On Sunday morning Johnson Ferry Baptist Church announced during its services that a call has been issued to Rev. Clay Smith to be its new senior pastor.
Smith is currently the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Matthews, N.C. (a suburb of Charlotte) and most of his ministry has been spent in the Carolinas.
He’s a native of Greenville, S.C., and earned a master’s degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is currently a Ph.D. student.
According to George Ethridge and John Farish, co-chairs of the Johnson Ferry senior pastor search committee, Smith will be preaching all five services on Aug. 4 as the church’s sole candidate to succeed the Rev. Bryant Wright, who announced in November he would be retiring.
Wright is the founding pastor at Johnson Ferry, which started in 1981, and later became a president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In a video message also unveiled Sunday, Wright said that “there is no doubt in my mind that Clay Smith is the man that God has chosen for this role.”
Here’s more about Smith from a message Johnson Ferry is sharing with the community:
His central passion for ministry revolves around the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). This includes a biblical concentration in three major areas: evangelism, relational discipleship and missions.
Clay has been the Senior Pastor of First Baptist, Matthews, NC since August of 2014. Prior to that he was Minister of Adults under Dick Lincoln at Shandon Baptist in Columbia, SC from 2008 to 2014, and Associate Pastor, Outreach & Education at Alice Drive Baptist in Sumter, SC from 2005-2008. While in seminary at Southwestern Baptist in Ft. Worth, TX, Clay served as an Intern to Senior Pastors Dr. Jack Graham & Dr. David McKinley at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX from 2002-2005. In his free time he enjoys running, playing golf, reading (history) and looking for great greasy spoon restaurants. In addition, you will also find him pulling for his alma mater, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Clay’s life verse is Galatians 2:20 (NASB).
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself up for me.”Senior Pastor Candidate Introduction
All congregants are invited to view the recap below from the Senior Pastor Search Committee to see how the Lord has been evident throughout the search process.
In addition, we have the Senior Pastor announcement from Sunday, July 14 available for viewing.
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