The purpose of this section of the website is to chronicle the history of the project and to report new developments. Please check back often for news!
January 21, 2010:
I have just sent notice to my fellow members of the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists that I am no longer a member. Vocational Evangelism just has not taken off. I am now actively seeking the next church that God would have me to serve as Pastor. Thank you for your prayers!
November 24, 2009:
After a full decade, I am once again "The Singing Bell Ringer" with the Salvation Army. 10 years ago this Christmas season, I was in Kalispell, Montana. This time around, I am in Springfield, Missouri. I love the people here! They are so generous and supportive! I've had several people ask if I sing professionally, and when I will have CDs produced. While it is certainly debatable as to whether I am a professional, I do have two CDs available. One is a Christmas CD of favorite carols combined with three original songs. The other contains all original music that I have written. The CDs are $10.00 per copy, and may be purchased by simply sending me an email.
August 23, 2009:
I thoroughly enjoyed preaching at Glidewell Baptist Church in Springfield, MO this morning!
Opportunites to preach and sing have been few and far between over the past seven months, and I am becoming more convinced with time that, although I still believe that vocational evangelism is on the horizon, God would still have me as undershepherd of one of His flocks. At this point, I am the Interim Music Director of Glidewell Baptist Church in Springfield, MO, where our family has been members since June.
January
28, 2009:
This has been an amazing week! I have surrendered
to God's call on my life to be a vocational evangelist! A
ministry of music evangelism is something I have been praying about for
years, but God had to get me to the place where I would embrace the
preaching as being as vital an element of my ministry as the singing!
As soon as I acknowledged and surrendered to what God has
been trying for years to show me, I began to get reaffirming
confirmation. Included in this was being voted into
membership of the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists this past
Monday at the Missouri state evangelism conference! Since I
surrendered, it is as though I were caught in a current, watching
wonderful things unfold with no personal control over any of it!
I have submitted my resignation as the Pastor of Grant Avenue Baptist Church in Springfield, MO. My last day as Pastor will be January 31. I will be seeking employment to support my family, but covet your prayers as I sense a call to full-time evangelism growing heavier on my heart from day to day!
September 3, 2008:
So much time has passed since my last post! Over a year!To be truthful, not very much has happened. I simply have not had very many opportunities to sing. I will be singing for the Retired Ministers Banquet of Greene County, Missouri, on Thursday, October 2, 2008, at 6:00 p.m.
The artwork on my Thoroughfares & Crossroads CD is to be redone once again. Since I have lost the extra 85 pounds I have been lugging around, and since I now live in the inner city, I have decided to feature a cover photo set on the mean streets (or should I say, "thoroughfares and crossroads?") of Springfield, MO.
I had the opportunity to visit Tula Baptist Church in Oxford, Mississippi, where I served as Pastor for four years, over the Labor Day holiday weekend. They celebrated their 5th Sunday singing, and asked my wife and me to do an impromptu "mini concert" of sorts. It had been quite some time since I had been given the opportunity to focus on the music aspect of my ministry. Being a bi-vocational Pastor is rewarding in many ways, but it does have a way of keeping a man busy! I have realized how much I have missed getting to sing, and something of a fire has been rekindled in my heart. Please pray with me that invitations to sing will be forthcoming!
I am planning a two-disc CD to be released on my 40th birthday, December 21, 2010. It will be called, "Songs from the First 40," and will feature a few new original songs that have been written. The majority of the CD will consist of covers of the songs that people have requested of me the most ("Joy Comes in the Morning," "Love Found a Pardon," "He Came to Me," etc.). Please pray with me regarding this project, as well!
July 4, 2007:
I had a great time
singing today at the
Animal
Paradise Family Fun Park in Strafford, MO (just outside of
Springfield). I was able to minister for 40 minutes, and enjoyed
hearing the other singers. The Animal Paradise park is a nice facility
staffed by very friendly people. I highly recommend it for your
family's next outing! You will enjoy your visit!
June 8, 2007:
The George and
Friends concert tonight at
College
Street Baptist Church in Springfield, MO was well attended, and we had
a wonderful time.
May 15, 2007:
I had the
priviledge last night of
singing at the
camp meeting service at Cardin's Lake in Dixon, MO. Also
providing music for the service was Undivided, a local group we
thoroughly enjoyed meeting and hearing.
March 22, 2007:
I learned today
that I will no longer be
performing at the Sawmill Festival in my hometown of Bruce, Mississippi
on July 13. Chalk it up to poor communication.
November 23, 2006:
Happy
Thanksgiving! My new CD, A
Brand New Christmas, was
released today.
September 26, 2006:
Work has been
completed on my second CD,
entitled A
Brand New Christmas.
The CD, which will feature
favorite traditional Christmas hymns and three original Christmas songs
that I have written, is scheduled for a Thanksgiving Day
release.
