After serving as interim pastor since November 1, 2005, Ray Smith, along with his wife Charlene, was commissioned as pastor on April 13, 2008. The former Pastor James W. Duke with his wife Audrey served as the first regular pastor of the church since March 22, 1993.

Ray brings to the church a lifetime of practical experiences with the Lord. He explains how God still honors the precious promises of His Word. “No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” (Psalm 84:11).

During the past year, people from 33 different nations came to worship at IBCS. The Holy Spirit combines Ray’s formal education in organizations, his work experience with people from around the world, and his simple faith in Jesus Christ as an effective witness for the Lord. His preaching does not consist of long theological dissertations, but simple applications of how God’s Word applies to our everyday living.

As the least of six children in his family, Ray delights in God’s reply to the Apostle Paul: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “… My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”