Edward A. Smith was born in Los Angeles, California. He received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior in February 1973. He spent the first eleven years of his Christian life sitting under the teaching ministry of Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, Founder/Pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center, Los Angeles, California. In 1984, he and his family joined Zoe Christian Fellowship Los Angeles.

Pastor Ed spent seven years as an instructor for the Zoe Christian Leadership Training Center and served as an Elder and Executive Board member of Zoe Christian Fellowship of Los Angeles, pastored by Bishop Frank L. Stewart. Under the instruction of God and with the blessing of Bishop Stewart, another Zoe church was planted. He started Zoe Christian Fellowship of Cerritos in 1989. In 1995, Pastor Ed and the members of Zoe moved to their present church complex in Whittier, thereby becoming Zoe Christian Fellowship of Whittier.

Pastor Ed earned a BA in Applied Mathematics and a MBA in Marketing/Finance from UCLA. He is much sought after as a speaker for conferences and seminars in the U.S. and abroad. He was invited to Russia in 1995 to participate in training the staff of the fourth largest bank in Russia. His speaking/ministry engagements have taken him to Japan, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, South Africa and Costa Rica. Pastor Ed led the first South African Government sponsored trip of Black entrepreneurs to South Africa. CNN Headline News spotlighted him for his ministry involvement in South Africa.

Before Pastor Ed entered full-time ministry, he worked in several marketing executive positions with companies such as General Mills, Ford Motor Company, Carnation Company, and AVCO Financial Services. His final corporate position was that as Vice President of Marketing for Family Savings Bank in Los Angeles, California

Pastor Ed is the Founder of the Zoe School of Economic Development, an entrepreneurial course for those seeking to be successful in business, which was featured on "Making It", a television program devoted to highlighting the accomplishments of minority entrepreneurs.

Pastor Ed is the former Chairman and current Board Member of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, the largest financier of church and ministry loans in the United States, with over $1Billion under asset management. Additionally, he serves as the Board Chairman of Windows International Network. Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Windows International Network is focused on bringing the Gospel to the nations within the 10/40 window. In 2004, he was elected to the board of the Christian Management Association, the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles, and the Serenity Foster Care Agency.

Pastor Ed and First Lady Vanessa Smith have been married since 1975, and are blessed with four wonderful children, three sons, Joshua, and wife Marsee, Eddie, Aaron, and one daughter, Naomi.