Country star leaves music to pursue calling in traditional ministry
When Jesus chose his disciples, they left everything and followed him. Likewise, a country music star has heard the call of God and is leaving his career and music tours to serve God at his local church and eventually lead a ministry of his own.
“This summer will be my last tour,” Granger Smith, writer of the 2015 hit Backroad Song, shared via his Instagram account. “I am so encouraged and hopeful and excited and joyful about the next chapter, but to a large extent, I have no idea what it will look like. I just want to glorify God the best way that I can. I want to learn and grow and serve my local church and allow my pastors to equip and affirm those next steps. Lord willing, I want to be used to help people find their purpose.”
Smith shared he has felt this call to ministry for quite some time and is now answering the call, though he said it was one of the hardest decisions he has made.
A difficult message to post
“This message is so difficult to post,” he wrote. “The words for this caption are so hard to find. Not because I don’t believe in the truth of them, but because this marks the end of the longest era in my life! Touring…24 years of it.”
Smith clarified that he will undergo extensive training and serve at his local church. He also revealed he is studying at a Baptist seminary to prepare him for the call to ministry.
“I have felt a strong desire to pursue ministry, and this doesn’t mean I’m gonna start a church or a crusade or a revival. This means that me and my family are gonna serve our local church, we’re gonna pour into that church as members, and have my pastors and elders pour into me and disciple me and teach me as I sit under their wise teaching. And then, Lord willing, one day they can affirm me into the next steps of what that might look like to glorify God best from my platform.”
Last tour after 24 years
Granger’s Like a River tour ends in August and he will transition then to focus on his faith calling more fully, along with his new book, a memoir, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache.” The book focuses on the tragic loss of Granger’s 3-year-old son, River, in a drowning incident, in 2019.
FoxNews.com reported that Smith shared in an interview that faith saved him through this time of deep and dark grief. “Well, it saved my life, essentially from the darkest of grief. My wife and I lost our little boy. River was 3 years old, and we went down a journey that I thought I could fix on my own with self-help and self-improvement and exercise and positivity and visualization, meditation and devotionals. I thought I could just mend it, fix it and move on, and I couldn’t.”
Yet it was through this tragedy that Smith’s faith was tested and strengthened and now he’s ready to share it with others in ministry.
