The Life & Ministry of William S. Carrol – a documentary
It is a great honor to announce the making of a full-length documentary.
This film will follow William S. Carrol from his childhood in Brooklyn, to his formidable years in New York City. A young William searching for truth in the most darkest places in the streets of the city, through much difficulty and opposition. Featuring that critical moment he met Pastor David Wilkerson eye to eye at Times Square Church, and how Christ lifted him into a life fully dedicated to Jesus and to the study of the Bible. The precious moment he met his wife Tressy and how they shared their life in every wedding vow and sacred covenant with each other. His pastorship in Denver, the birth of his daughter, the road back to NYC and pastorship at TSC. The latter years when his health and body gave way, and the family move to the Summit Ministry School campus where his every breath and all his strength was poured out into his students.
On January 30, 2021, I was asked if I could meet the Carrol family at their home. It was only 3 days after Pastor William died. It was a cold and gloomy day and Pastor William’s absence was felt all across the campus. The flag was half-mast and the entire school body was weak inside-out. They asked me if they could use a photograph that I had captured of him looking heavenward and bathing in light. I was honored then, and I am honored again now months later when the blessing was given to produce a documentary film.
“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith.”
Hebrews 13:7
This initial call to make this film came about when editing Summit alumni video tributes and testimonials for the Carrol family. During the memorial service, I saw many tears; but more, I saw in earnest, changed lives because of the man they referred to as their professor, pastor, and friend. A few of us decided that it would be good to allow students who attended the service to share their memories of Pastor William in and out of the classroom. We ended up with over 5-hours of footage. When editing the testimonials, there came a very special burden upon me – these were but a few of the many voices that had something to share. Transformed people were giving reasons for their transformation. Pastor William had not only put the word of God in the hearts and minds of His young people, but sealed within them a reminder to imitate his faith. I have seldom before these testimonies witnessed such sincerity without the smallest deviation from truth. This was on a mass scale. This is big.
We need your help to make this film possible. In order to investigate his life, we need a production team. First, we need help with research and materials, collection of all media archives, and preliminary interviews. This will require a core production crew, travel expenses for all the cities Pastor William spent time in, and of course some quality equipment. If we can get funds together and work throughout 2022/2023, I anticipate we could have our first screening in the Winter of 2023 and an official release the following autumn. In the meantime, please support the making of this film, share it with others, and come back for more info.
In Pastor William’s words, Keep on Keeping On,
– Ephraim Smits, Producer
thecarrolfoundation@gmail.com
*Update: as of May 2022
We filmed about 80 hours of interview footage to date of William’s colleagues, friends, family, and students. In order to put this together this we need a few film editors working simultaneously, audio post-production and color post-production (a very costly process). We still need to film “reenactments” in New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania.
We posted a “teaser” cut to help raise funds to make this film happen. Below just a few behind-the-scenes images from interviews with a very few.