September 2, 2006:
After four years as
Pastor of Tula
Baptist Church
in Oxford, MS, I am moving to Springfield, MO to serve as the Pastor of
Grant Avenue Baptist Church. The church voted unanimously to
call me as their Pastor on Sunday, August 20. My first Sunday
on the church field will be October 1. I miss the people of
Tula Baptist Church already, but I am excited about what God is
doing!
July 8, 2006:
I sang today at the
Sawmill Festival on
the square
in my hometown of Bruce,
Mississippi.
June 8, 2006:
Copies of Thoroughfares
&
Crossroads are now being sold by
independent music
distributor CD Baby. Copies may be purchased using the convenient
"shopping cart" on my "purchase
a CD" page, or by visiting my Thoroughfares
& Crossroads
page on CD Baby's website.
Larry Tyler and I
will begin work tomorrow morning on my second CD,
which I am planning to release on Thanksgiving Day. It will
be a Christmas CD entitled A
Brand New Christmas,
and will include two original songs blended with traditional Christmas
favorites. Please pray with us.
May 1, 2006:
I finally sat down and updated this website today for the first time since late February! I have changed my hosting services over to GoDaddy.com, the company through which my domain, BrentSmith.com is registered. As part of the updates, I have lengthened the sound clips on the sound clips page, and have added some music to the welcome page. I hope you enjoy it!
April 21, 2006:
Revival services concluded tonight at Hebron Baptist Church in Pontotoc County, MS, where Bro. Tracy Griffin is the Pastor. I led the music and my father-in-law, Bro. Rob Pelkey, preached. We enjoyed the meeting very much, and thank you for the opportunity to serve!
February 15, 2006:
Work is progressing nicely on the second release of Thoroughfares and Crossroads. The entire CD is being digitally remastered, and new cover artwork has been done.
February 10, 2006:
I enjoyed singing tonight with my wife and children at St. Paul Methodist Church in Oxford, MS. We had a wonderful time with these new friends. I sang several songs from the Thoroughfares & Crossroads CD, as well as some wedding duets that my wife and I have sung together over the years. We enjoyed it, church! Thank you for having us!
January 23, 2006:
The Oxford and Batesville, MS locations of Promises and Praise, our local Christian bookstore, has agreed to sell copies of my CD, Thoroughfares & Crossroads. The CD is on sale at Waller's Pharmacy in Oxford, as well. Special thanks to these two sellers!
September
11, 2005:
I had the priviledge
tonight of singing and leading worship at the
revival service of First Baptist Church - Abbeville in Oxford, MS. We
had a great time with some really sweet folks! I sang "Has Anyone Told
You Today," "I Love Your Face," "I Am Here," and "Pass Through His
Hands." Thank you to Bro. Randy Hope and Music Director Larraine
Kitchens for letting me come!
September
7, 2005:
"The Brent Smith
Music Project" has become "Brent Smith
Ministries." More than just a music ministry now, it has
grown into a mission to take encouragement to pastors and congregations.
July
9, 2005:
I had the honor of
singing today at the Sawmill Festival in Bruce,
Mississippi. I have been asked to perform during the Friday
night opening festivities of next year's Sawmill Festival. I
have accepted this great honor, and will perform from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.
on Friday, July 7, 2006.
July
1, 2005:
Thoroughfares
and Crossroads is now on
sale for $10.00 per copy.
June
25, 2005:
I have made the
decision not to enter into a contract with Incubator
Creative Group, and have aborted the audition process.
We are in hopes that my debut CD, Thoroughfares
and Crossroads,
will be ready this Monday, June 27.
June
2, 2005:
I will be singing at
the Sawmill Festival on the square in Bruce,
Mississippi, from 1:45 until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9,
2005.
Please pray with me that the CD will be completed by then.
Illnesses and scheduling problems have put us in a bind, and we may
have to move the CD's debut date back. The God we serve
created all that is in six days' time, though, so we know a CD can be
completed in five weeks if it is within His will!
May
7, 2005:
I had the honor of
singing last night at the Relay for Life cancer
benefit at the football field in Bruce, Mississippi.
I have been remiss in giving updates on the audition process with
Incubator Records. I had my fourth interview with them on
Thursday, May 5, and it went well. We should know in two
months' time whether or not we will be working together.
April
7, 2005:
The title of my
debut CD has changed again due to some providential
technical difficulty. The release date for Thoroughfares and
Crossroads is still set for
July 1, 2005.
Revival services concluded last night at College Hill Heights Baptist
Church in Oxford, MS. I had the honor of leading the music in
these meetings. It was a blessing to worship with these
wonderful people!
