Granger Smith Announces He’s Leaving Country Music For Ministry

The singer Granger Smith has just made the shocking announcement that he is leaving the country music world for ministry.

Smith Leaving Country Music For Ministry

Smith, 43, made this announcement on Tuesday in a video posted to his social media, revealing that his upcoming “Like a River” tour will be his last. This tour kicks off tomorrow night and is set to end on August 26.

“This message is so difficult to post,” he wrote in the caption of the video. “The words for this caption are so hard to find. Not because I don’t believe in the truth of them, but because this marks the end of the longest era in my life! Touring…24 years of it.”

“This summer will be my last tour,” Smith continued. “I am so encouraged and hopeful and excited and joyful about the next chapter, but to a large extent, I have no idea what it will look like. I just want to glorify God the best way that I can.”

“I want to learn and grow and serve my local church and allow my pastors to equip and affirm those next steps,” he concluded. “Lord willing, I want to be used to help people find their purpose.”

Smith’s ‘Been Attending Ministry’

In the video, Smith gave a lengthy explanation about why he’s come to this decision.

“I have felt a strong desire to pursue ministry, and this doesn’t mean I’m gonna start a church or a crusade or a revival,” he explained to his fans. “This means that me and my family are gonna serve our local church, we’re gonna pour into that church as members, and have my pastors and elders pour into me and disciple me and teach me as I sit under their wise teaching.”

“And then, Lord willing, one day they can affirm me into the next steps of what that might look like to glorify God best from my platform,” he added. “I’ve also been attending seminary…and that just takes a ton of time to pursue my MA there. This is a time of learning and growing for me and that may explain to some of you why I’ve appeared maybe distant, especially to music lately.”

Check out Smith’s full video on this below.

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‘This Is A New Passion’

Smith further opened up about his decision to People Magazine, saying that he wants to kick off his ministry by focusing on his local church.

“Being a musician was never a prison, but this is a new passion, a new focus, a new direction that I believe is going to allow me to focus more on individual people and their lives, which is ultimately why I started music touring in the very beginning,” Smith said. “This is an even more micro-focused position in that. I’m not going anywhere.”

Smith went on to say that he is expecting four different types of reactions to his announcement.

“The first group will say, ‘Oh, praise God, that’s amazing. What an example.’ The second group’s going to say, ‘Oh no, I’m going to miss your music. I’m going to miss your touring.’ The third group is going to say, ‘Oh, go follow your little sky God. You’re probably just making money that we don’t know about as a preacher.’ Then the fourth group is going to go, ‘Granger who? No one cares,'” he concluded. “That’s why I just want to be as honest as I can.”

Watch Smith talk more about this in the video below.

Smith Still Grieving His Son

This comes after a difficult few years for Smith, as his son River tragically drowned back in 2019 at the age of 3. The country music star recently credited his “faith” with getting him through the tragedy of losing his son.

“Well, it saved my life, essentially,” he told Fox News. “From the darkest of grief.”

“My wife and I lost our little boy,” he continued. “River was 3 years old, and we went down a journey that I thought I could fix on my own with self-help and self-improvement and exercise and positivity and visualization, meditation and devotionals. I thought I could just mend it, fix it and move on, and I couldn’t.”

Smith and his wife Amber Bartlett, who he’s been married to since 2010, are also parents to London, Lincoln and Maverick, the last of whom was born two years after River’s death.

Related: Granger Smith’s Wife Shares What Happened to Their Son’s Organs

While we will dearly miss Smith’s voice in the country music world, we can’t argue with someone leaving that industry to pursue such a godly path. We wish Smith the best of luck in his ministry, and may God be with him on this next journey!