Ryan Smith

Ryan Smith is the Creative Faculty Head at C3 College, a lecturer and a generations pastor at C3 Church in Oxford Falls. He was the Music Director at Oxford Falls from 2004 until 2016 and has been involved in over 20 praise and worship releases over the last 20 years. He has travelled to minister in the USA, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia and played and led worship at countless conferences and services. He wrote some well-known C3 worship songs such as Hiding Place and Holy Spirit, among many others, and has recorded 3 of his own albums. Ryan has been married, to his beautiful wife Michelle, for 23 years and they have three incredible teenagers, Maddison, Mikayla and Lachlan.

For as long as I can remember I wanted to play music and be creative. I knew it from a young age and never considered a life without it. Playing music has been the pathway for me to experience God’s Spirit and for the last 40 years I have been on a creative journey, becoming better on my instrument and also more intimate with my Creator. If there are things that I have learned about creativity and ministry, it’s that our gifts exist to bring us joy and fulfilment and they can be an offering to God in worship. When we have been graced with gifts and potential in the area of music and the arts, we have a responsibility to develop them. This is where worship reaches its full potential for the artist.

I absolutely love the great satisfaction that I get from playing music in sacred and secular contexts but when I followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit into a life of consecration over 20 years ago and embraced the sacrifice of separating myself to lead people from the guitar in worship, I discovered something that can come no other way. Through consecrating my gift and relying on the Holy Spirit to show me what to play and what not to play I began to experience the power of the anointing and how our gifts were never meant to function without it.

When God’s gifts to us are given back to him in worship and sacrifice the result is hard to explain. We find ourselves equipped for a far bigger dimension than just satisfaction and enjoyment. We discover purpose and eternal significance that eclipses the temporary moments we have here on earth.