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Welcome to Gethsemane
Baptist Church! Dr. David L. Smith was born in San Diego, California
while his dad was serving as a chaplain for the Marines in the
Philippines in WWII. The son of a minister, he was raised in
a preacher's home for seven years in Michigan and then in the
San Francisco Bay area where his dad started a church in Fremont,
California. Pastor Smith received his formal education in Fremont
and was very involved in high school athletics. He played baseball
and basketball throughout high school and was honored as the
captain of his basketball team.
He attended Bob
Jones University and graduated with a BA degree there and also
attended BIOLA University and graduated with a BA in Bible and
Physical Education. He was named to a college selection basketball
team and played in the Orient and South Pacific against national
and Olympic teams. He earned a life-time teaching credential
from San Jose State University for the state of California.
Pastor taught
and coached in public and Christian schools as well as served
as an administrator. He helped found the Berean Baptist Christian
Schools in Rockford, IL and has served as an associate pastor
for the Berean Baptist Church of Rockford, IL for four years.
Pastor Smith was married to his beautiful wife, Jill in 1970
and they have two grown sons, Paul and Mark, both living in California.
In 1979 God led
Pastor Smith to move from Illinois to California to begin a church
in Rohnert Park, CA. He pastored Berean for ten years where God
gave wonderful numerical growth and the building of educational,
office and auditorium facilities. In 1989 he accepted the position
as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Santa Maria where
the church grew from the high 400's to over 1000 in attendance
on Sunday mornings. He helped start the Santa Maria Valley Baptist
Church in 1995 before taking his present pastorate of the Gethsemane
Baptist Church in North Long Beach, California.
Gethsemane Baptist
Church is one of the most ethnic diversified churches of its
kind with an unusual blend of unity. Morning services are translated
into Cambodian as well as a thriving Hispanic ministry that serves
those only speaking Spanish.
Ministries of
GBC include some of the following: youth, AWANA, bus, rescue
mission, senior saints, Sunday School, vacation Bible school,
men's ministries, ladies ministries, men's athletics, music,
Temple Bookstore, and a Christian school for grades K-4 through
12th.
Pastor Smith
loves to teach the Scriptures verse by verse leading his congregation
through the Bible every year. Expository preaching combined with
topical preaching brings people to GBC each week to hear the
Word of God. His lovely wife, Jill, complements his ministry
as one of the finest evangelistic pianists in church ministry.
The music is alive and uplifting that prepares hearts for the
preaching as well as allowing expression of worship at each service
by those attending.
God has blessed
the ministry of GBC since 1995 in the area of world evangelism.
The church has seen amazing growth in faith promise giving to
world missions and has grown from 5 missionaries to now over
91 missionaries worldwide. Truly, GBC has become the church in
the city with a heart for the world! |
