The Rev. Harry Smith doesn’t look like what members of his congregation are used to seeing in the pulpit.

Where he is white and well past retirement age, the church of which he is interim pastor is historically black.

Two and a half years ago, St. Philip Lutheran Church was on the brink of closing. The South Chattanooga congregation, located in the shadow of Interstate 24, had about eight members attending regularly in 2006 and couldn’t pay its mortgage.

When folks from the Lutheran denomination asked, Mr. Smith, 83, just couldn’t help himself. He said he’d take it on.

“I just want to give them hope and raise their spirits,” said the Ohio native, who was a missionary in India and pastored churches in Cincinnati and Knoxville before retiring in 1990. “As the Lord wills, this will be a great church.”

What he was excited about the other day when he and his wife, Dorothy, dropped by the newspaper is that a week from Sunday St. Philip will confirm eight teenagers into the church.

That hasn’t happened there in a while, perhaps a long while.

The church’s last pastor was a “second-career man” who didn’t have the experience to understand he had to get to know his congregation a little better before trying to make sweeping changes, Mr. Smith said.

The youth left. The music program fell apart. Classes dwindled to practically nothing.

Mr. Smith is not naive enough to believe the sports analogies he spins from his life experience have caused the youth group in a hip-hop generation to be resurrected.

He’s just tried to stir things up, he said.

The rock for the teenagers, instead, he said, is a gem of a lady named Bernadine Elder, who feeds them, drives them to fun places such as Six Flags Over Georgia and Gatlinburg, supervises their recent work around the church and makes them toe the line.

“We would not be where we are without (this) special lady,” said Mrs. Smith. “She has taken such an interest in them.”

Where there are youth, parents may not be far behind.

A choir hasn’t re-formed — Mrs. Smith plays the piano for worship services — and the Bible class is still puny, but the adults are socializing well, Mr. Smith said.

“The Lord does this (brings people in) through his message,” he said. “But they have to get a hearing of it. It seems like we’re getting a hearing. I think there are still opportunities there.”

Six years ago, the church was thriving and had a weekly attendance of 90 or so. Today, the congregation numbers around 40, or five times as many as when Smith arrived.

It is still behind on its mortgage but is paying it.

“They’re starting to bring me food — pies, chicken and cakes,” Mr. Smith said conspiratorially of his flock. “They’re starting to call me Pastor.”

The octogenarian said it has been his history to leave the churches he has served with something positive. During his tenures, his congregations have built a school, physical plant addition and parking lot, among other things.

That’s not to say Mr. Smith said his wife are planning to leave St. Philip. They’re not. They’re happy there.

“We’re still enjoying it,” he said. “I always fall in love with the people of my church.”

Of course, there are a few other things on Mr. Smith’s agenda. He’s president of the Senior Neighbors orchestra (he plays the oboe), and he’s often called to preach during the week at Alexian Brothers Valley Residence.

“Wherever I go, we’re going to have a good time,” he said. “I guess we’ll be doing it as long as we can.”