Meet Faith Baptist's Pastor

David attended Bluefield College where he met his wife, Betty Hayes Smith. They were married in 1977. David and Betty moved to Orlando, Florida to work with Youth for Christ and David received a BA in History from the University of Central Florida. David also served as Youth Minister at a church in Orlando. It was at this time that David sensed God’s leadership and call to become a pastor and they moved to Ft. Worth, Texas to attend Seminary. David earned his Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 1983. While in Texas, David pastored two churches and then was called back to his home state of Virginia where he served two churches, the last of which he planted through the North American Mission Board of the SBC. Nearly seven years ago, David and Betty moved from Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they planted River Oaks Community Church. David earned his Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2001.

A biographical sketch of David Smith would be incomplete without a brief description of his wife and family. Betty also came from a large family (six children). She came to know the Lord at the age of eleven during a revival meeting at her home church near Washington, D.C. She too is very thankful for having grown up in a Christian home. Betty felt the calling of the Lord during her teenage years to full-time Christian service. She has enjoyed working in many areas of church life including Women’s Ministry and Worship Ministry. For the past three years, Betty has been employed in printing and logo promotional sales and she started her own home-based company in June 2005. David and Betty have two children. David enjoys basketball and golf and Betty enjoys decorating and thrift stores!