Country artist Conner Smith was a guest on a faith-based podcast on Dec. 3, and he opened up about the fatal car accident he was involved in over the summer.(Photo credit: The Upload with Brooke Taylor / YouTube)
Conner Smith Speaks On Faith-Based Podcast Regarding Fatal Accident He Was Involved In
Recently, the faith-based podcast The Upload with Brooke Taylor has had several country artists on to discuss their lives and work in light of their Christianity.
Guests have included Walker Hayes, Chris Lane, and Tyler Hubbard.
This week, on the December 3 episode, Conner Smith had his chance to talk about his walk with Christ. This interview was particularly notable as Conner used it to speak on the fatal car accident he was involved in this summer.
Looking to a tattoo on his hand, which simply reads “abide” in Hebrew as a reference to Psalm 91, Conner told podcast host Brooke Taylor and her co-host, Pastor Mark Evans — who happens to be the pastor at the church Conner attends, Futures Church in Franklin, Tennessee — about the significance of abiding in Christ.
“It’s just this idea that I feel like the Lord has been teaching me recently, of what does it look like to constantly abide in Him, constantly recalibrating,” Conner stated. “How do I constantly abide in Christ, over and over again?”
Further, he went on to say, “I feel, like, over the past few years, it’s been a process of, like, moving into peace … No matter what comes, no matter how hard the trial is, there has been a peace that has defined my life.”
Such a trial came on June 8…
About The Fatal Accident
Country artist Conner Smith, 25, was charged with a misdemeanor on July 11 in connection to a fatal accident he was involved in on June 8 in downtown Nashville.
As a 77-year-old pedestrian, named Dorothy Dobbins, crossed the street, Conner accidentally struck her while driving his Chevrolet Silverado. After the woman was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she died as a result of her injuries.
While Conner was reported to have not been under the influence, he was charged with a Class A misdemeanor, for “Failure to Yield the Right of Way Resulting in Death.”
Known for his songs like “I Hate Alabama” and “Creek Will Rise,” Conner took some time away from performing, noting on Facebook on July 11:
“… My heart is broken in a way I’ve never experienced, and I still struggle to fully process the weight of it all. I ask that you continue to lift the Dobbins family up in prayer by name, asking for God’s peace to surround them each day… I’m thankful to serve a God who is near to the brokenhearted, and I have leaned on Him every step of the way.”
Before citing Psalm 91, he added, “Through tragedy, I have learned that God is more faithful than I could have ever known before.”
WATCH Conner Speak On ‘The Upload’ Podcast About The Accident
Before the car accident happened, Conner said he had been praying for three different things in his life from God:
Increased tenderness in his spirit;
Allow everything he knew of God’s truth to go from his mind to his heart; and
For God to lead him on a process of finding that God is everything he needs.
Since then, Conner told the podcast hosts, “So here comes this trial that I just can’t fathom, but in that, all of those prayers were answered through the prayer of Christ.”
Pastor Evans then asked, “What was it like to be Conner in that moment?”
Choking up, Conner lowered his head and answered, “On June the 8th, I was involved in an accident that caused someone to lose their life. It was so out of nowhere … Just like in a moment, it’s like a tornado runs through your house, and there’s so much grief and there’s so much trauma from that.”
Saying there “are no words,” Conner stated, “There’s a darkness in that … All you have is the people you love and the people that are around you, and I was so blessed to just have those people show up for me in unfathomable ways.”
In the evening following the accident, Conner said that he turned his phone off and locked it in a drawer for four weeks, noting he was able to get away from everything with his wife by staying on his parents’ land during that period.
“I’ll never forget, it was two days after, we’re sitting on the floor, and it felt like a Job-moment,” he recalled, noting Pastor Evans had visited him. “[Pastor Evans said,] ‘Hey, Conner, you do such a good job of carrying the weight for other people every day, and now it’s your turn, now you have to allow us to carry this for you.'”
Through this struggle, Conner noted that ultimately “everything was gone except for the rock of Christ,” and that he surrendered his will to the will of God.
When people would ask him when he was going to be returning to making music and being active on social media, he said his answer was, “When God tells me to.”
While he wasn’t checking social media at the time, he found that he had many people praying for him, stating, “I had literally thousands of people praying over me and my wife and our family, our home.”
He then said that one of his friends, fellow country artist Payton Smith, was one of many people who hopped in their car and drove around Conner’s home, praying for Conner and his family after the news of the accident on June 8.
Turning to how he perceived himself in God’s sovereign plan, Conner then added, “God, you brought us to a crushing, and I honor you for that and I praise you for that.”
He then cited Proverbs 3:11-12, which reads:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Beyond this struggle, Conner says that the Lord has also provided incredible healing for him and his spirit after this accident.
