Bishop Jimmy Richard Smith was born and raised in Elizabethtown, North Carolina. He is the son of Ms. Ellease Smith. He and his wife, Gloria Baxley Smith have two lovely daughters, Tashamma and Valerie. Additional to the family is a son-in-law, Jamal Davis and three grandchildren, little Ms. Arianna, Jamal Davis, Jr., and Jason Davis. Bishop Smith was reared in the church as a young child and received great teaching from his great-grandmother (Pastor) Mother Addie Perkins and his grandmother, Prophetess Isazarah Smith. He is blessed with the gift to play music which has benefited churches all over. God continues to bless him in this capacity.
Bishop Smith joined the military in 1976 and retired in 1996. In 1983, during his tenure in Augsburg , Germany , he was called into the ministry to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is founder of the Bible Truth Apostolic Pentecostal Church , Incorporated. God has opened doors for Bishop Smith to pastor at several churches to include Augsburg , Germany , Shirley , Massachusetts , Fort Huachuca , Arizona and Fayetteville , North Carolina . He was also installed as Pastor of the Antioch Temple church in Cambridge , Massachusetts by the late Bishop Edward L. Tompkins. He served there faithfully from 1996 – 2000.
Bishop Smith’s education includes an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Maryland at College Park , Maryland ; and a Baccalaureate of Arts Degree in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
One of Bishop’s Smith favorite Biblical scriptures, which is also the church theme, is found in 2 Timothy, 2:15; “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”
Through Christ, Bishop Smith continues to preach, teach and rightly divide the Word of Truth. He has a determination to do a great work for the Lord. Through faith and prayer, Bishop Smith will complete the vision that God has given him.