COVER STORY
Norful is pictured with his Mother Teresa, Father Reverend W.R. Norful, Sr., sons Tre’’ (W.R. Norful, III) and Ashton, wife Carla and daughter Ashley (far right) at Victory Cathedral Worship Center
FAITH AND FAMILY Norful said he is thankful for his success and is careful to make time for his family. He and wife Carla have two sons, Tre’ (W.R. Norful, III) who is 14 and Ashton, who is 12. He also has a daughter, Ashley who is 27. He and his wife adopted her when she was 13. Being her youth pastor at the time, he knew Ashley’s mother well and was aware that her father passed away two years prior. She clung to him after enduring that tragedy. Ashley’s mother was raising five girls in a tough part of town and working long hours, and Ashley’s mother consented to allowing the Norfuls to help raise her. A very personable and humble man, he jokingly adds that he is only famous to people outside of his house. When he comes home, he’s a husband and a father. “It’s not Mister, it’s not Pastor and nobody in here wants my autograph. Working and serving my family first is a large part of what keeps me humble.” His father has retired from pastoring in the AME church and serves alongside him at Victory Cathedral. His mother worked for 30 years in banking and finance, so she heads up the finance department at the church. Now ten years old, Victory Cathedral employs nearly 60 people with a main campus in Bolingbrook, Illinois, two satellite locations and a third one underway. The ministry has a heavy community service component and an aggressive expansion plan.
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UAPB MAGAZINE • University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Coined Give Yourself Away, each member commits at least 40 hours per year to community service. Ever the servant at heart, Norful plans to continue create housing and other opportunities in Chicago to service the disadvantaged in the area. With all that he has going on as a husband, father, pastor and artist, the soul of Smokie Norful is based on hope, healing and empowerment. He realized that every song he’s ever written has been centered on those tenets. In the midst of it all, he realizes that his success has a purpose. He doesn’t believe God has accelerated his progress for the sake of success – he knows and understands now that his life can serve as a testimony and an open book so he can grow and groom others to achieve even more. This is the first time in 15 years that he hasn’t had a record or deal or published – and that is just fine with him. He is liberated now to do things that are more apt to what he knows he is called to do. Norful said that if he does another album, it will be because he wants to. He has always wanted to do a Christmas CD and hinted at recording one in 2016 along with releasing other artists he’s currently cultivating. For now, he said he will use every God-given gift he has to continue to give hope, healing and empowerment to everyone he encounters. Donna M. Mooney contributed to this story