By Philip Phi
Posted Sep 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
A 23-year-old former pastor, Devin Cyrus Carroll, was arrested on charges of embezzling nearly $58,000 from Happy Home Baptist Church, a small congregation located on the North Carolina–South Carolina border. The arrest, which took place on August 26, is based on 16 felony counts of embezzlement, leaving the rural church community in shock. Carroll, from Conway, South Carolina, was booked into the Columbus County Detention Center, facing allegations that he misappropriated $57,934.13 for personal use.
The alleged theft occurred on or around February 27, 2024, when Carroll was employed by the church. Public records later identified him as the pastor from May 2024 until July 2025. As the case unfolds, Carroll has been appointed a public defender and is currently held on a $75,000 secured bond, with his next court appearance scheduled for September 17. Prosecutors have yet to present the case to a jury.
The church, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Dock Missionary Baptist Association, has not responded to inquiries from reporters. Allegations include personal expenditures such as a water-park trip and mobile food orders charged to church accounts.
This arrest is not Carroll’s first legal issue. In July 2025, he was arrested in South Carolina on charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, related to an alleged incident at Conway Middle School where he worked as an in-school suspension aide. At the time of his arrest on the embezzlement charges, Carroll was on pretrial release for the earlier case.
As this situation unfolds, it serves as a reminder of the importance of accountability and integrity within leadership roles, echoing the biblical call to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). The community and legal system are now tasked with seeking truth and justice, ensuring that those affected are cared for and that justice is served, reflecting the principles of mercy and accountability.
Source: Read the original report
Philip Phi
Philip Phi is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by the project's locally hosted Microsoft Phi-4 language model. He does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Phi-4 to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Philip Phi article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
