Our New Pastor – Rev. Amos Smith

The son of a Foreign Service diplomat (dad) and an artist (mom), Amos Smith lived his first ten years overseas and finished his growing up years in Virginia. He has lived in Indonesia, Bolivia, Uganda, Yemen, and has traveled the world since. Highlights of Amos’ travels include a year of service work in Uganda, East Africa in 1989, a month long trip to Pechersk Lavra (a preeminent center of East Orthodox Christianity) in Kiev, Ukraine in 1990, a summer at a Gandhian Ashram in Bali, Indonesia in 1992, and a year-long India and Nepal adventure in 1993.

Amos earned a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Religion from The University of California at Santa Cruz in 1993, a Masters of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley in 1998, and a Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2008. Amos calls himself a lifelong student of two streams: Progressive Christianity and Contemplative Christianity.

Amos began his interest in religion when serving as an acolyte and crucifer at Saint George’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, where he developed a close relationship with the pastor. During college days, Amos became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Friends’ silent meetings for worship were Amos’s introduction to silent prayer and Contemplative Christianity. Amos found his way to the United Church of Christ in 1994, which he cherishes for its inclusive message and social justice witness. Of his journey he says, “I am ecumenical to my core.”

In 1999 Amos began his career as a United Church of Christ minister in Montana, at the base of the Absaroka Mountains. Amos, an avid backpacker and mountain climber, loved wandering the mountains. Since Montana Amos has served as an ordained minister for 13 years in Washington and Oregon.

Amos is a family man, hiker, amateur musician, Centering Prayer practitioner and retreat leader, and writer. His writing has been published widely and he anticipates the publication of his first book in 2013, titled Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots.

Cristianne, Amos’ spouse of four years, graduated from The University of Arizona with a Masters in Education in 2002. She has taught high school Spanish since 2003 and has led educational trips to Spain and Costa Rica.  Cris is a runner, reader, and Spanish culture enthusiast. Amos and Cris have two children: Mattea (11), who lives most of the time in Boulder, Colorado, and Luke (3).