First Baptist Church of Smithville,Tx.

Michael Murphy - Pastor

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I am happily married to my wife Tami for over 24 years. She works as a jewelry designer for LoneStar Silversmith. We have three wonderful children. Megan is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas and a teacher at Sky Ranch. Morgan is a Freshman at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. Micah is a Senior at Smithville High School.

I was saved at eleven years of age through a bus ministry at Cross Road Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas. At age 18, I surrendered my life to the Gospel Ministry and began to share God's Word. I earned a Bachelor in Christian Ministry from ETBU in Marshall, Texas in 1984. I then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. After one year of study, I took a full-time pastorate and never returned to finish my Master's degree.

I have pastored Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas, First Baptist Church in Ore City, Texas, Parkview Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas, and finally we moved here to Smithville at First Baptist Church in August 2004.

Dago Gonzalez - Music Minister

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Welcome to First Baptist Church Smithville. My name is Dago Gonzalez and I am the music minister here at FBC Smithville.  I am also a teacher at Cedar Creek Middle School in Bastrop.  I teach band 6-8^th grades.  I have been teaching for 8 years and have been the music minister since the summer of 2005. 

 I was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas and am the youngest of 3 boys. I graduated from Pace High School in Brownsville in 1996 and then attended West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.  I majored in music education and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music Education.  My main instrument is the tuba! I was involved in many activities in college, Kappa Kappa Psi being one of them. KKY is a music service fraternity that serves the collegiate band.  It was through this organization that I met my wife Carrie.  Carrie was in Tau Beta Sigma the sister sorority to KKY.  Carrie and I dated for 2 years and were married in June 2002.  We moved to Granbury, Texas where I had my first teaching job. Carrie transferred to Tarleton State University and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts.  After 3 years of marriage Carrie and I were blessed with our first daughter Aliyah Marie.  Ali is 4 years old and attends Brown Primary School in Smithville.  While Carrie was pregnant with Ali we moved to Smithville. In fact our very first time to visit FBC Smithville, Ali was not even born yet!

 As a small child I did not attend church. When I was in sixth grade a teacher invited me to attend First Baptist Church in Brownsville. I attended church throughout junior high and high school.  I asked Jesus into my heart but was never baptized.  My wife and I attended church off and on but were never active until moving to Smithville. We felt it was very important to find a church home with our first child on the way.  From the moment we stepped into FBC Smithville, we felt instantly at home. Little did we know the plans God had for us! In December 2005, we joined the church and I was baptized.  Later that summer we began to pray for God to show us a way to become even more involved at FBC.  That prayer was answered in a way we never expected! I was asked to serve as Music Minister. What a blessing to serve God in the church you were baptized in! In September 2006 we joined the C.O.U.P.L.E.S. class and again were so blessed by what God had in store for us.  In June 2008 we were blessed with our second daughter Maiyah Catherine. Maiyah is 16 months old and is a bundle of energy! Our two beautiful daughters are truly a gift from God. 

 Our family stays very busy with FBC Smithville. Carrie is the VBS director, Children’s Choir director and Chairman of the Children’s Committee. She also volunteers in Children’s Church.  Ali is in Mission Friends and Maiyah of course keeps our wonderful nursery staff busy! We thank God everyday for planting us where we could grow. We hope to continue to grow at FBC Smithville! God Bless!