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Charles Smith |
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Pastor of Community Life & Adults
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Nickname: None, but I get called "Chuck" by some.
Birthday: June 18, 1939 (the year WWII began in Europe)
Favorite Foods: Healthy
Favorite Movies: "Open Range" and "Dave"
Most Embarrassing Moment: Saying in my wedding vows (I had been kidding around earlier my the minister-brother), "I Barbara take thee Charles."
Spouse: Barbara
Kids: Stephanie Abdoo and Kara Rogers; grandchildren, Elizabeth and Michael (7 & 5) all in Boston area.
Anniversary: September 2, 1961
Interesting Fact: Been in ministry for 47 years (10 different churches).
Charles was born in Oakland, California and raised in Richmond. His father was a police officer and his mother an elementary school teacher. He came to initial faith in Christ at age 6 through the influence of godly parents, three older siblings and a cluster of wonderful people at a small Baptist congregation (GARB) in his hometown. At age 10, he felt a calling into the ministry, and his mother nurtured that call in her regular evening prayer time with him. He recommitted his life to Christ in his adolescence at an evangelistic meeting conducted at his home church by the Rev. Jack Van Impe, now a televangelist.
Entering college (Contra Costa Community College) young Charles started on the path toward public school education, but the Lord again directed him into the ministry as he served with his youth pastor at a summer camp at Clear Lake, California between his freshman and sophomore years. He then entered a local bible college (Western Baptist, renamed Corban College, now located in Salem, Oregon) and began preparing for the ministry of Christian Education. He graduated from Talbot Graduate School of Theology in 1966 with a Master in Religious Education. In the following years of ministry, Charles has served churches in: Richmond, Rosemead, Van Nuys and San Diego, Visalia, California, as well as in Dallas, Texas, Lexington, Massachusetts, and Augusta, Georgia. He has been in Fresno since August 2005. Christian education has always been a primary passion. For 11 years he served as an adjunct instructor in Christian education at Bethel West Seminary in San Diego, and was an instructor in children's education with the International Center for Learning for over a decade.
Charles met his wife, Barbara, in a high school Geometry class (she got the A's and Charles got "angles"). After attending Barbara attended U.C. Berkeley for two years (as an English major), she and Charles were married and moved to the LA area. While he served his first church full time, Barbara completed her academics at California State University of Los Angeles. Barbara followed her career into teaching school (public and private). She also served as a freelance curriculum writer for Gospel Light Publications, and for 15 years served as children's director at two different churches (San Diego and Lexington, MA). Presently, Barbara is an elementary public school teacher in Visalia (2nd grade).
Together, Charles and Barbara have raised two daughters, both of whom are married and live in Boston. Stephanie is a stay-at-home- attorney and mother of two. Kara has been a middle school history teacher (Dallas) and an administrator at a small private school for boys in the inner city of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
At The Bridge, Charles serves as the Executive Pastor, whose focus is the ministry of the church as a whole. He meets regularly with the various pastoral staff members, and directly oversees the Sunday morning adult education ministry as well as men's ministry. In his spare time, Charles enjoys gardening, and does a two-mile neighborhood run/walk five mornings a week. He loves people and is known for his enthusiasm for the Lord's work. |
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