Rev. Carroll to retire from 50-year ministry

The Sarasota area is a haven for retirees, and Longboat Island Chapel’s treasured minister, the Rev. Vincent Carroll, plans to take advantage of that when he retires Dec. 31.

“I’m 73, and it’s a good age to retire,” Carroll said. “I will miss Sunday mornings so much, though. I was born to do it.”

Carroll became the chapel's minister in January 2013, but his ministry work spans 50 years. He was educated at the University of Iowa, the United Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, Chapman University in Los Angeles and Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, Calif. He served as assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minn. for two years before serving 27 years in the Navy Chaplin Corps.

“That’s my proudest accomplishment,” Carroll said. “It’s being senior chaplain of Europe in the Mediterranean and all the accomplishments we had over there during the Bosnian War.”

When he left the Navy, Carroll worked in Michigan and as a chaplain of Holland America cruises.

Carroll and his wife, Molly, fell in love with Sarasota and bought a house there in 1999. Three years ago, while serving as minister of a church on Mackinaw Island, Mich., he learned that Longboat Island Chapel was searching for a new pastor.

“Some friends there who also lived on Longboat alerted us to the fact that Longboat Island Chapel was looking for a minister,” Carroll said. “We fell in love with the island and the chapel, and I agreed to become senior minister.”

During his nearly three years there, Carroll helped grow the chapel’s membership and diversity.

“He has a way of bringing people in the chapel,” said Sue Reese, Longboat Island Chapel communications chairwoman. “You could hear a pin drop during the services. He would relate to our own lives and teach us how to become better people and lead a wonderful life.”

Carroll helped advance the Aging in Paradise Resource Center, and this summer, he helped the chapel acquire a parsonage for its minister to live in.

“I was commuting here for almost three years, and that took an hour each way out of my day,” Carroll said. “This was something I wanted to do for the next pastor.”

Health concerns factored into Carroll's decision to retire.

“Both my wife and I had a shift with medical issues this summer,” Carroll said. “It’s nothing imminent, but it’s things we need to pay attention to.”

Although Carroll is leaving the chapel, he plans to stay in the Sarasota area.

“It’s our home,” he said. “We plan to take advantage of the wonderful art culture Sarasota has to offer. It’s a great place to retire.”

Carroll has published three poetry books and hopes to write a fourth in his retirement.

The chapel's board members have not yet discussed finding Carroll's replacement.

“I wish I could think of all the wonderful adjectives to describe him,” Reese said. “Now we have to replace a person we don’t know how to replace. There’s nobody you can even compare to him.”