Jimmy Dorrell

Jimmy Dorrell is Co-founder and President Emeritus of Mission Waco Mission World. He grew up in Conroe, Texas and attended Baylor University, where he received a BA in religion in 1972. He earned his M. Div. in 1978 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He later received an MA in Environmental Studies from Baylor in 1993 and in 2001, a Doctor of Ministry from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

After graduating from seminary in 1978, he and his wife Janet traveled the world to work among the poor. They then planted roots in North Waco, where they began their call to incarnational ministry: to live among the poor and help bring “good news” through relationships and empowerment opportunities. Dorrell’s passion for the poor and mobilizing the middle-class to become involved in the lives of the poor became the strategy for Mission Waco Mission World that continues today. 

Dorrell has served as pastor of Church Under the Bridge since 1992 while also teaching classes at Baylor University and Truett Seminary in Waco. He has served on several boards, including Texas Christian Community Development Network and helped found three other non-profit organizations. Dorrell has been honored through awards such as the Family of the Year Award from the Waco Conference of Christians & Jews, Whataburger Hometown Hero, Citizen of the Year from the National Association of Social Workers (Waco Unit), Baylor University Alumni’s Abner V. McCall Humanitarian Award, both the Wacoan Magazine and Waco Tribune-Herald “Person of the Year” and the Baylor Distinguished Alumni Award (2017).