CHATTANOOGA — Kerry Smith gave everything he had to others.
For nearly 40 years, he preached, counseled, and comforted the grieving. He traveled to Jamaica, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic on medical and evangelistic missions. He planted roots in Nashville, Murfreesboro, and Chattanooga, pastoring smaller churches that poured out love but couldn’t always afford to pay it back.
Now 69 and reliant on a wheelchair, Smith is on the receiving end of that generosity.
“For all of my years I’m used to giving, used to meeting people’s needs,” he said. “I’m not used to having to ask for something for us.”
Smith’s path to ministry began at the funeral home. As a funeral director, he found himself ministering naturally to grieving families on their worst days. A mentor of Smith’s encouraged him into ministry.
“He kept coming to me and saying, ‘Listen, I believe the Lord’s got his hand on your life,’” Smith recalled. “And I said, ‘Oh no, no, no. I’m happy being a funeral director. I’m happy handling the dead.’”
But after two years, he felt the pull and went on staff part-time at his church. He and his wife, Anita, spent the next 35 years in ministry together, including mission trips throughout the Caribbean.
“We miss it every day,” he said.
A series of health crises forced Smith into retirement. Last August, he underwent seven bypass surgeries. He now faces additional heart procedures in the coming months. His wife, who had retired, returned to work part-time as a teacher to help make ends meet.
That’s where Mission:Dignity stepped in.
The program provides financial assistance to ministers and their wives who faithfully served smaller SBC congregations — churches that often lacked the means to help their pastors prepare for retirement. For Smith and his wife, the program became a lifeline.
“Mission:Dignity was literally the best thing that ever happened to my wife,” Smith said. “It is unbelievable what they have done and continue to do for us.”
Through Mission:Dignity, Smith was connected with Steve Pearson, Harvest Field 4 leader with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, who visited the Smiths at home. Pearson then linked them with Silverdale Baptist Church in Chattanooga and Gus Hernandez, the church’s local missions pastor.
For two years, Smith and his wife had been praying for a walk-in shower and a new chair lift.
Hernandez enlisted church member Mike Talley to lead a construction team. Silverdale volunteers installed a new walk-in shower and a back door to make the home more accessible all at no cost. Donations through the TBMB covered the lift chair installation.
“It was a total shock,” Smith said. “Mike and Gus and Steve, from the beginning, when they walked into my house, there was the sweetest spirit in them. We talked, we prayed, we cried, we lifted hands.”
For Hernandez, the decision was simple.
“Our church is very mission minded, very community engaged,” he said. “We’re blessing nonprofits and many families in our community — why not our pastor that’s been serving for half his life? We don’t want to abandon these folks in their time of need, when they maybe need people the most.”
Hernandez said the relationship with Smith won’t end with the renovation.
“If he would need something else, I won’t be surprised if our folks will go and help again,” he said.
For Smith, gratitude has become a daily practice.
“There is not a day of my life that I don’t pray and cry and give thanks and praise to the Lord for what He has done in our lives,” he said.
On June 26, he and Anita will celebrate 50 years of marriage.
“I’m really not sure where we would be or what our life would look like without Mission:Dignity,” Smith said. “I love those people.” B&R