Buies Creek, N.C. – Dr. Roy Smith, esteemed Baptist leader and former Executive Director-Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, delivered the “Charge to the Graduates” at the commencement service for the Campbell Divinity School on Friday, May 13, in the John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center.
A longtime friend of Campbell, Smith played an integral role in the school’s development into a University and the Divinity School’s establishment and growth.
At Friday’s service, Smith cautioned the graduates against misusing their theological education.
“We are called to be ministers, not authoritative figures,” he said. “Don’t try to be a CEO, but be stewards, one who holds in trust something that belongs to someone else. As ministers of Jesus Christ, we are stewards of the Kingdom of God. Minister to your children, to your senior citizens, to those in need and you will fulfill that promise.”
A graduate of Wake Forest College and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Smith began his ministry in 1954 as pastor of Union Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, N.C. He later served as pastor of Jersey Baptist Church in Lexington and joined the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in 1962, where he served as an area missionary, director of Town and County Missions and Seminary Extension and Executive Director and Treasurer from 1997-1984. He currently serves on the Commission on Advancement and Committee on History and Heritage for the Baptist World Alliance.
Smith and his wife Charlotte Cook Smith reside in Winston-Salem where they are active members of First Baptist Church of Winston-Salem.
The Campbell Divinity School conferred a total of 55 degrees at Friday’s service, including two Master of Arts in Christian Education, 48 Master of Divinity and five Doctor of Ministry degrees.
Photo Copy: Dr. Roy Smith, former Executive Director of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, delivers the commencement address for the Campbell Divinity School. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)