Fred Smith Jr., son of famous writer Fred Smith Sr., was born in 1931 on the mission field in India and moved back to the United States with his Family at the age of five. After high school Fred Jr. decided to attended Atlanta Christian College and becoming one of the four preaching brothers. While attending college, Fred Smith Jr. had preaching ministries at Tallapoosa, Georgia, and Union Christian Church in Atlanta. Fred Smith Jr. finally graduated from Oglethorpe University with an A.B. in Liberal Arts, but decided to further his education at Lincoln Christian Seminary. Aside from attending seminary school, Fred ministered with the Church of Christ in Havana, Illinois. Around the time of Fred’s ministry in Illinois, he married Madonna Brickler of Creve Coeur, Illinois. Fred and Madonna ended up having four children, three girls, Jaye, Joy, and Jan, and one son, Fred III[1].
In 1959, Fred was called to Jacksonville, Florida to work with Englewood Christian Church. Englewood Christian Church became known for leading in the efforts to start nine churches in the Jacksonville area and for its strong missions program. Fred was active in helping to develop North Florida Christian Service Camp, a program developed toward helping people make a decision to become a Christian as well as building Christians up in faith [2].
Fred Jr. also led in the establishment of Florida Christian College, serving as Chairmen of the Steering Committee, later becoming leader in the matching gifts program to Florida Christian College resulting in the significant percentage of money raised each year at Round up, a free event that allows Florida Christian College to reflect on the past, in turn providing a sense of renewal as it looks toward the future[3].
Fred also helped pioneer the Faith Promise Missionary Program, a program in which individuals are asked prayerfully to consider what amount of money God may be calling them to give for specific missionaries[4]. Fred Smith Jr. has held hundreds of Faith Promise Rallies during his ministry. Englewood Christian Church being involved, gave over 1.5 million dollars during Fred’s ministry. Fred has preached at many revivals, including Florida Christian Convention, where he served as president, and Southern Christian Convention. He has also spoken out at North American Christian Convention, Education Conferences and Evangelism seminars. Another form of service Fred served was on the board for Christianville in Haiti[5].
Fred Smith Jr. has achieved many things in his time of ministry one of his greatest projects being Florida Christian College. Fred was on the board of trustees for Florida Christian College Foundation and was Chairmen of the Florida Christian College Foundation. After a long happy life in ministry, Fred Smith Jr., at the age of 78, died on May 2, 2009. Fred Smith Jr. accomplished many things in his ministry and according to Arron Chambers from blog My Lord, My Blog, most of the churches Fred helped build are alive and well, but one is now the largest Christian church in the state of Florida with over 4,000 members. Arron writes of how Fred loved Englewood Christian Church so much he had served for almost 40 years as the Sr. Minister and even longer in retirement.[6]
In 1976 Fred Smith Jr. had a heart-attack that affected not only his family but the entire community. Smith Jr. had been cleaning the grounds of Englewood Christian Church in Jacksonville when he went into cardiac arrest. He was in intensive care for a few days and then released. This was not the only health scare Smith had on June, 10th of 1979 another health issue that rocked his life but it was just a scare.[7]