Pastor Lori
Pastor and music minister at FCC, and a daughter of this congregation. Pastor Lori Briscoe Smithey leads with faith, warmth, music, and a deep commitment to serving Chandler.
She grew up in these pews.
Pastor Lori's story at First Christian Church began long before she stood in the pulpit. This is the church that helped form her faith, surrounded her family, and gave her some of her earliest experiences in worship, music, and service.
Her path eventually brought her back to Chandler and back to FCC, this time to lead the congregation that had once helped raise her.
At home on a red dirt road.
Pastor Lori grew up right here and graduated from Chandler High School. She is as comfortable on a red dirt road as she is in the pulpit, a wife and mother of three whose days are full of the ordinary, good things of home: goats and bees, a garden, a couple of Great Pyrenees, and the kind of everyday stories that make her easy to know.
That down-to-earth life is a big part of why she connects so easily with the families of FCC.
Pastor, music minister, encourager.
At FCC, preaching and music are not separate parts of Pastor Lori’s ministry. She leads worship, preaches, provides pastoral care, and directs the choir and worship team that shape a Sunday service of familiar hymns, contemporary music, and the congregation’s own voices.
Her leadership is personal and practical. She notices what people can contribute, helps them find a place to use it, and keeps the church connected to the wider Chandler community — including the annual Community Gospel Concert, which she organizes and music-directs, with all proceeds benefiting a local charity.
Education & training
A lifetime of music and ministry training shapes how Pastor Lori leads worship and cares for the church.
Come worship with us.
The best way to meet Pastor Lori is on a Sunday. Plan a visit and introduce yourself. She would love to meet you.