ROWLETT, TX
It’s a sleepy little suburb about 10 miles east of Dallas proper. Unfortunately it’s only real claim of notoriety is the infamous Darlie Routier murder case from 1996. There are lots of subdivisions, local pride, and a church on just about every corner. One of those churches that you might just miss if you drove by it too fast on Lakeview Parkway, is Victory Baptist Church.
Victory Baptist Church had a little bit of a history and it didn’t take more than a few keystrokes to discover that the lead pastor, Terry Smith, had a very bad history.
who is Terry smith?
According to his LinkedIn profile, ‘Dr.’ Terry Smith graduated from Tennessee Temple University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in History & Bible. While not listed on his profile, according to this website, he went on to become the senior pastor of Longview Baptist Temple in 1968, at the recommendation of none other than Dr. Jack Hyles, of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Now this is where the story gets interesting.
I am quite familiar with Jack Hyles, David Hyles, Hyles-Anderson College, the Independent Fundamental Baptists – all of it. In my opinion, more clergy abusers have come out of that movement, in particular Hyles-Anderson College, than any other. That includes my own abuser. I know the way they think, the way they act, their tactics and how downright evil they can be.
I came across a website called ‘The Biblical Evangelist‘, which I had actually read before some years before. What I read today, however, (that I would have never cared about when I read the articles years ago) made sense to me now. There were a couple of paragraphs about ‘The Famous Smith Brothers’- Tim, Terry & Tom. They were all products of FBC Hammond, also friends of David Hyles (read about him here) and were somewhat famous in the IFB culture. What a coincidence!
After Terry graduated college, he was an associate pastor at Galilean Baptist Church on Tenth Street in Dallas, Texas. This church was founded by Dr. John R. Rice of the Sword of the Lord. Terry was an associate pastor to Tom Bridges. He then moved on to Longview Baptist Temple, and according to LBT’s website, Jack Hyles recommended the ‘young assistant pastor’.
Terry Smith does not list any of this information on his LinkedIn profile.
A Photo from the 'lbt' history website
canyon creek baptist church
Terry Smith left Longview Baptist Temple in 1978 and became the senior pastor of Canyon Creek Baptist Church in Richardson. In the midst of a financial crisis, Smith was brought on in the hopes that he would boost attendance and restore stability to the shrinking congregation. By all accounts he accomplished that goal, but by 1986, accusations started to surface that Smith was having affairs and had sexually harrassed several female employees & volunteers at the church. Once formal complaints were made, several more women came forward alleging affairs or inappropriate sexual conduct by Terry Smith, making a total of seven women in all. Some of these allegations of sexual misconduct were in the context of counseling situations.
But that wasn’t all…..
Terry Smith was hiding a salacious little secret from everyone. In September 1982, he was arrested for shoplifting 3 packages of condoms from a Skaggs store in Plano, TX. He paid the $85 fine and told no one.
The accusations of sexual impropriety and arrest for theft were covered extensively in a December 1988 D Magazine article titled ‘God’s Man: Savior or Seducer’.
The Other Smith's
Tim Smith
According to the D Magazine article, Tim Smith was the principal of the Canyon Creek Academy, a private school run by the church. He was accused of “arbitrary, petty, and deceitful administration” during his tenure, and attendance waned. A background check revealed that when Tim was employed by Sheridan Rd. Baptist Church in Saginaw, MI in 1976, he had abused a 17 yr old student. He took her to Florida for 2 months, leaving his wife & children behind, devastating his family & the church. Tim is married to….wait for it…Jack Hyles’ daughter, Becky.
Tom Smith
The creepiest brother award goes to Tom. I’ve read several accounts of his ‘proclivities’, but the one that stands out to me is the wife-swapping. Yes, you read that correctly. WIFE-SWAPPING. Apparently, dear old Tom and a deacon (maybe more than one) at Phillips Drive Baptist Church in Georgia were involved in this, according to some comments on this website.
