Longtime Southern Baptist leader Smith dies

Longtime Southern Baptist leader Smith dies

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — James H. Smith, former executive secretary of the Illinois Baptist State Association and later the fifth Southern Baptist Brotherhood Commission president, died Oct. 21. He was 95.

Smith served 50 years in Southern Baptist leadership before retiring in 1991.

Born in Somerville, Smith professed faith in Christ at age 18.

After high school Smith audited classes at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and worked as a janitor until he could be accepted and afford a full-time student load.

He served in the Navy in the early 1940s in the South Pacific and later continued his education at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kansas.

Smith later served as pastor for 20 years in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.

He later became Illinois Baptist executive secretary and during his first five years in that role he spoke more than 880 times.

Smith went to the Brotherhood Commission following the death of former president Glendon McCullough.

The Brotherhood Commission eventually merged with the Home Mission Board and the Radio and Television Commission to become the North American Mission Board in June 1997.

Smith’s wife, Nona Lee Lockwood, preceded him in death, as did one son, David. His surviving children include John, Joy and Mark. (TAB, BP)