Don+Smith

Best wishes to everyone on this 50th anniversary of our graduation.

Bio for Don Smith after PSR graduation 1959.

1959-1962 Assoc. Minister in Direction of Youth, La Mesa UMC; 250 youth members, 7 youth groups, 222 max attendance, 6:15 a.m. Wednesday High School Prayer Breakfast, 2 Work teams each summer. Two bus loads to Annual Conference Youth Day. Visited by Bishop Kennedy who credited their “preacher,” the youth responded, no!, our youth pastor. Next Annual Conference, the Bishop insisted on me having a church of my own. 1962-1968 Pastor of Bisbee, St. Paul’s UMC. Tied record of pastor’s length of appointment is this mining Town. Earned FCC amateur radio license. Served as County Emergency Communications Officer. Served District Youth Director and Junior High camp dean. In response to Martin Luther King’s death, covenanted with God to accept and inner city appointment if asked. (Editor’s note: Author J A Jance has woman minister of Bisbee a character in a series of books about a woman Sheriff.) 1968-1973 Pastor of Capitol and St. Paul’s United Methodist Churches in the inner city of Phoenix. Developed a community youth night at St. Paul’s with attendance of approximately 200. Trained interns from Arizona State University. After 5 years in the inner city, my D.S. was open to 1 year off. 1973-1974 Year in small Colorado town, Telluride, CO. Attended a Holy Land Tour with my sister and family, just in time for the Yon Kippur War. We were stranded for 8 days at the Holy Land Christian Mission in Bethlehem serving Arabs, which included 100 bed children’s orthopedic hospital, a 200 student mission home and school, and relief for many widows, some of whom who lived in caves. The ministry was in my blood, so I spent time visiting in the hospital and doing activities with the school children, who brought me letters written in English at their school, although the children’s language was Arabic. When we finally were able to leave, I was asked it I would consider returning as a member of the mission staff. 1974-1977 Special appointment Chaplain of the Holy Land Christian Mission. Bethlehem Israel (West Bank) 1977-1983 Pastor of Warren and Bisbee United Methodist Churches near the Mexican border in Southern Arizona. 1983-1987 Pastor of Asbury UMC in Phoenix, AZ. With fewer families in the neighborhood, we had spare rooms now longer needed for Sunday School Classes. The allowed us to host 36 twelve step group meetings each week such as Alcoholics Anonymous. 1987-1993 Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Yuma, AZ. An adult Sunday School Class took on a mission project supporting high school students in San Luis Sonora, Mexico, so that they could stay in school. I took the offering monthly to the student(s), visited their pastors there, and visited them with their families looking over home work and such things. 1993-1997 Pastor Trinity UMC in Las Vegas, NV., one of the two largest Methodist in the city and the District, including a leading youth ministry program. I also served as the Conference Director of Junior High Ministry. 1997-2000 Pastor of Hope UMC, Bullhead City, AZ. 2000-present retirement in Telluride, CO.

In my years of ministry, I emphasized ministry with youth. I have served as Dean “Dean Don” for about 25 summer camps, District Director of Youth Ministry 5 times in four different Districts, Conference Director of Junior High Ministry on the Conference Council on Youth Ministries, and for a while was the only Certified Youth Ministry person in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. As an licensed Amateur Radio Operator, I have served as the Emergency Communication Officer in two different counties, and was an Arizona State Operator in Emergency Communications in the Capitol. Jeanne and I will celebrate out 54th wedding anniversary this June. We have three adult daughters and two sons-in-law.