Pastor Emeritus Rudolph Smith was born in Glenwood, Georgia, and has lived in Atlanta since the age of six.
Educated in Atlanta Public Schools, he graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1948. He attended Morehouse College 1948-51 and graduated from Morris Brown College in 1961. He received a Master of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in 1964, was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree from Warner Southern College in February 1991 and the Doctor of Humane Letters from Anderson University in June, 1991.
Following graduation from ITC, he taught high school English in Atlanta Public Schools for ten years. Having answered the call to ministry in 1950, he served as pastor in LaFayette, GA (1954-57), Glenwood, GA (1957-59), and Dublin, GA (1958-66) prior to founding Community Church of God in 1966. He resigned from teaching in 1974 to pastor full time.
Rev. Smith has served the Church of God at the local, state, and national level over many years. Offices and positions include: president of Georgia State Sunday School and Youth Convention (1950-55); counselor of boys and teacher for North Carolina Youth Camp (1957-1968); and founder of Georgia State Youth Camp (1961). He has also served as chair of the Georgia General Assembly of the Church of God and dean of the In Service Training Institute. He was a member of the Leadership Council of the Church of God (Anderson, IN); and chair of the National Budget Committee (Anderson, IN).
He is a founding member of Concerned Black Clergy in Atlanta, and is the Vice-Chair of the Trustee Board of Bay Ridge Christian College. He retired as pastor of Community Church of God in1998 and currently serves as Pastor Emeritus. He is recognized as a gifted teacher and expositor of the Bible.
Rev. Smith is married to the former Edna L. Knowles, a retired registered nurse. They have two children and five grandchildren. Son Michael, a graduate of ITC with two children, succeeded him as pastor of Community Church of God; daughter Cheryl Benefield, a retired educator, has three children and is a consultant.
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