About

I’m Steve Smith, the Executive Pastor at First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I spent the first 29 years of my ministry career in church communication. Having a love for the organizational health of the local church, I moved into the role of Executive Pastor in 2020. I love contributing to a healthy church culture by fostering a spirit of cooperation and collaboration while implementing effective systems, processes, objectives, and strategies.

The focus of this blog is on a few different topics: church leadership, church culture, and church communication. Occasionally I’ll dip into some specifics on best practices in a number of areas, but mostly this will be my thoughts on the broader aspects of church life and leadership.

My Biography

I’m from Savannah, Georgia. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Mercer University and later a Master of Arts in Corporate Communication from Rollins College. More recently, I studied through Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a Master of Theological Studies degree.

I started in communications ministry right out of college by serving as the Minister of Media at my home church in Savannah, leading the broadcast television ministry. I was then called to serve in a similar role at First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida. It was during my time there that I was asked to accept a larger role, assuming the Communications Pastor position.

While my “first love” was church television, my sights were set on the broader aspects of church communication. While at First Orlando, I was ordained to the gospel ministry, met and married my wife, Brandi, started our family, and continued my education in communication.

In 2008, we were called to serve at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Having the opportunity to learn much about church organizational leadership while at Brentwood, I was motivated toward a broader role. The Lord opened the door for me to be called to serve as Executive Pastor at First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, OK in September of 2020.

My wife, Brandi, and I were married in 1996. We have two daughters, Ellie and Olivia. Brandi has been a school teacher for most of our married life. We were also trained, certified, and served for a year as foster parents to Marissa.

Colophon

This site was designed by Josh Jenkins and Darrel Girardier. It runs on WordPress and is hosted with BlueHost.

Disclaimer

This is my personal blog. The opinions I express here do not necessarily represent those of the leadership and membership of First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow. The information is provided on an as-is basis. I make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this blog and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its use.