On December 30, 2018, Rev. Carol West preached her final sermon at Ft. Worth Celebration Community Church after 20 years of service as the church’s senior pastor. On October 8, 2021, at age 72, Carol was interviewed by Jerry Wei on behalf of The Dallas Way. The link below gives access to the audio recording of that oral history. In it, Carol recounts many of the high points and low points of her amazing life.

Among the other topics discussed were growing up in the 1950s in Irving, Texas, knowing she was “different” with “no word for it,” her early interest in contact sports, attending the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, as a French major, teaching high school English for 17 years at Irving High School while leading a risky “double life,” her early days at the Metropolitan Community Church (now known as the Cathedral of Hope); and her growing involvement in DFW’s LGBT community.

Organizations mentioned include: the Suicide Prevention Hotline, and the Metropolitan Community Church. You can find the recording of this oral history interview with Rev. Carol West here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nA9IAw8V-yaPkcF-xbvxSBCvygdgdeJv