{"id":238582,"date":"2026-04-07T10:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/238582\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:36:22","slug":"texas-pastor-retires-after-33-years-preaching-under-bridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/238582\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas pastor retires after 33 years preaching under bridges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WACO \u2014 They lined up Sunday under giant pecan trees to wade into the muddy waters of the Middle Bosque River for a moment of redemption.<\/p>\n

Before submerging, the 12 men and women testified how Jesus Christ changed their lives.<\/p>\n

Most of them came to this moment through the ministry of Church Under the Bridge, whose congregants include the unhoused and mentally ill as well as Baylor University students and professionals.<\/p>\n

\"JimmyJimmy Dorrell greets longtime attendees and friends of Church Under the Bridge during his final service as pastor on Easter Sunday. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

It was an Easter Sunday tradition for the congregation to leave its usual home under an Interstate 35 overpass near Baylor University for baptism in the countryside west of Waco.<\/p>\n

\"LongtimeLongtime friends of Jimmy Dorrell sing along during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s annual Easter service along the Middle Bosque River west of Waco on Easter Sunday.
Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

This would be the last service and last baptism led by founding pastor Jimmy Dorrell, 76, who is retiring from the church after 33 years and 1,700 Sundays. He hopes to be an occasional presence in the congregation but spend more time with ministries overseas.<\/p>\n

\"ChildrenChildren perform during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s annual Easter service along the Middle Bosque River.
Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Dorrell and his successor, Baylor ministerial student Kevin Brown, teamed up Sunday to immerse the newly committed Christians. Each baptism was followed by whoops and applause from the crowd of more than 100, which included Baylor President Linda Livingstone.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe congregation prays over the son of Philip and Hope Welch before the family is baptized in the Middle Bosque River. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"AA family eats lunch after Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"CongregantsCongregants eat lunch after Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service along the Middle Bosque River west of Waco on Sunday. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

The first baptismal candidate in line addressed the crowd before he waded into the cold water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m John Dokken and I\u2019m dedicating my life to Christ,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I approached 80 and turned 80, I realize this is my final chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fellow candidate patted his shoulder as he began to weep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough Jimmy, and Kevin, I found a new home, and when it\u2019s time to go I know that I\u2019ll be ready,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just here to do God\u2019s will. He tells me he\u2019s not through with me so I\u2019ve got to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Fisher and Wyndi Henderson hold each other during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s annual Easter service. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"KidsKids play along a dam in the Middle Bosque River before Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown baptize believers on Easter Sunday. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Dorrell said afterward that baptism is always an emotional experience for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are pivotal moments for people to stand on what they have said verbally but never publicly professed and shown with their words and their baptism that they\u2019re committed to this walk with Christ,\u201d Dorrell said.<\/p>\n

\"JanetJanet Dorrell (center) watches as a dozen people are baptized by Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown on Easter Sunday. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Dorrell and his wife, Janet, started Church Under the Bridge in 1993 after they spontaneously invited some homeless residents to join them on a restaurant patio near the interstate. It grew into a weekly Bible study, then a full-fledged worship service under the concrete canopy of Interstate 35.<\/p>\n

\"KidsKids watch Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown baptize people during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service west of Waco. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Not long before, the Dorrells had launched Mission Waco, an urban ministry that was to grow into one of Waco\u2019s major nonprofits serving homeless people using the empowering principles of \u201cChristian community development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jimmy Dorrell is retired from Mission Waco but involved in its tiny home development, Creekside Community Village<\/a>, that will soon provide long-term housing for those now homeless.<\/p>\n

Over the decades, the Dorrells have continued to live on North 15th Street, a once-blighted street that has been transformed with new housing and small businesses thanks to Mission Waco\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Dokken is guided out into the Middle Bosque River to be baptized by Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown during the Easter service. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"JanetJanet Constantine is baptized in the Middle Bosque River by Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service west of Waco. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Clarice Barron, his neighbor and a Church Under the Bridge member who attended Sunday, said Jimmy Dorrell has transformed many lives in Waco.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s able to actually put himself in the place of the homeless and the mentally ill, and the people with substance abuse [problems],\u201d she said. \u201cHe just really wants to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RoyRoy Roberts is baptized in the Middle Bosque River by Jimmy Dorrell, left, and Kevin Brown during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service west of Waco. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Dokken dries off after being baptized by Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown during Church Under the Bridge\u2019s Easter service. Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Dionne shouts after he is baptized in the Middle Bosque River by Jimmy Dorrell and Kevin Brown.
Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Cindy Julian, who has attended Church Under the Bridge since 2012, said Sunday\u2019s event was joyful but \u201cbittersweet, to watch both of them, Jimmy and Kevin, do the baptisms in the river. We\u2019re going to miss Jimmy, but he\u2019s left us in good hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Easter is amazing in itself out here. We\u2019re literally practicing what heaven\u2019s like right here. We\u2019ll all be together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JimmyJimmy Dorrell wades into the chilly Middle Bosque River on Easter Sunday.
Justin Hamel\/The Waco Bridge\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Baylor University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1968,27,29,28,7145,6748],"class_list":{"0":"post-238582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-religion","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news","12":"tag-waco","13":"tag-well-b-homepage"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}