April 7, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
If you ever ask Chad Ramsey, a native of Powell, Tennessee how he found Smithville to pastor a church he will be quick to answer, “God brought us here”!
Since December, 2017 Ramsey has been the lead minister at the Smithville First Baptist Church. He and his wife Kathy have been involved in ministry for over 15 years. Before coming to Smithville Chad served as Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor, and Student Pastor at churches in Texas and Kentucky in addition to Tennessee.
It’s been a good fit for both Ramsey and the church.
IMG_5347 from dwayne page on Vimeo.
Chad is the focus of this week’s WJLE Preacher Feature.
“I felt God calling us to come here,” Ramsey said. “My wife, Kathy, and I wanted to be a part of a multi-generational church that is focused on loving God and loving others.”
“We were looking for a new church to do more mission work because I felt God was calling us in that area. We were talking to a couple of churches in the Georgia area when Smithville FBC called us. We kept praying and felt like this was a better fit. One thing led to another and every time we felt like we had an obstacle to work out God fixed it before it came to fruition so God was really in it. We always say God definitely brought us here and we’re so excited about it too,” he said.
Ramsey and his wife grew up in Powell, a suburb of Knoxville. He’s a graduate of Carson-Newman College with a double major in Religion and Mathematics. After he received his diploma, the couple were married and moved to Waco, Texas, where Chad attended seminary at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. He currently is working on his doctor of ministry degree through the New Orleans Theological Baptist Seminary.
Chad & Kathy are the parents of two children, 11 year old Cameron, a 5th grader at Northside Elementary, and 7 year old Abby, a 1st grade student at Smithville Elementary. Kathy is a 4th grade teacher at Northside.
Ramsey said his spiritual conversion and calling came during a low point in his life when he was a freshman in high school.
“I was struggling as a believer. My father had passed away from cancer that year and through all of that I was struggling with life in general. I wasn’t really happy with God and everything that happened. I remember going to camp that summer with my church. I was very involved with my church and they were sort of my support group. I just remember God telling me to go down and pray. They had an altar call that night but instead of going over and talking to the pastor I just went over to pray. I remember getting down on my knees and closing my eyes. As soon as I closed my eyes, the brightest light I ever imagined came on and as clear as day God said I want you to work for me,” he said.
During his time as lead pastor, Ramsey has watched the Smithville FBC grow in its outreach and mission work in serving the community and beyond.
“We do a little bit of everything. Our purpose statement is Love God and Love Others. We try to keep it simple. We have done several community projects. Once a quarter we do a community day. In fact we just had one where we gave away free clothing and had health screenings. We have passed out food for the holidays and participated in the First Day of School Education Celebration distributing free school supplies”.
“Our mission work is also done abroad as well as locally. We have gone to Puerto Rico and we have a team lined up and ready to go to Uganda in the fall. We also have teams doing local projects. We do mission projects for all ages. Last year we went to Minnesota to help a church there and I was able to take my son and he participated in doing mission work just like we did. We also have senior adult mission trips,” Ramsey continued.
“We intentionally strive to be multi-generational. We want to make sure our church is a place for everybody. We believe in mentoring. We believe that we learn from the people who have come before us but we don’t want to neglect the people who are coming behind us either so we make sure there is a place for everybody. We try to be loving and caring,” he added.
Pastor Ramsey invites you to visit the Smithville First Baptist Church especially if you are looking for a church home.
Sunday Services: Small Groups 9 am, Worship 10 am, & Bible Study 6:30pm
Wednesday Services: Awana 6 pm, Genesis Students 6:30pm, & Bible Study 6:30pm
The church will have an Easter Sunrise service April 21 at 6 a.m. at Evins Park downtown Smithville followed by the first church service of the day at 8 am, small groups at 9 am and the second service at 10 am
“We look forward to introducing you to my Jesus. He will change your life.”
To learn more about the church visit www.smithvillefbc.org or follow facebook, twitter, or instagram.