It’s been just over a year since Granger Smith shocked the country music world by announcing that he was leaving music behind to focus on ministry. And no doubt, the 44-year-old’s life looks very different now.
“If you were going to ask me six years ago if I could predict the next 10 years of my life, I would have thought you were crazy if you described any of the things that I’m doing now,” Mr. Smith recently told The Washington Times’ Higher Ground. “I’m traveling a lot, but speaking and not singing. I’m writing a lot, but it’s messages and not songs. I’m on the radio a lot, but not in my songs, it’s my talking. And so, yeah, my life is pretty different right now.”
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But his profession is not the only thing that has changed.
In 2019, Mr. Smith lost his 3-year-old son, River, in a tragic drowning accident. In addition to being the inspiration behind his new children’s book, “Up Toward the Light,” which was written to help kids deal with grief, it was also the turning point that helped him draw closer to God. That growing relationship ultimately led the veteran country music star to pursue ministry full-time.
“My passion seem[ed] to be decreasing in one area and raising in another area. And that’s kind of the beginning [of the end],” Mr. Smith said. “It was an uneasiness that just continued to grow and grow and grow until I was strangled by that uneasiness. And I just said, ‘Okay, I think I should give this up. You know, I don’t think this is right for me anymore.’ And once I did that and stepped into that, I felt peace.”
The husband and father of four, who is currently studying for a master’s degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, noted that one of the key things he’s learned since immersing himself in ministry is the importance of the local church. It’s something he experienced as a kid, but never got to enjoy as a singer-songwriter who was always on the road.
“I have learned to believe that the local church is the tip of the spear that will, that God will use to fulfill the Great Commission,” he said. “That is not something I did on a Sunday morning with my family. I did as a kid, but I’ve come to realize now that serving in that local church is, fundamentally, so much of what makes us a Christian… and enable[s] our spiritual gifts, the gifts that God has given us, whether that’s the gift of encouragement or the gift of teaching or the gift of serving, all these are acted on in the most precision in the aspect of a local body church.”
And while the “Backroad Song” singer hasn’t completely ruled out a return to music, and could see himself potentially releasing a gospel album in the future, he has no plans to ever return to touring. Of course, he now makes it a point to remain open to whatever and wherever he feels God calling him.
“I think [the past six years have been] a lesson for me that we plan responsibly and it’s good to dream, it’s good to plan and it’s good to put things in place, but the end result is just, it’s just not up to us,” he noted.
“Up Toward the Light” is now available everywhere books are sold.
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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