s ethnicity?
Carter has not made detailed personal statements about his ethnic background publicly available. Flicxa does not speculate on details a public figure has not confirmed.
A Note on Related Search Terms
Searches for “Micahn Carter” sometimes overlap with unrelated names, including Pastor Bryan Carter of Concord Church in Dallas and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s home church, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. Neither of those figures is related to Micahn Carter, and each would make a better standalone article than a section forced into this biography.
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