Introduction
Novella Denise Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in a Jamaican household. She is currently assigned to her home church, the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, as its Associate Pastor. She began her service at Metropolitan as its Youth Pastor in July, 2016. As a result she has had the pleasure of serving in that assignment with Pastors Trevor Kinlock (2016-present) and Alex Royes (2016-2017). During that time frame the trio served together in Evangelistic campaigns, community engagements, leadership conferences, baptisms and the launch of two worship services on Saturdays. Pastor Smith was ordained into gospel ministry by the Allegheny East Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on July 3rd, 2020, and now serves as the church’s Associate Pastor.
Leadership Development
Prior to becoming the Youth Pastor of Metropolitan, Smith was a youth leader there. She was appointed as an elder at the age of 19 and was ordained as such at the age of 20. She has served Metropolitan as an elder (12 years), teen M=ministry leader (3 years), Pathfinder drum corp leader (7 years), youth Bible study teacher, and many other mentoring and leadership roles.
Professional Development
Pastor Smith graduated from Washington Adventist University in 2011 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Health Care Administration. She has worked in various aspects of healthcare including claims reconciliations, human resources, and accounts management – in the Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Home Health, and Prosthetic and Orthotic sector. In 2015 she received a Masters of Arts degree in Religion with an emphasis in Ethical Leadership from Washington Adventist University.
Career Development
As an employee of the Allegheny East Conference, she has served the Washington Metro Area Ministerium as its Youth Liaison and has led the Teen Tent during its camp meetings.
International and Domestic Outreach
Pastor Smith has had the opportunity to preach and serve in three mission trips with the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her first trip was to Loiza, Puerto Rico, where she preached nightly with the assistance of an interpreter. The Puerto Rico mission took place after the disastrous hurricanes Irma and Maria and the city of Loiza had sustained major damage. The mission team completed several building projects, distributed staple food items/toiletries and various gifts to those in need and and provided new tires for the car of the local pastor.
Led by the Spirit, the second mission trip she participated in was to La Ceiba, Honduras, in 2019. That trip included a building project, medical care, evangelistic outreach, creative children’s programs and community food distribution.
Her third mission trip was organized as a youth response to hurricane Michael to Panama City Beach, Florida. The team served a men’s shelter and a women’s recovery house. The missions yielded 45 baptisms.
Pastor Smith also led the church’s hurricane relief efforts to Texas, St. Thomas, St. Croix, the Bahamas, Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda, overseeing the shipping of more than 31 barrels of relief items to those regions.
Local Outreach
One of Pastor Smith’s areas of responsibilities at Metropolitan included the adoption of a community center and two public schools. She successfully secured a $15,000 grant to meet the needs in those schools. The funds have allowed Metropolitan to provide back-to-school supplies and spring gift bags for the students for the past couple of years. The church has also presented at school assemblies, and was able to provide assistance to an emergency request during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her work at the community center included providing back-to-school supplies, hosting community block parties, conducting school assemblies, organizing financial literacy training and barber training for the youth who use the community center.
Media Outreach
Pastor Smith is a participant on the Hope Channel’s Talk Show: Let’s Talk. She also serves as a writer for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventist Women’s Ministries blog called Gorgeous to God and enjoys being the creator and host of the in-house media production Does God Care? -Testimonials about life-altering experiences.
Hobbies
Her hobbies include: Card Making, auto detailing, Nikon Photography, blog writing-Low Cut Gospel, traveling, cooking, floral arranging, spending time with her niece, nephew and the youth.
Personal Mission
Pastor Novella Denise Smith genuinely desires to see all people function at their maximum potential. Thus, she encourages all to seek God for clarity, to be honest with themselves, to serve and to grow.