Bob Smith

Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville
Madison Baptist Association

Favorite Verse: Psalm 40:3

Favorite Hymns: “There Is a Fountain” and “How Can I Keep from Singing Your Praise”

Hobby: Golf

Family Status: Married to wife of 37 years, Vickie; children: Blake, Tucker, Maggie and Graham; two grandchildren

Bob Smith, 59, has been in music ministry for 43 years. For 30 years, he served churches in Florence and Huntsville as minister of music. December 2013 marked the 10th anniversary of his music evangelism ministry, Bob Smith Ministries Inc. (bobsmithmusic.org). His ministry seeks to promote praise and worship, to engage people of all ages and abilities in that worship experience and to be an encouragement to music ministers. “I travel about 45–47 weeks a year,” said Smith, who also takes as many as eight missions trips annually.  

Q: What influences in your life pointed you to Christ at the beginning of your faith journey?

A: I was raised in a Christian family. My dad was a minister of music. He is in his 80s and still going. It was the consistency of my dad, the faithfulness of my mom and dad throughout the years. I accepted Christ in the ninth grade.

Q: When and how were you led into the ministry? 

A: It was when I was 15. It was not long after I became a Christian that I knew. I’ve been singing since I was 4 or 5. I’ve known since about six months after I was saved that God called me into the ministry.

Q: What do you get from the ministry? 

A: Absolute joy. I love what I do. I get a tremendous amount of joy just doing what God called me to do. I just love to sing. I love to share.

Q: What does the ministry demand?

A: When I was on a church staff, I was fortunate to be in growing churches. In my ministry, the church I went to next was smaller than the one before. It was by God’s design. Making time for your personal walk and time for people is what you have to do.

Q: How do family members support you?

A: The biggest support is my wife. She understands. She knows this is what God has called me to do.

Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?

A: Senior adults have so much to offer. That’s where I see my ministry going, real ministry to senior adults. They have all this ability, wisdom, time and resources. I don’t think we’re tapping into it as much as we could. They have a whole lot more to offer than we tap into.

Q: What difference will this ministry make for you in the future?

A: The ministry I have is a dying ministry in many ways. So many churches don’t utilize the gifts of evangelists. It’s still in Scripture. Evangelists are struggling because churches don’t utilize those gifts. There are only a handful of music evangelists in the Southern Baptist Convention. The future for me is reinventing myself so that I have a ministry that the local church can use.

Q: What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?

A: Everything. Without Christ, there is nothing else. He saved me; He redeemed me; He gave me a goal in life.