Pastor's Bio

The Reverend Doctor Wallace Charles Smith is the Senior Minister of the historic Shiloh Baptist Church, one of the oldest African American Churches in Washington, DC.  He also serves as the Dean of the Wallace Charles Smith School of Church Leadership at Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

            A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Smith was graduated from Villanova University in 1970.  He received the Master of Divinity degree (1974) and the Doctor of Ministry degree (1979) from the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

             Dr. Smith’s ministerial career includes the pastorate of two outstanding congregations: First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, Nashville, Tennessee (1985-1991) and Calvary Baptist Church, Chester, Pennsylvania (1974-1985), where Dr. Martin Luther King served as student intern while attending Crozier Baptist Seminary.

             In addition to his pastoral career, he served as Professor of the Practice of Ministry at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee (1988-1991) and Assistant Professor for Practical Theology at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (1979-1985) where he was the first African American to be appointed to full time Faculty status.  Dr. Smith has also served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Howard Divinity School and Wesley Theological Seminary, both located in Washington, DC.

  Dr. Smith has traveled extensively and has preached on four continents.  He served as a member of a reconciliation team that worked to bring black and white Baptists together in South Africa, and participated in a successful evangelistic tour to Cuba where he lectured and preached in seminaries and churches.

             Among his many community responsibilities, Dr. Smith is a member of the 1994 Class of Leadership Washington, a board member of the Interfaith Council of Washington, DC and Vicinity and the United Black Fund of the National Capitol Area United Way.  He has also received numerous invitations to attend official White House functions, including the signing of the historic Israel-Palestine Peace Accord.

             Dr. Smith is a longtime member of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. where he has taught leadership courses, led seminars and served in various capacities. 

 He has been a contributing editor for The Pulpit Digest and has written numerous articles, including guest editorials for the Washington Post.  He is the author of The Church in the Life of the Black Family, published by Judson Press, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  The book is now in its sixth printing.

             An ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches, USA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., Dr. Smith continues to serve in a number of ecumenical and civic associations.  Among his many awards, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith presented him the 1994 Distinguished Service Award.