Johnson Ferry Baptist Church gives $100,000 gift to ‘invest’ in Southwestern Seminary’s future

Ending the year with funds allowing it “to be a blessing to others,” Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia, under the leadership of Pastor Clay Smith, gave Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary a gift of $100,000, seminary officials announced today.

“We are incredibly grateful to God for the wonderful generosity of the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church,” said David S. Dockery, interim president of Southwestern Seminary. “Their initiative in seeking ways that they could be helpful during this season at Southwestern has been a source of great encouragement to the entire Southwestern community.”

Dockery added the Fort Worth institution expresses “our deep appreciation to Pastor Clay Smith and the faithful people of God at Johnson Ferry who have offered this timely support for Southwestern students, staff, and faculty.”

Smith, who is also a Doctor of Philosophy in preaching student at Southwestern, said God and the members of Johnson Ferry have been very “generous” and the church has had a “really strong year” in giving.

“We ended the year in a position where we could use some funds to be a blessing to others,” Smith said. “Given the challenges that Southwestern is currently facing, we wanted to be a part of the solution. So, with our elders’ support, we were thrilled to give the gift of $100,000 to help aid in the transition and to invest in the seminary’s future.”

Smith earned his Master of Divinity from Southwestern in 2005 and said the institution “made a tremendous impact in my life, not only as a follower of Jesus, but more specifically, as an aspiring pastor.” The South Carolina native graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2001. He said prior to studying at Southwestern, he had never attended “any kind of religious education” institution. However, he said upon graduation he left “with two great loves,” including “a love for the Word of God and a love for the Great Commission.”

“When I think about what that seminary did for me personally, I think about the multitudes of young men and young women who I know would equally benefit from the institution,” Smith added. “To invest in this way, it’s personal for me, because I know how God used Southwestern to change my life, and I would love to think that this gift is a small part of helping Him to change others.”

Smith chose to study at Southwestern because of the institution’s “long-held reputation for training great preachers and great pastors.” He noted there were “two or three pastors who were influential in my call to ministry, who also attended Southwestern,” including Dick Lincoln, who pastored Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, for 38 years before retiring in 2017, and Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Smith served as an intern at Prestonwood when he was earning his master’s degree.

“I do believe that Southwestern’s greatest days are in her future and despite the current challenges, I think God is working in a powerful way and I know that firsthand as not only a pastor in our convention but more specifically, as a student,” Smith concluded. “I know the heart of the faculty there. I know their love for Jesus, their love for students, their love for the Great Commission, and I am excited about all that God is doing and is going to do in the future of that great seminary.”

Smith became pastor of Johnson Ferry in 2019, following founding pastor Bryant Wright, who served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, 2010-12. The Atlanta-area church began in 1981. He previously served as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Matthews, North Carolina, located in the suburbs of Charlotte. Smith was also one of the featured speakers at the 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Anaheim, California.