Dr. Kitty Smith was honored for 20 years of services as pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Buckingham County, during a time when there were few African-American women in the area serving as pastors.

The ceremony took place Sunday and congregation members, friends and family members attended to pay tribute to her service.

Smith said being a pastor was not her first choice of vocation. In fact, she worked nearly 20 years with the Social Security Administration, where she was honored by former first lady Patricia Nixon and delivered workshops on sexual harassment in the workplace before awareness of those issues became widespread.

Smith feels her extraordinary life prepared her to blaze trails, both in the work sector and in ministry.

Smith was born in Maryland, having 17 brothers and sisters. She said she was the only child her parents had together.

Smith worked as National Director of Volunteer Services for the Social Security Administration in the early 70s. She said the administration wanted her to find a way to get employees to volunteer in social security-related fields in the community. Smith said she was surprised by the turnout the program received.

“No one thought it was going to reach the heights it did,” Smith said. “It was pretty much, ‘Kitty, we need you to see if you can get employees to go out and help in the community.’ and I did, and it just kept growing and growing. At one point I had 900 employees working with me in a wide range of community activities.”

Smith was one of a few people to be honored by Nixon in 1975. In the morning, she had tea at the White House with Nixon. In the evening she received a national volunteer award at the Kennedy Center.

She said it was the “most extraordinary experience of my life.”

“That’s why my family kept calling me a trailblazer, because I ended up in so many unusual situations,” Smith said.

Smith, after that experience, was promoted to the National Federal Women’s Program Manager for the Social Security Administration.

There, she traveled around the country to each of the nine regional offices in the administration and taught workshops on sexual harassment and equality for women.

She said the nearly two decades she worked with the Social Security Administration, particularly in understanding gender equality training, prepared her for some of the challenges entering ministry as a woman.

She said she was chosen as pastor in 1998, and in the early parts of her ministry, experienced

Dr. Kitty Smith was honored for 20 years of services as pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Buckingham County, during a time when there were few African-American women in the area serving as pastors.

The ceremony took place Sunday and congregation members, friends and family members attended to pay tribute to her service.

Smith said being a pastor was not her first choice of vocation. In fact, she worked nearly 20 years with the Social Security Administration, where she was honored by former first lady Patricia Nixon and delivered workshops on sexual harassment in the workplace before awareness of those issues became widespread.

Smith feels her extraordinary life prepared her to blaze trails, both in the work sector and in ministry.

Smith was born in Maryland, having 17 brothers and sisters. She said she was the only child her parents had together.

Smith worked as National Director of Volunteer Services for the Social Security Administration in the early 70s. She said the administration wanted her to find a way to get employees to volunteer in social security-related fields in the community. Smith said she was surprised by the turnout the program received.

“No one thought it was going to reach the heights it did,” Smith said. “It was pretty much, ‘Kitty, we need you to see if you can get employees to go out and help in the community.’ and I did, and it just kept growing and growing. At one point I had 900 employees working with me in a wide range of community activities.”

Smith was one of a few people to be honored by Nixon in 1975. In the morning, she had tea at the White House with Nixon. In the evening she received a national volunteer award at the Kennedy Center.

She said it was the “most extraordinary experience of my life.”

“That’s why my family kept calling me a trailblazer, because I ended up in so many unusual situations,” Smith said.

Smith, after that experience, was promoted to the National Federal Women’s Program Manager for the Social Security Administration.

There, she traveled around the country to each of the nine regional offices in the administration and taught workshops on sexual harassment and equality for women.

She said the nearly two decades she worked with the Social Security Administration, particularly in understanding gender equality training, prepared her for some of the challenges entering ministry as a woman.

She said she was chosen as pastor in 1998, and in the early parts of her ministry, experienced challenges among male pastors and among congregation members.

“I really feel that my professional experiences prepared me for a lot of this,” Smith said.

In one instance, she was asked to speak at a church’s women’s day event. She was then told that the pastor of that church wanted her to speak on the floor, and she wasn’t allowed to come up to the altar.

Another experience, she said, was being asked to give a eulogy for a pastor who had died. She said most of the male pastors would not sit in the pulpit with her.

She said she wondered if it came from the belief that women weren’t to be pastors or teach men.

Smith noted that people may not realize the challenges of being a woman and a pastor.

“They think of a woman in ministry and oh that’s so nice, she’s probably a nice person, but I don’t think they fully appreciate the challenges a woman would have as a pastor versus a man,” Smith said.

She said her hope is that her story can encourage and empower other women, particularly women pastors.

“Being a female pastor is not a glamorous job,” Smith said. “There are some real challenges there.”

Smith was a widow for a majority of her pastoral career. She joked that if a widower were in her place, they would receive a chicken dinner every Sunday.

She said she moved to Charlotte Court House with her husband in the 90s, and joked she could not find Charlotte County on the map. She went on to attend Jericho Baptist Church and described Dr. James Taylor and his wife as family.

“Dr. Taylor and his wife became family for me in the truest sense of the word,” Smith said. “He was my mentor. He was my brother. There were days where he was my older brother, and then there were days he was my little brother, same thing with his wife. They are just very precious, special to me, and helped me to get through many of the challenges I have faced since coming to this area.”

Smith can add 20 years as a pastor to a list of extraordinary achievements, including receiving her doctorate at 63 and working as a legislative assistant for the Virginia General Assembly.

She said some of her achievements have been difficult, but said she is proud of what she has done and the people she has experienced them with.

“I am really proud of all of the things, all of my life experiences,” Smith said. “There’ve been some valleys as well as hills, but the hills have outnumbered the valleys.”