Following the relocation of Mt Tabor’s incoming senior pastor from the United States, rumors are swirling that Bishop Neil Ellis has reneged on his promises to give Dario Carey the top spot.
Pastor Carey, with his wife and two children, moved from New Orleans this year to lead the megachurch as Ellis, 61 promised to step down from the post. But reports are that Ellis, who served 34 years as senior pastor, has since refused to give up the office, citing that God told him not to do so, anymore.
Ellis told the Nassau Guardian last year that while on ‘sabbatical’ in 2012, God told him to serve ten more years as a pastor and then retire from the post. He was expected to retire at the end of this year to allow Carey to assume the post. Carey was expected to lead the congregation in January 2023. He already joined the staff six months ago, in preparation to take charge.
“So he (Carey) will work for me for the full year. He will take over in January 2023,” Ellis said last year. Ellis was expected to remain the head of the Global United Fellowship of churches, stating that he would serve Carey.
“I am still sought after for conferences and special church events. I am stepping down from the top spot of the church, but I am not retiring from active duty. A lot of this would have to do and depend upon what the new pastor would require of me once in place – how much of me he would need or want. I want to make myself available to him.”
Ellis recently introduced Carey’s wife, Dionne and children to the church, announcing that they had recently been enrolled as students at St John’s College as their father prepared to take the leadership of Mt Tabor. He prided that the process to make Carey the senior pastor was “slow, intentional, careful and prayerful, and it paid off” after a three-year search.
Signs, announcing the transition, were strategically placed on street corners. Carey was celebrated as Ellis’ successor, who was Bahamian-born and served seven years as the pastor of Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“He [Carey] met the Lord in Mount Tabor,” said Ellis. “When he first visited us as a teenager, he was living in the Ranfurly Homes [for children]. He met the Lord at Mount Tabor and was among a group of people that we sent to seminary. Four of the six came back. All worked at the church, but [Carey] and one more person never returned to The Bahamas to stay. He met his wife there – they built a family and he landed two wonderful jobs that led him to managerial positions. Eight years ago, he was called to a church in New Orleans,” Ellis said.
