Pastor Search Committee Recommendation
The Pastor Search Committee of the Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock, Arkansas has unanimously recommended that Dr. Kyler Smith become the church’s eighteenth senior pastor in its 133-year history. He will preach in view of a call on December 7.
Dr. Smith serves as the Senior Associate Pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he leads the staff and shares the preaching responsibility with Rev. Clint Pressley, Senior Pastor and President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Before joining Hickory Grove’s pastoral staff in 2012, he served two churches in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Dr. Smith serves on the Board of Trustees for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina and was recently named to its Presidential Search Committee. He also serves as a trustee for the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina.
A native of Oklahoma City, Dr. Smith earned a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, an M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Th.M. and a Ph.D. in Preaching from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dr. Smith is married to Lauren and together they have a daughter, Eliza, and are expecting a second child in May 2026.
Dr. Smith serves as the Senior Associate Pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he leads the staff and shares the preaching responsibility with Rev. Clint Pressley, Senior Pastor and President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Before joining Hickory Grove’s pastoral staff in 2012, he served two churches in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Dr. Smith serves on the Board of Trustees for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina and was recently named to its Presidential Search Committee. He also serves as a trustee for the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina.
A native of Oklahoma City, Dr. Smith earned a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, an M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Th.M. and a Ph.D. in Preaching from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dr. Smith is married to Lauren and together they have a daughter, Eliza, and are expecting a second child in May 2026.