Also, according to the D Magazine article from Sept. 1988, when Terry was visiting Tom in Atlanta in 1979, he arranged for Terry to have sex with a woman he had been counseling, who was suicidal. He asked her to do this as a ‘favor’ for him. Tom later resigned from that church after it was discovered he was involved in another affair (clergy abuse).
The lawsuit
Accusations and magazine articles are one thing, but arrest records and lawsuits are another. While Terry Smith survived the fiery flames of public scrutiny, the gavel of justice came down on him in a Dallas County Courtroom.
After the initial article detailing his sexual misconduct (and financial mismanagement) at Canyon Creek Baptist was published in 1988, you might have expected that Terry Smith would have been fired, or at the very least he would have resigned for the sake of the church.
Nope.
In October 1989, with Terry Smith still at the helm as senior pastor at Canyon Creek, D Magazine published a follow-up article titled, ‘Guilty, But Who Cares?’ revealing that one of his accusers, Kristina Becker, had filed a lawsuit against him, and won. Four other women also gave depositions in the case and it was profiled on an episode of Inside Edition. While Judge Crier turned down the bulk of Becker’s monetary claim, she stated that Smith “would probably find further pastoring difficult if not impossible.”
I guess Terry Smith didn’t think so.
Victory Baptist Church
Based on what I could find online, Terry Smith was still at Canyon Creek Baptist until at least 1999, but by 2012 he had moved on to the senior pastor position at Victory Baptist in Rowlett. In this day and age, I find it shocking that he managed to outrun his past and that this church willingly took him on as their senior pastor. Of course we may never know what connections he has, since the independent fundamental baptists definitely operate within a ‘good ‘ol boys‘ network.
Terry’s wife Ruthie (pictured above) is apparently not just an innocent bystander in all of this. She was accused of financial mismanagement at Canyon Creek, where she was the financial secretary. It seems the Smith family helped themselves to some Christmas bonuses (in addition to Terry’s rumored six-figure salary). I wonder if Ruthie is running the finances at Victory Baptist as well.
is there more?
Terry Smith is not the only problem at Victory Baptist Church. In the process of investigating him, I came across more shocking allegations that I am currently investigating. What continues to astound me is how serial abusers jump from church to church, and bring other abusers with them. The only way to root them out is to EXPOSE THEM. Terry Smith has more victims. I have no doubt.
Terry Smith thinks he’s safe & sound – insulated at a small little church in a small suburb where nobody knows who he is. Not anymore.
*update
In January 2020, Terry Smith hosted Paige Patterson at Victory Baptist Church and presented him with the ‘Defender of the Faith’ award. The Houston Chronicle wrote a follow-up story on Terry Smith, which you can read here. Victory Baptist Church has since left the SBC.
Recently, many of us who graduated from Canyon Creek Christian Academy in the late 80s and early 90s, gathered. We each shared, again as we have countless times before, our own stories of survival. We spent formidable years under the control, rage, and scrutiny of Terry Smith and his brothers. We discussed our scars and the demons we’ve carried throughout our lives as a result. Though our experiences vary, we have one thing in common. We all wonder how they got away with it. If this happened today, I believe that Terry, Tim, and Tom would be held accountable for… Read more »
I only went to the school for 1 year, 9th grade (‘91-‘92). So many crazy things happened that year. Were you there then? I would like to chat if so. Thanks
I attended Canyon Creek Baptist as a child and remember Dr. Smith well. Tom Smith was a guest pastor at Canyon Creek once. Just before the scandal broke there I remember he preemptively gave a sermon about how Satan tries to tempt God’s servants and as a result how careful he had to be not to counsel women without leaving a door open, because he had a responsibility to be above reproach and ensure that the devil couldn’t attack the church through false accusations of impropriety. Smith was a gaslighter and a liar even then. Like I said, this was… Read more »
I attended Forest Park Christian School in Forest Park, Ga. from 1982-1985 (9th-10th-11th grade) and can firmly attest to Boris Falsenames claims of ruthless and evil…I think he put it very lightly…some of these kids that came out of these school environments were psychologically scarred for life…while attending “these” type of schools, you always had to be on the lookout for what was going to happen to YOU next…a most FAVORITE thing to do to the boys who would not break would be to physically harm them by introducing corporal punishment into your daily school routine…great….I was constantly on the… Read more »
You guys are a bunch of un happy gossip mongers spreading gossip and unfounded lies under the guise of truth…ridiculous…may God help you with the wrath of your tongues….and then ill yell ya im certain none of ya will make it to heaven….pure evil…wow shame on you guys….
