Rev. Dr. Rodney Thomas Smothers serves as the Lead Pastor for Grace United Methodist Church in Fort Washington Maryland.
Pastor Smothers has founded new congregations, served as the lead pastor of multicultural, urban and suburban congregations and served as an adjunct seminary professor in the areas of administration, evangelism, worship and United Methodist History.
Rev. Dr. Smothers serves on the Baltimore-Washington Conference (BWC) Executive Leadership Team as The Director of Leadership and Congregational Development. Formerly, he served as the Director of Evangelism at the General Board of Discipleship and as a Guide in the BWC. As a congregational consultant, workshop leader and coach, he resources laity and pastors, local churches and denominational leaders in the areas of congregational vitality, leadership effectiveness, strategic ministries and the development of skilled servant workers. Dr. Smothers is the Lead Coach for rTs Coaching Associates.
He has pastored congregations in the North Georgia and Baltimore-Washington Annual Conferences, leading them through congregational revitalization, new construction and remodeling programs. Additionally, he’s implemented stewardship, discipleship, strategic visioning and leader development systems.
As a community leader, he has developed ministries for Senior Citizens, Youth Enrichment, partnerships with schools and served in prison ministries. He has also collaborated with other pastors in the development of affordable housing ministries. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Georgia and Leadership Prince George’s County, Maryland.
A Master of Divinity was earned in 1982; and in 1993 his Doctor of Ministry, from Gammon Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2013, he completed the Howard University School of Business Executive Leadership for Ministers Program.
In 2019, Dr. Smothers co-authored RESURGENCE: Navigating the Changing Ministry Landscape (with Candace M. Lewis) and BLANK SLATE: Write Your Own Rules for a 22nd-Century Church Movement (with Lia McIntosh and Jasmine Rose Smothers).
He is married to Lynn Thomas Smothers, M.D., and the father of three young adults.
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