Pastor Jimmy Smith retires after 45 years of pastoral ministry

Pastor Jimmy Smith retires after 45 years of pastoral ministry

Jimmy Smith said that in his 45 years of pastoral ministry wherever he went “it was always the Lord.”

Smith started his ministry in Michigan, then moved to Kentucky and on to Iowa, where his first service at his new church drew 11 people — five of whom were his family. 

But during the four years he was there the church baptized more than it had in the past 40. When he left they were running 80 in Sunday School.

“The Lord has been good to us,” he said.

When we moved to Alabama in 1988, I was called as pastor at Gum Springs Baptist, Morgan County Association. The error is that I was not there for 16 years, but 6 years when I resigned and was called to the Berea Baptist Church in the Muscle Shoals Association. I was there for 5 years and then pastored at Forrest Hill Baptist, Somerville and as Associate Pastor at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Decatur. I began my ministry at the Oak Forest Baptist Church in 2004 where I remained 15 years before retiring the last Sunday of July.

In 1988 the path for Smith and his wife, Barbara, turned toward Alabama, and they moved their family to serve at Gum Springs Baptist Church, Hartselle, in Morgan Baptist Association, for the next 6 years.

“The Lord really blessed that ministry out there,” Smith said.

That time was followed by ministry at Berea Baptist Church, in Muscle Shoals Baptist Association; Forrest Hill Baptist Church, Somerville; and Fellowship Baptist Church, Decatur. After that they served for 15 years at Oak Forest Baptist Church, Somerville, where he retired from the pastorate July 28.

“There were some good opportunities I had over the years,” Smith said. “It was just God’s doing.” (Grace Thornton)

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was corrected August 12, 2019, to correct years and places of ministry.