"Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord" Psalm 150
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Baccalaureate Marks New Beginning for Graduates
On Saturday, May 17, Luther E. Smith Jr., Ph.D. will address this year's graduating class during Baccalaureate at 9 a.m. on the Oval.
Biographical Sketch of
Dr. Luther E. Smith, Jr.
Luther E. Smith, Jr., Ph.D., is professor of Church and Community at the Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta. During his 29-year tenure as a faculty member, Dr. Smith has served as president of Emory University Senate, chair of Emory University’s Faculty Council and associate dean for Faculty Development at Candler. As a scholar, author, community activist and ordained minister in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Smith writes and speaks extensively about issues of church and society, interfaith cooperation, congregational renewal, Christian spirituality, and the thought of Howard Thurman.
As a Howard Thurman Scholar, Dr. Smith’s published works include Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet (1981); Pan-Methodist Social Witness Resource Book (1991); Intimacy and Mission: IntentionalCommunity as Crucible for Radical Discipleship (1994); and Howard Thurman: Essential Writings, a part of the Orbis Books “Modern Spiritual Masters Series.” He is now working as senior consulting editor for the Howard Thurman Papers Project, the second largest papers project on an African American — second only to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. His current research focuses on the role of congregations in public health issues, a sacramental understanding of hope, and an ethical perspective on Black church financing.
Dr. Smith’s commitment to social transformation as an expression of religious conviction is grounded in his activist spirit and strong sense of moral responsibility and ethical leadership. While in seminary, Dr. Smith served as coordinator of the East St. Louis Welfare Rights Organization. In organizing welfare recipients to advocate for their rights, he helped facilitate major policy changes that resulted in increased benefits for thousands of poor families in East St. Louis, Il. He focused his organizing efforts on empowering the poor to take leadership in their activism for social justice. After seminary, Dr. Smith served as executive director for education on behalf of the Black Urban Ministers Program of Eden Theological Seminary. While developing educational programs that enhanced the skills of Black church leaders, he also organized and became the coordinator for the Metropolitan Ministerial Alliance
of St. Louis. This interracial and ecumenical alliance addressed social justice concerns of metropolitan St. Louis.
Throughout his career, Dr. Smith has served on the boards of social agencies and religious organizations that focus on children’s issues, health, education, the justice system and reconciliation. As a part of his activism, Dr. Smith helped to found the International Community School that has as its mission educational excellence for children who have experienced the traumas of war and violence. He is also a founder of the Interfaith Children’s Movement of Metropolitan Atlanta, where he now serves as chair of its board. The Interfaith Children’s Movement educates, mobilizes and networks faith communities to be advocates for all children. This movement brings diverse faith communities, including Christian, Jewish, Muslims, Unitarian Universalist, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha’i, together to increase understanding and foster caring relationships among people of faith.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Smith received his undergraduate degree in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis. He received his master of divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary and his doctorate in American Studies from St. Louis University. Dr. Smith lives in Stone Mountain, Ga., and is married to Helen Pearson Smith. They have four children and four grandchildren.