Lori, you are the evil one here. Look up Wendi Rees’ testimony on YouTube, how her dad pastor Tom Smith began sexually abusing her from age eleven. You have no heart for victims, no compassion for their pain, you smug, self-righteous jerk. My abuse began at age 14, and people like you were the reason I suffered in silence, because I knew as a terrified kid I would not be believed. You disgust me.
I don’t EVER recall your name in any schoolbooks from this “HELLHOLE”….sowhat are you flapping your typewriter keys at? DISINFO PSYOP for the “Smiths” legacy is what YOU are….probably one of their disgruntled gransons standing up for that outstanding family name!!
I can only assume that 2 years ago when you published your opinion above that you were under the control of one of the Smith brothers. If so, I hope you found your way out. If not, I hope someone reminded you that being “certain none of ya make it to heaven,” isn’t biblical. There is one requirement for entering heaven, John 3:16.
My mother taught at Canyon Creek Christian Academy. I can vouch that Boris’ account as truth. As my mother’s children, we were forced to attend the Academy. I hated it. I had a male 6th grade teacher that wanted to administer corporal punishment on me for giving him a strange look during class. When things got really heated with the sexual misconduct of Terry Smith, he then forced all academy staff and their families to attend and tithe to Canyon Creek Baptist Church. Terry, his wife Ruthie, and their children all had the best of the best, including really expensive… Read more »
I attended that church and graduated from the school. Canyon Creek (and the Smiths) are in the top 5 reasons I will never step foot in another Baptist church. My aunts taught there for about 30 years. You probably had one of them as a teacher.
This proclivity and the ability to pull it off starts with the hyper-complementarian doctrine that views women as less than the equal of men. Even the women see themselves that way in these churches, which makes them not only easy prey but forgiving victims (the wives). It is bad seed that so often reaps a terrible harvest.
Last I’d heard “Brother Terry” had become a financial planner and stockbroker after they canned him at Canyon Creek. He wrote a letter to a friend who shared with me how he had realized his sin and how he was now content to step out of the pulpit and such. These guys need adoration, they have this great skill and charisma where they can motivate people to blindly follow and give money, and they will always return to a pulpit like buzzards to a carcass. I knew all three Smith Brothers in the seventies in my early teens. I attended… Read more »
We were members of LBT early 70’s & were married there. {Jenny St.} We worked on the buses, helped in junior church & were choir members. Pastor Smith preached that God hated people who lead others astray. A Christian should always live a rightous life. Let others see Christ in you. Be a good example & lead others to God. Terry Smith you have lied to un saved people. You no longer have {God,s hand on your ministery) Enjoy your filthy life now. You always said “God hates sin” Did you mean any of the sermons you preached? I do… Read more »
A few years ago, I also tried to determine the Smith brothers’ past after seeing them mentioned in Sumner’s exposé of Hyles. I’ve almost never heard anything about Becky and Tim, but believe they’re still married, since I couldn’t find anything else about them. I’ve read articles in the Dallas D Magazine, tried to piece the Smith brothers’ actions together, and tried to find photos also. This is such a beautiful blog, and your article put it together so clearly. I was googling another connection of Hyles named Smith, after someone had mentioned him to me, and found this article.… Read more »
Smiths are doing great God is richly blessing. He who is without sin let him cast the first stone. The tongue and gossips under the guise of spiritual leaders and people who feel they are in the know with their pious attitude bare the first to be judged by God. Many people who like to judge pastors and higher up in the church once they have fallen love to smash them down and be judgmental and not lift them up or just keep their mouths shut as the Lord would have them do. Judi g and downing others in leadership… Read more »