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Senior
Pastor Profile
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| Although born in Brunswick, Georgia, Ray Smith grew up in Charleston, South Carolina where he met and married Charlene Jewell Harley. They have three grown children and six grandchildren. Pastor Ray earned a degree from the College of Charleston (B.S. English 1957), a Master of Education Degree from the University of South Carolina in the field of guidance and counseling (1972) and a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Southern California in the field of government affairs (1975). |
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| In his soon to be released book Realizing God Ray explains how, after a lifetime of close, intimate experiences with God, a seventy-five year old retired supervisory customs inspector became commissioned as the pastor of the International Baptist Church Sofia. He also explains how to change a lifeless “form of worship” into a dynamic realization of the Almighty God and His power.
Ray served as interim pastor of IBCS from January to May in 2003. He was pastor of the Pittman Street Baptist Church in North Charleston, SC for two years. When Pastor James Duke suffered a serious back problem, Ray returned to Sofia in November 2005 to serve as interim pastor. When Pastor Duke realized he could never return to Bulgaria, he resigned and Ray was commissioned as pastor on April 13, 2008.
Serving as a lay preacher, Ray preached in many of the churches around Charleston. He preached in youth revivals, to the troops at Fort Jackson and in the military chapel in Stuttgart, Germany, and on the streets of New York. During his travels, he preached in California, Jordan, Egypt, Romania, and in Bulgaria.
His faithful wife serves with him as a co-laborer in Christ Jesus.
(PHOTO: Ray and Charlene at Bulgaria’s most famous landmark Alexander Nefski the largest cathedral in the Balkans.)
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