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Pastor Smith was called to become the Senior Pastor of Faith
Baptist in March of 2006.
David
Clay Smith was born in 1956 and grew up in Roanoke, Virginia where his parents and
four brothers still live. David trusted Christ as his Savior when he was
eight years old. Through the guidance of his parents and pastor, he came
to understand how to be saved and at that time publicly professed his
faith in Christ and was baptized. David is thankful for the godly
influence of his family and church leaders who discipled him through his
teen years.
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!
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