Southwesterners Donald and Melody Schmidt follow God’s call, find home in North Texas

Donald Schmidt and his wife, Melody, were living in her hometown of Woodstock, Ga., when he felt called to move west. The couple left the Atlanta suburb for Lewisville, Texas, where Schmidt has served as senior pastor of Lakeland Baptist Church for more than a decade.

It wasn’t their first time in Texas. The couple met at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) when both were students—him pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in New Testament after having previously earned a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree at the seminary, and her preparing to begin studies for her own MDiv.

Melody had grown up in a Christian family, saying, “One of the greatest blessings of my life was being raised in a Christian home where the Bible was discussed regularly, church was attended weekly, and a love for Jesus was modeled faithfully,” she said. “My dad has been a vocational evangelist for 45 years, and my mom has always served faithfully in our local church. Seeing my parents model what it looks like to passionately live for Jesus has impacted my life in countless ways.”

Donald’s family moved quite a bit when he was young, leaving Trumann, Ark., as his father’s job took them to three other states before resettling in Trumann. He noted that faith was not a big part of his family’s life at that time.

“I grew up in a home of Christian influence,” he said. “Both of my parents professed faith in Christ, but we did not consistently attend church as a family, and our home lacked the kind of spiritual leadership my brother and I needed.” He said when his parents did attend services, his mother went to a Baptist church while his dad attended a Catholic church.

“Despite these spiritual gaps, God sovereignly used the steady influence of my godly grandmother to encourage my mother to take my brother and me to church more regularly,” he said. “In the end, her influence had an eternal impact, as it was at church where I learned who Jesus is, what He did for me, why He matters, and how I could know Him.”

He learned about Southwestern Seminary while attending Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he earned both a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

“During my time there, the director of the Baptist Student Union, Arliss Dickerson, encouraged me to consider Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary after I shared with him my call to ministry and desire for theological education,” Donald said. “Following his advice, I scheduled a visit to tour the campus and learn more about the seminary. Ultimately, I chose to enroll at SWBTS because of its strong and uncompromising biblical, theological, and missional commitments.”

One day while studying for his PhD comprehensive exams at a coffeehouse on Hulen Street, Donald “noticed a beautiful young woman having coffee with her mother and another lady I recognized from my church. I walked over to introduce myself and learned that she had just moved to Fort Worth to attend SWBTS. After talking about seminary for a bit, I did something I hadn’t planned to do—I asked her out right there in front of her mother. Three days later we went on our first date, and three years later we were married.”

Melody had graduated from Liberty University with a degree in psychology and wanted to continue her studies with a goal of working in biblical counseling. Since both her parents had graduated from Southwestern—Steve Hale, with an MDiv, and wife Debbie, with a Master of Religious Education degree, both in 1979—they attended the Southwestern luncheon at a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Melody decided to visit the school, and during that visit, she said, “it was the women’s program that intrigued me, and ultimately, convinced me to do the Master of Divinity program at SWBTS.”

She has her own memories of meeting Donald. As their conversation at the coffeehouse ended, she said, “he boldly asked for my number to see if I would let him ‘show me around Fort Worth.’ I cautiously agreed, and after spending an afternoon together touring the city … I decided I liked Donald. He seemed godly.

“But I was determined not to fall for him,” she added. “After some convincing from the Lord, and Donald, however, I finally agreed to allow him to pursue me.”

The couple married in 2012 and has three children, Titus, Truett, and Kinsley.

Regarding his time at the seminary, Donald said, “God used all of my professors at SWBTS to help prepare me for pastoral ministry.” He made special note of George Klein, former professor of Old Testament, “whose love for the biblical languages was contagious,” and Paul Hoskins, former assistant professor of New Testament, who served as his PhD advisor. Hoskins, he said, “invested into me and [helped] me grow as a thinker, researcher, and writer.”

Melody said she too is grateful for Klein, “who kindly helped and encouraged me through Hebrew,” and Hoskins, “who passionately taught me Greek.” As she prepares for ministry opportunities today, however, Melody said she is grateful for professors in the women’s program—including Terri Stovall, current dean of women and professor of educational ministries—“thanking God for them and the way they helped shape my understanding of biblical womanhood and prepared me to teach God’s Word.” Those ministry opportunities come through writing, teaching God’s Word to her own children and others in the church, speaking at various women’s ministry events, and counseling women in the church alongside her husband, she said.

The couple had moved to Georgia where Donald was serving at First Baptist Woodstock while finishing his dissertation when he learned of the opening at Lakeland Baptist.

“My cousin came across Lakeland’s senior pastor job posting and encouraged me to submit my resume,” he said. “After praying about the opportunity, my pastor sent a reference letter along with my resume to Lakeland’s pastor search team. Over the course of six months, Melody and I, along with the search team, became convinced that God was leading me to serve as Lakeland’s next senior pastor.”

He stepped into the role in the fall of 2014.

“Over the past 12 years of pastoral ministry, God has grown me in many necessary ways,” Donald said. “He has deepened my dependence on prayer and taught me to ground every ministry effort in it. He has also matured and strengthened my faith, using each experience to teach me to trust Him to guide and provide in every situation.”

He has also seen God change Lakeland Baptist, he said.

Donald has “great joy” that many church members are “living on mission and intentionally sharing the Gospel throughout the week. I’m also encouraged by how our church consistently advances the Gospel in our community through monthly door-to-door evangelism.”

The church also has “implemented a clear discipleship pathway that is producing disciples who know how to make disciples,” he said, as well as a “culture of prayer we’ve cultivated—one that permeates everything we do in worship, ministry, and missions.”