Dean Smedley

Equipping and Ministry Development Pastor

Dean was raised in a military family, spending most of his childhood in Florida. He went on to study at Samford University in Birmingham, earning a BA in Human Relations. While there, Dean became active in campus ministry, where he learned Bible study skills and grew in his faith. He found mentors who guided him in discipleship and inspired his passion for helping others deepen their spiritual journeys through intentional relationships.

After graduating, Dean joined a church community in Birmingham and served several years as Director of the Single Adult Ministry. During this period, he also attended Beeson Divinity School and earned his Master of Divinity degree. In 2015, Dean moved to Columbia for a position in higher education. He quickly connected with Columbia Presbyterian Church, where he took on various leadership roles, including deacon and small group leader. Dean’s involvement in the local church and a local men’s ministry fueled his desire to support others as they seek a deeper relationship with God amid life’s challenges. His experience also includes work in education, corporate business, and nonprofits before joining the Waypoint Community Church family.

Dean is dedicated to serving the Church by equipping its members for ministry, emphasizing intentional discipleship, fostering an authentic relationship with God, growth in the knowledge of the love of Christ, and displaying that love to others.

Ephesians 3:14-19 – “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.“