Our Pastor

Rev. Dr. Eric V.T. Smith

Sr. Pastor

Scott United Methodist Church

Comfort, O Comfort my people says your God. - Isaiah 40:1 NRSV

I was sitting in a funeral for Rev. Ralph Hale when my call to ministry began to take shape. I was

listening to other ministers speak words of comfort to the congregation when the “still small voice of

God” whispered, “Eric, this is what it’s all about…life and death. Comfort my people. Feed my sheep.”

After more than 30 years in ministry, with God’s call to “Comfort my people” in my heart, I describe my

call to ministry in this personal mission statement:

My Co-Mission with God is to create inclusive,

racially diverse communities that bring joy

to the hearts of men and women, boys and girls

as they find their rightful God ordained place

in the church, in the community, in the nation, in the world and

in the Kin-dom of God.

In furtherance of this Personal Mission Statement, I remind everyone that our nation is being divided by party politics, racial tensions, sexual orientation, religious intolerance and bigotry toward other faith traditions and immigration issues; but God’s word has a command that unites us, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is a banner I like that speaks with love to all that divides us:

Love your Neighbor

Who Doesn’t

Look Like you

Think like you

Love like you

Speak like you

Pray like you

Vote like you

Love your Neighbor

No Exceptions

So come let us unite together under the banner of Love. It is the only way to obey God’s call to

“Comfort, O Comfort my people.”