James A. Carter was born on March 1, 1939, to James Aloysius and Kathryne Magruder Carter. He attended Cathedral School and Bishop England High School in Charleston. Then he attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and received his undergraduate degree from St. Mary’s Seminary in St. Mary, Kentucky. Carter completed his theological studies at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and was ordained to a priest on May 7, 1966, by Bishop Ernest L. Unterkoefler at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

From 1966 to 1973, he served as an associate pastor at St. Mary Church in Greenville, St. John Church in Charleston, and St. Peter Church in Columbia. In 1973, he became pastor of Holy Spirit Church on Johns Island, along with its mission, Our Lady of Good Counsel on Folly Beach.

In 1974, he was assigned pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Spartanburg, and from 1980-1989, he served as pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Church in Aiken. In 1989, he was appointed pastor of Christ Our King Church in Mount Pleasant, where he served until his retirement in 2017.

In the wake of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, then-Father Carter established, organized and funded East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO) to minister in an abiding way to victims of the disaster. ECCO has received extensive national recognition for its community involvement and the assistance it provides. On Sept. 21, 2006, Msgr. Carter was presented with the first annual ECCO Stone Soup Award for his dedication and leadership in the community.

In 1991, Father Carter, was named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness, a papal honor with the title “monsignor,” and in November of 1998, Msgr. Carter was appointed Protonotary Apostolic, the highest honor a priest can receive from the pope.

Among the many additional appointments Msgr. Carter held were: vicar general of the Diocese of Charleston, vicar for clergy and chairman of the Priests’ Personnel Board, moderator of the Curia, chairman of the diocesan Building and Renovation Advisory Committee, facilitator of the Presbyteral Council, member of the diocesan Board of Consultors, moderator of the Council of Catholic Women in the Charleston Deanery, rector of Cardinal Newman School in Columbia, chaplain of the Ursuline Convent in Columbia, chairman of the Ecumenical Affairs Committee, dean of the Aiken Deanery, director of the Sites and Boundaries Committee, member of the Priests’ Senate, Board of Governors, Christian Action Council, member of the Theological Commission and of the diocesan Pastoral Council, dean of the Coastal Deanery and member of the Synod Executive Committee.

In April 2016, Msgr. Carter received the Order of the Palmetto, the state of South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, for extraordinary lifetime service and achievements of statewide significance. The South Carolina House of Representatives read a resolution on the floor of the House in honor of his Golden Jubilee, and the town of Mount Pleasant presented him with the Order of the Gavel, the town’s highest municipal honor. The City of Charleston declared April 29, 2016, as Msgr. James A. Carter Day.