An ordained Minister of Word & Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Robert has served in a variety of ministerial contexts. Robert was ordained in 2004 to serve as pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in the rural, unincorporated town of Coryell City, Texas. His next call was as the Lutheran Campus Pastor for the University of Chicago.

From there, Robert was called to serve in the Global Mission Unit of the Churchwide expression of the ELCA. That began a career of administrative and academic ministry which continues to this day.

After time in Jerusalem working with the University of Notre Dame, Robert returned to Texas. There, he served as an Associate to the Bishop for the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod of the ELCA, and director of the Briarwood Leadership Center. During the height of Covid concerns, Robert took on interim duties in several DFW-area locations.

When Robert took on a full-time academic position with the University of North Texas, he was happy to do so under continued synodical call, extending his ministry far beyond church spaces.

Red Power, Black Power, and Critical Race Theory | Vine Deloria, Jr. Theological Symposium 2024

Symposium Keynote - Rev. Dr. Robert O. Smith (Chickasaw ELCA Pastor)

The Vine Deloria, Jr. Theological Symposium celebrates the life and legacy of LSTC alumni Vine Deloria, Jr., author, historian, and activist for American Indian rights. The focus of this year’s symposium is Vine Deloria’s first book “Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto”, where he highlights the challenges imposed upon Indigenous people by non-Native people, the U.S. government, churches, and others.