Meet Synod Moderator Patrick Smith

by Ray Waddle

Patrick Smith, an Alabama elder and new moderator of the Synod, has faith in Almighty God and the Presbyterian middle ground. He believes the denomination can weather its current turbulence, but it must reclaim confidence in basic doctrines that unite believers in order to outlast fractious debates. "One thing we've been successful at as Presbyterians is to be the home of the middle ground," he said in an interview last month (May 2007). “It has served us very well, but that model is being strained right now. We've got to start reclaiming that. As Presbyterians we should be able to embrace some good, solid, healthy and cantankerous debate and respect other opinions — as long as we remember the main thing, winning souls for Jesus Christ.” Smith has been moderator, a one-year position, since January. An elder at First Presbyterian Church in Sheffield, Ala., he also serves on the administrative commission of the North Alabama Presbytery and has witnessed embittered denominational conflict along liberal-conservative lines. Nationally, the denomination faces challenges from nearly 200 congregations that are protesting a perceived drift in church doctrine in recent decades toward acceptance of homosexuality and liberal theology.

Smith, 49, a life-long Presbyterian, hopes to use his office as a pulpit for conciliation, with a plea to church members to remember (or learn for the first time) their roots in Reformed theology and history. He says Presbyterian theology is a faith for the long haul, avoiding the hazards of ideological extremes and "burnout.”

“We're not a church with a high-burnout theology,” he said. "We still stand somewhere in the middle between those denominations chasing their tail worrying about who's going to heaven or hell, and the other end that says 'I'm OK you're OK but it doesn't matter much anyway.' "We're the alternative when both those ends don't satisfy anymore. We're not concerned with winning our way to heaven but with doing the will of God on earth during the time God has given us to be here."

Smith, a Tennessee native and a University of Alabama graduate, has a finance background. For years he was a practicing CPA but now helps run Martha Grace Foods. He was ordained an elder in 1990. "What a lay person can bring is excitement about the church and the congregation, taking that excitement to the community of faith but also to the outside world. Presbyterians have a masters degree in being reserved about their faith. We've been concerned about not stepping on the toes of other faiths to the point of not always knowing what it is we believe or why we believe it." Smith is keen to encourage Presbyterians to "tell their story" and not let the secular media shape or control Presbyterian identity with incessant reports on controversy and deadlock. Too many news stories about General Assembly actions ” last summer's Trinity report, for example - have been distorted, exaggerated or misinformed, he said. "What we've got to do is tell our story," he said. "Others are doing such a woefully sorry job of it. Who better to tell our story than Presbyterians in the pew who meet their neighbor down the street and set the record straight and tell what the church is really like?" Regarding showdowns over some congregations' desire to leave the denomination, Smith said Presbyterians should find ways to negotiate according to church provisions, use Christian conflict resolution specialists when possible, avoid law suits, and keep their eyes on the big picture. Even if scores of congregations end up leaving, he said, the denomination is 11,000 congregations strong. The church body will endure. "Some of these disputes can be repaired, some not," he said. "It is sad when any congregation says the denomination has moved so far in another direction that they can't continue. That's a sad event. But there are ways we can do this process 'decently and in order.' There are provisions in the Book of Order that can show us how to sit down and work it out. And when that's not possible, then part ways with grace and dignity and in all things honor God. … If we hold traditional Reformed theology as our lamp light, we'll get through this period."