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BROWNSVILLE—In the nearly quarter century Steve Dorman has been senior pastor of First Baptist Church Brownsville, he has seen vast changes in the Rio Grande Valley and remarkable consistency in his mission-minded congregation.
Dorman—who recently marked 53 years of church ministry, the last 23 at FBC Brownsville—will retire in December. The church plans to recognize him with a reception Dec. 14 from 2-4 p.m. and has already voted to designate him pastor emeritus.
“We’ll be in and out the rest of our days,” Dorman said of his continuing relationship with the congregation.
But Dorman is also going to be quite busy—nothing new for the pastor who has engaged in a “lifelong quest to prepare … to teach the Bible and serve in church ministries.” He also served eight years on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Executive Board.
When he arrived at FBC Brownsville in 2002, Dorman inherited a mission-focused congregation engaged in active ministry in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond. First Baptist School, founded 65 years ago, served students through the eighth grade. During Dorman’s tenure, the fully accredited school added a high school. The school of 240 students from the U.S. and Mexico continues to thrive.
Dorman acknowledged the work done by one of his predecessors at the church, Pastor Bob Clements, who pioneered missions work along the border and in Mexico after Hurricane Beulah, founding orphanages and schools and starting the church’s mission center.
Today, the Hendrick Mission Center, with housing for 160, hosts volunteer church teams from across the U.S. that come to work in the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico assisting impoverished churches, aiding missionaries, and supporting church plants
“We have just tried not to mess it up,” Dorman said of the rich legacy he inherited at the beginning of his FBC Brownsville pastorate.
The church’s disaster relief ministry grew during Dorman’s tenure, with the congregation participating in SBTC DR projects in Texas, Mexico, Japan, Haiti, Chile, the Philippines, and Nepal.
Building the future
In retirement, Dorman plans to continue the emphases characteristic of his ministry—not only teaching the Bible but working with missions, disaster relief, church plants, and pastors.
Through the recently incorporated non-profit called Nehemiah Blueprint, Dorman and his wife, Karen—a Christian school educator, administrator, and adjunct college professor—will be hitting the road in retirement. Dorman will teach theology, preach, work with pastors in impoverished areas, engage in DR work, and generally do the work of “building the kingdom.”
A travel trailer, a gift from their oldest daughter who also assisted with the incorporation, will enable the Dormans to head to various locations, drawing upon the relationships and mission partnerships built over the years at FBC Brownsville to do ministry in the field.
The nonprofit is a family affair—with the Dormans’ four adult children contributing to honor their parents.
Retirement will also be a family affair, as Dorman said he looks forward to spending time with his children and 10 grandchildren scattered across Texas.
“Now we will be able to go see them, spend a week, and pester them,” he said with a laugh, musing that the travel trailer will come in handy for extended visits.
“I am looking forward to making up some time with my kids, grandchildren, and wife … and still teach, preach, and do DR,” he said. “I am thankful I have the liberty to do that.”
Going out in gratitude
What will he miss?
“The people,” he said. “We have the best people of any church I have been in. … They have loved me, my wife, my children, my grandchildren.”
He will also miss being the pastor of a church along the Texas-Mexico border. The location has attracted church members—including many chaplains, former pastors, and ministry minded people—who embrace outreach.
Dorman called his deacons “godly, spiritually minded men” who are ministry oriented, noting church business meetings have never been contentious.
“In the end, we can pray, get together, and go forward,” he said.
He will miss his colleagues, including Craig Smith, his executive pastor who will spearhead the search for Dorman’s successor. Dorman also acknowledged the service of ministry staff Terry Roberts, Jeremy Knight, and Daniel Simons, and church planters James Martinez and Samuel Gomez.
Above all, Dorman expressed gratitude at how God has provided for FBC Brownsville over the years.
“The RGV is among the poorest sections of the U.S. and God has supernaturally provided financially for the church, the Christian school, and the mission center in incredible ways,” he said. “ … God has made it work. We have been shocked and blessed.”
His career, he said, has seen “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
