The Reverend James Kirkland Smith, 86, of Fayetteville, Tennessee, better known as Kirk, died October 6, 2021, of congestive heart failure. He was a member of Columbia Presbytery, where he served on numerous committees, and most recently pastored Kelso Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Champ Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He also served on the board of directors for Camp Crystal Springs. Kirk was the father of Ministry Council first vice president the Reverend Tim Smith.

Born March 23, 1935, to Horton Hamilton Smith and Mamie Irene Shelton Smith, Kirk worked as an inspector and surveyor for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. He was owner and operator of Big Cut Country Store on old US Hwy 64. He was an elder at Kelso Cumberland Presbyterian Church and eventually began preaching although he was not yet under the care of Columbia Presbytery.

On April 11, 1996, Columbia Presbytery received Kirk as a candidate. He agreed to enroll in the Program of Alternate Studies in which he then progressed rapidly. Kirk was licensed October 12, 1997. The presbytery assigned a commission consisting of elders Andy Anderson, Jim Ramsey, and Wayne Barnes and the Reverends Richard Hughes, Virgil Bailey, and James Campbell to ordain Kirk once his PAS courses were completed. The commission met and ordained Kirk at Kelso Cumberland Presbyterian Church on December 5, 1999.