Throughout my 22 years here in Decatur, I have at times had friends mention how they had benefitted from the ministry of Rev. Phil Smith. The other night I enjoyed visiting and getting to know him and his sweet wife Carol.
Philip Sanders Smith was born December 22, 1962, in Reynolds, Georgia, and on December 23, 1962, he was adopted by Gerald and Mae Humphreys Smith and taken to their home in Mobile, where his father was working at Brookley Air Force Base. They then moved to Warner-Robins, Georgia, where Mr. Smith retired from civil service before moving back to Decatur, his hometown. Phil’s mother, a stay-at-home mom, was from Meridian. Mr. Smith, who taught Sunday School at Clarke-Venable Memorial Baptist Church for over 30 years and was also treasurer of the church, and his mother are both deceased. Bro. Smith preached both parents’ funerals. Through his mother, he is a direct descendant of Rev. N.L. Clarke.
Bro. Phil entered school in Decatur as a fifth grader and continued on to play football and baseball at Decatur High School. Phil graduated from DHS in 1981, Mississippi College with a B.A. in Religion and English in 1985, and from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1989 with his M.Div. in History and Theology. “One thing I learned in seminary was a passion for souls in difficult places, as we had to go out on the street, door to door in New Orleans.”
When I asked for his “salvation story,” he recalled, “I was six years old, in my home in Georgia, with my pastor, Bro. William Key, and mom and dad. I had told my parents what I wanted to do. I prayed to receive Christ. Unbeknownst to me, at some point, he told my parents, ‘One day he’ll preach,’ but I didn’t know that till much later.” He continued, “I was about fifteen when I began sensing what I was going to end up doing. I kinda fought it. I went to Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and at eighteen years old, sitting under a pine tree with a Gideon New Testament, I surrendered to the Lord.”
As a child, Phil participated in a bus ministry with his father at a large church in Georgia, where they visited homes and filled thirteen buses with 400 people of all races. Later, at the age of 12, he said he could feel himself “getting cold” spiritually, as he wasn’t involved in any outreach. He remembered, “I kinda drifted. One lady, Christy Prine Crouch, the band director at DHS, had an influence on me to be interested in others, to reach out to others.” He also told of his English teacher, Mrs. Sherry Pierce, who had such a godly influence on her students. He said, “In high school you just saw Christ in her, saw the love she had for the Lord, for us as individuals.” Then, when he was in his twenties, as pastor of Midway Baptist Church, he was her pastor for six years. He told me he preached her funeral and did the dedication of the garden planted in her memory at NCHS. It was easy to realize the great respect he had for her, as well as her husband, Col. Billy Pierce, a science teacher.
In fact, he told of an encounter with Col. Pierce when he was Battalion Chaplain for the Mississippi Army National Guard, 1st of the 204th ADA, for six years. Saying he was going to give me a “healing testimony,” Bro. Phil told of being at Camp Shelby and going to see Col. Pierce. He didn’t find him at first, but drove up to where a captain and a major were trying to get a “Hummer” to crank. They had been working on it for some time and called to him, “Chaplain, can you do anything?” He turned to God and said, “Lord, here’s a chance for you to get some glory,” laid his hands on the vehicle and prayed, then pointed to the men and said, “Now, try it!” It cranked on the first try, and when Col. Pierce, now Gen. Pierce, heard about it and saw him next, he exclaimed, “It had to be you!”
Bro. Smith was married in 1984, a marriage that lasted until 2005, when, with great regret, he was divorced. But he said he had asked the Lord for at least twenty years of full-time ministry, which he was granted. After Midway Baptist, he pastored First Baptist, Lacombe, Louisiana; Morningside Baptist, Shreveport, Louisiana; State Boulevard Baptist, Meridian, and finally First Baptist, Leeds, Alabama. He is thankful for the three children that came from that union. Whitney Pickette, married to Jed, has one child; Hannah Smith, who works for an engineering firm in Birmingham; and Clarke Smith, married to Mary Elizabeth Green of Auburn.
March 18, 2009, Bro. Phil Smith and Carol Norton, a friend who had also had a rough first marriage, were married at Grace United Baptist Church. He wanted to be sure I wrote of the great appreciation they have for the love and support of the people at Grace United, saying, “Our marriage got off to a good start because of the love of the people at Grace United. They even made me a deacon over about seventy people while we were there.”
For the last few years Bro. Smith has also worked as a car salesman, then for a while as the Business Development Center Manager for New South Ford-Nissan in Meridian. He has had many opportunities to share his testimony. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer and has been cancer free about five years. The Lord has even blessed him to be pain free with successful back surgery.
After their marriage, they started Simple Life Ministry, he did interim pastorates, and he pastored The Refuge in Decatur for four years. He has now pastored Lighthouse Church in Carthage for two and a half years. In December, Carol injured her knee, after which doctors discovered she has a blood clot that goes the entire length of her leg. They have not offered her any type of procedure they believe will be successful, so she is not able to walk and people are praying for her healing.
One bright part of the Smith’s lives is Grace Smith-Anderson, who was born January 12, 2012. They were asked to be godparents at first, and she was about three when she began staying with them. Her grandparents had adopted her, but the Smiths now have full custody. She is ten, going into the fifth grade, and says, “I love to sing!”
When I spoke to him today, Bro. Phil told me he had just come from a party to celebrate Ms. Connie Trisler’s 90th birthday at Morningside Baptist Church, in Shreveport, where he had pastored when he was in his late 20s. She told him she wants him to do her funeral, and he was so thankful. Though the Smiths have obviously suffered a lot, they struck me as faith-filled, grateful Christians, which is a good testimony.
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
