OUR PASTOR
Pastor, Pediatric Oncologist, and champion for Christ
Bishop Smith's vision is to build the Kingdom of God by empowering God’s people.
OUR PASTOR
#drhoracesmith
Bishop Horace E. Smith, M.D. is a man gifted with a passion for God's Word coupled with a love for God's people. He has a contagious spirit of generosity that overflows in every facet of his life. As pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church and an attending physician specializing in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital), Dr. Horace E. Smith has treated bodies and souls for more than forty years.
Bishop Smith’s vision is uncompromisingly clear with one central principle—to build and develop the kingdom of God by empowering God’s people. In August of 2004, Bishop Smith was elevated to the office of Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. The P.A.W. has over 1.5 million members worldwide, including Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He served in this position until his two terms expired in 2010. (For more information on the PAW visit (www.pawinc.org)
Bishop Smith’s belief in God and the power of salvation and healing extends to his medical profession as a concerned and committed pediatrician for critically ill children. He served as Director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell/Thalassemia Program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital) for over 20 years, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, and is recognized world-wide as an outstanding pediatrician in his field. Some people believe that God and science don’t mix; that faith and medicine are worlds apart.
Through prayers and faith in God as a healer, Dr. Smith has seen God’s healing power reverse the course of illness in the lives of his patients. It is this culmination of faith and medicine that has brought about the 2010 release of his first book, Blood Works: the insights of a Pastor and Hematologist into the wonder and spiritual power of blood. Bishop Smith has been honored by numerous organizations including the Children’s Miracle Network, and featured in the local and national newspaper, magazine and television media. He currently serves on the boards of the historic Wabash YMCA, the Family Institute at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center-Community Health Advisory Board.
Bishop Smith has been happily married to Susan Davenport Smith since 1976. They met at the University of Illinois where Susan graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy. They have three beautiful daughters: Lauren Elrod, Rachel Horton, and Emily Green along with their sons-in-law Brian Elrod, Courtney Horton, Patrick Green, and seven grandchildren.
Bishop Horace E. Smith, M.D. in the News
Click here to read Bishop Smith's Commentary along with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich on Systemic Racism in the Chicago Tribune.
Watch Bishop Smith on ABC 7's Living While Black town hall on COVID-19 vaccine concerns in communities of color, hosted by Cheryl Burton.