March
31, 2005:
The
release date for my
independently-produced
debut CD, Plaques
and Trophies, has been
announced! The CD will be
released on Friday, July 1, 2005. Advance orders are being
accepted. Please send me an email
for more information.
March 29, 2005:
The
telephone interview
went well this
afternoon, and Incubator Records and I have decided to continue the
audition process together.
March
3, 2005:
Incubator
Records has informed me that my
demo CD has been reviewed,
and has been "favorably received." "I Love Your Face" and
"Pass Through His Hands," the two tracks featured on this demo CD, may
be heard on the sound
clips page. Incubator
has decided to initiate the
next phase of the audition process, and has scheduled a telephone
interview with me for the end of this month.
February
12, 2005:
My wife and I sang
at the Valentine's Day Banquet at Calvary Baptist
Church in Bruce, MS. We were able to have "With All My Life,"
which we sang at the banquet, copyrighted with what they
gave. Thank you!
February
6, 2005:
Tula Baptist Church
presented me today with a check to have my songs
copyrighted. Thank you, church!
January
25, 2005:
I have received an
invitation from Incubator
Records
in Santa Clara, Oregon to submit a demo CD of two of my
songs. This company exists for the purpose of "incubating"
new careers in music evangelism. Their drive is to assist and
equip Christian musicians who desire to enter the Christian music
industry not for fame and fortune (or "plaques and trophies"), but to
spread the Gospel through music with all the glory going to
God. If you read my testimony on this site, you already know
that this is the desire of my heart! The two songs that I
will include on the demo CD will most likely be "Pass Through His
Hands" and "I Love Your Face." This has all the appearances
of a big answer to prayer! Thank you for those
prayers! Please DON'T STOP!!!
November
16, 2004:
While earlier
reports on this site stated that the title of my first CD
would bear the same title as my music project (Theocentrism), I have
decided instead to lend the name of the first gospel song I ever wrote
to this CD as its title. Work toward the release of my first
compilation, Plaques
and Trophies, is progressing
nicely!
November
14, 2004:
The Senior Ladies
Sunday School class of Tula Baptist Church donates
enough money to have two more songs copyrighted! Thank you,
ladies! You'll never know what an encouragement that
was! The two songs I have chosen to have copyrighted with
these funds ("Throw Back the Curtains" and "I Saw the Lord in You")
will appear on the "Sound
Clips" page when the copyright
paperwork has gone through.
November
12, 2004:
New
Song, "I
Am Here,"
written. To date, 11 songs are at least 50% ready for the
demo CD.
November
2, 2004:
A new friend has
agreed to help with accompaniment tracks.
Special thanks to Dwayne Huff, who has been working with me, but who
now is working hard toward his doctorate at the University of
Mississippi. By God's providence, the man who is now helping
me has a private recording studio right in his house! Talk
about "forward motion!" Thank you all for your prayers!
October
5, 2004:
This
website
is launched.
August
30, 2004:
New
Song,
"Where You Are,"
written.
August
5, 2004:
New
song,
"Thoroughfares and
Crossroads," written.
July
9, 2004:
Appearance at
the Sawmill
Festival on the town square in my hometown of Bruce,
Mississippi. This was my first opportunity to present the
five songs I had written at that time (those featured in the "Sound
Clips"
page).
May
20, 2004:
My
sister-in-law, Amy Pelkey,
presented me with the book Wild
at Heart
by John Eldredge.
Men, this book changed my life! Please read it!
Even though I had written a few songs already, this book is what
prompted me to seriously pursue the dream that God had placed in my
heart. "The Brent Smith Music Project" is actually chapter 12
of this book! Read it and you'll understand! Thank
you, Amy (and Mr. Eldredge)!
March,
2004:
New
songs,
"With All My Life," "I
Love Your Face" and "Pass Through His Hands," written. These
songs have been "in the works" for years!
May
11, 2000:
New
song, "I
Saw the Lord in
You," written in memory of Mr. Bill Bolzer of Columbus, MT.
Bill passed away exactly eight days after I led him to the Lord.
November,
1999:
New
song,
"Throw Back the
Curtains," written.
October,
1999:
New
Song, "Has
Anyone Told You
Today?" written. Inspired by and in honor of Bro. Bill
Hohenstreet, Pastor of Post Falls Baptist Church in Post Falls, Idaho.
September,
1998:
New
song, "Let
Them Glow as They
Grow," written. This is the theme song of Big Horn Christian
Academy in Hardin, Montana.
September,
1994:
My
first song
(well, my first
gospel song, anyway), "Plaques and Trophies," is written.
December
21, 1990:
My
wife, Leah,
and I are married.
June
26, 1990:
I
surrender to
God's call to the
ministry.
December
28, 1988:
I
accept Jesus
Christ as my
personal Lord and Savior!
December
21, 1970:
I
am born.
