Lisa Cole Smith

Pastor & Artistic Director

Lisa is an actor, director, pastor and creative entrepreneur in the Washington DC area. She received her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and worked as a professional actor for many years before attending seminary and seeking a way to merge her calling as an artist and a person of faith. While in school, she founded Shadows of Light Productions, a Theatre Company devoted to exploring the intersection of art, faith and the human experience. In 2006, she received her MTS degree from the John Leland Center for Theological Studies and founded Convergence: A Creative Community of Faith. She has served on the board of the NorthStar Church Network and Baptist News Global for which she writes periodic opinion columns on arts, culture and faith. She teaches classes at the John Leland Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary on the subjects of worship, theology and arts. Lisa is never happier than when she is staring up at the sky from her backyard hammock or deeply engrossed in some new creative project.