After earning an Associate of Arts degree from Concordia Junior College in Bronxville, New York, and his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Theology, and Doctor of Theology degrees from Concordia Seminary, Smith served as pastor of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Chappaqua, New York from 1959 to 1968.
[1] After the theological dispute in 1974, which led to the dismissal of Smith and roughly 40 dissident professors, he helped form the seminary formally called Christ Seminary-Seminex.
The dismissed faculty members, along with the vast majority of Concordia's 750 students, continued their studies "in exile" for nine years in St. Louis.
[2] Throughout his career, Smith wrote numerous articles and books, mostly on the New Testament, and for more than a decade, he edited "Preaching Helps" in the magazine Currents in Theology and Mission.
"Smith did not merely teach scripture, he captured its spirit and showed its relevance to present day concerns," according to a statement made by PLTS.
Donna Duensing in 1993; they traveled widely in Greece, Turkey, and Italy, led tours to the Holy Land, and occasionally even taught together in the Graduate Theological Union, where Duensing served as director of contextual education at PLTS from 1989 to 1998, and later at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California from 2000 to 2005.