John Privitt

In 1971, in a small Baptist church in Westwood, (Northern) California, John accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. He was raised with his mother’s maiden name, Carter.  John, professionally known as John Cody Carter, spent his early years touring with his band across the USA and Canada, performing traditional country music, as well as writing, performing, and recording with many well-known country music artists, including  Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, Hank Cochran, Dottie West, Shelley West, and many others. He was a staff songwriter for Merle Haggard’s Inorbit Publishing in Palo Cedro, California, Tree Publishing, Sony ATV Music Publishing, Wrensong Publishing, and Famous Music Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee. John was a Recording Artist for Warner Brothers Records and Yell Records (Nashville, Tennessee).

John met Skip Heitzig (Pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque) in the early 80s and attended his weekly Bible study at the Lakes apartments in Albuquerque, NM. This was a major turning point for John. He had never experienced verse-by-verse systematic Bible study before.  John has said, “I learned more in one Bible study under Skip than I had in the first ten years of my Christian experience.” John came to an understanding that night that not only was it possible, but it was the responsibility, privilege, and inheritance of every believer to study, learn, and understand the word of God.

Skip introduced John to the teaching ministry of Chuck Smith (Founding Pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa) and he began studying verse by verse through the Bible with pastor Skip and Pastor Chuck through his radio program, The Word For Today. John attended Butte College (Chico, Ca.), Hope International University (Fullerton, Ca.), and Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School (Lancaster, Pa.).

John started in ministry, serving on the worship team as a drummer, with Skip leading the team. As the church grew, Skip stepped aside from the worship team, and John began serving as the worship leader for Calvary Church, formerly known as Calvary Chapel Albuquerque, in the early 80’s. Over the next several years, he served as an itinerate pastor at Calvary Chapel Ukiah, CA., as Assistant Pastor at Calvary Chapel Franklin, TN., and served as pastor of  Calvary Chapel Nashville, TN. for 10 years. He has been the Pastor of Calvary Taos for 11  years.

John authored a Discipleship Training Course focusing on Christian Discipleship and the Systematic Inductive Bible Study Method. John has taught the course in many American churches as well as in Iraq, North India, the Philippines, Uganda, Kenya, and Mexico. John spent two years in Balad, Iraq. He also authored the marriage booklet, “To Be Or Not To Be.”

Once a year for the last eight years, John has held Pastoral Christian Discipleship and Leadership Training Conferences and Inductive Bible Study Workshops in East Africa. By God’s grace,  provision, and leading, John, along with his team members (including 2 Grandsons), have trained over 10,000 Pastors and church leaders in Uganda and Kenya.

John and his wife, Stephanie, moved to Taos in 2014. They have 3 children, Joe, Jessica, and JB, and are raising their  16-year-old Grandson, DJ.  They also have  7 other Grandchildren; Maverick, Maddie, Luke, Gabriel, Sophia, Samantha, and Abbey.