First Southern Baptist Church of Great Bend is hosting a weekend celebration for Pastor Doyle Smith and his wife Carol. The public is invited to a reception honoring them at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 21 in the church annex at 3301 19th St. A short program will follow at 8 p.m.
The Smiths have faithfully served the Great Bend church for 40 years, and have been involved in the ministry and mission projects of numerous area churches, said Marla Brocher at the church.
Their first son was born in February of 1972 and the Smiths arrived in Great Bend that April. Back then, their time was split between Great Bend and a church in Larned. The Rev. Smith would preach an early morning service every Sunday in Larned before the regular service in Great Bend, then conduct an early evening service in Great Bend before the evening service in Larned. There were Wednesday night services in Great Bend and Thursday services in Larned. He also traveled to La Crosse on Tuesday nights for Bible studies in people’s homes.
The Larned and Great Bend churches grew until each had its own pastor.
Today, First South Baptist Church in Great Bend has a 10:45 a.m. worship service on Sundays, as well as evening services on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Rev. Smith also preaches in Hoisington at 9 a.m. on Sundays, to help reestablish a church that had closed.
Four decades have brought a lot of changes.
“I didn’t know how long I’d be here when I came,” Smith said.
In 1968 during an oilfield boom, members of First South Baptist Church started construction on the building at 3301 19th St. But before the building was completed the boom became a bust, and hundreds of people – including some of the church’s key members – moved away, Smith recalled. Those left behind were devout, and determined. For about a year, members spent every hour they could spare completing the building.
“The men of the church would come up every night and finish the building,” he said. Women would bring food and workers sometimes stayed until 10 p.m.
The Smiths arrived to a new building but a small congregation  – 40 or 50 members – that was saddled with about $200,000 in debt. After so much time focusing on finishing the building, it was time to focus on why the church was here at all.
“They were determined to make it work,” Smith said. First pastors from other denominations visited and talked about their ministries. “That summer, we had one night when we sat down and said, ‘Why are we here?’” Smith said. From those meetings the church adopted a mission statement based on Matthew 22:37-39. The mission was, and is, “To love God with all our hearts, souls, strength and mind, and to love others as ourselves,” Smith said.
Over the last 40 years, First South Baptist Church in Great Bend has helped many churches pay off building debt and has paid for pastor support for new churches in other cities in Kansas. It has also gone through two building expansions and two remodeling projects in Great Bend.
Also assisting churches with loans and investments is the Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Foundation, headquartered in Topeka. The Rev. Smith has served as president of that foundation for 10 years.