Sherman Smith Inspires Men at National Ministry Conference

Sherman Smiith is widely known as a longtime NFL running back and assistant coach or as a popular public speaker whose story was told in the faith-based movie “Show Me the Father.” Smith, however, is interested only in who God says he is.

“It starts for all of us, and especially for men, with understanding our purpose and identity, particularly for those who are in Christ,” he told Metro Voice. “I believe identity is the key to growing spiritually. Learn who and whose you are, and you will get your purpose from that. God created us to be difference-makers as men. As believers, we have to home in on what God says our purpose is and be committed to the vision that God has for us.”

Smith will be keynote speaker at the upcoming National Conference on Ministry to Men on November 15 at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs.

“This is the third time Sherman has been to Kansas City in the last four years,” said Rod Handley, founder and president of Character That Counts. “He’s an anointed communicator. You’ll be encouraged, inspired and challenged to be a Christ-centered man, husband and father.”

Smith said he will ask men to become all that God calls them to be.

“God has given me an opportunity to go out and encourage the body of Christ,” he said. “The title of my talk will be Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. In my life, I had the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants, the first and foremost being my dad. But up until college, I also had 24 other men involved in my life who affirmed, encouraged, challenged and instructed me. They weren’t responsible for feeding me physically and putting clothes on my back, but they fed my spirit.”

Along with Sherman’s keynote address, 15 nationally recognized speakers, including Handley, will lead timely workshop sessions. “In the final session, Sherman Smith and Jeff Kemp (former Seattle Seahawk teammates) will share on Lessons From the Pros,” Handley said.

Smith made national headlines when he was reunited with his biological son, Deland McCoullough, who coaches running backs for the Las Vegas Raiders. Remarkably, Smith coached his son as a player at Miami (Ohio) University without either of them knowing about their relationship. After learning they are father and son, the two men have forged a close bond. (“I consoled him after his Raiders got blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend,” Smith joked.

The NBC morning show “Today” heard about the miraculous story and interviewed Smith and McCullough for a segment that is scheduled to be broadcast on October 30. “We taped it on a weekend when Deland had a break from coaching for the Raiders,” Smith said. “We are looking forward to seeing it.”

He believes men who attend the conference will leave desiring to be better husbands, fathers, grandfathers and friends.

“You will be challenged and encouraged, but the biggest thing is the application,” Smith said. “If you take just one thing, whatever it is, commit to it and apply it to your life, watch that one thing change your life. I hope men leave with a mindset of understanding their purpose and the importance of their role as fathers and husbands. Leave differently than how you came, and take one thing and apply it.”

As the year winds down, Smith encourages men to lean into their God-given destiny in 2026.

“Spending quality time with your kids is really important,” he said. “Change your way of thinking about how you want to go forward, first of all as a man, because you can’t separate who you are as a man from who you are as a father. With the giants I had in my life, I knew they cared about me because of the time they spent with me.

“Somebody came up to me after a talk and said, `what you said is easier said than done.’ I told him no one said it’s going to be easy. God didn’t say it’s going to be easy, because you have a lot of things fighting against you, but it’s possible, because God said it is.”

The National Conference for Ministry to Men will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs, 4500 Little Blue Parkway in Independence. The $35 registration fee includes lunch, and discounts are available for groups of four or more. For more information or to registers, visit www.ncmm.org.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice