{"id":20299,"date":"2017-09-13T10:36:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T15:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/?p=20299"},"modified":"2017-09-20T11:03:45","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T16:03:45","slug":"mission-wacos-church-under-the-bridge-celebrates-25th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2017\/09\/mission-wacos-church-under-the-bridge-celebrates-25th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission Waco’s ‘Church Under The Bridge’ celebrates 25th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ChurchEvery Sunday morning for the last 25 years, Church Under The Bridge<\/a> has transformed a nondescript patch of concrete underneath I-35 across from the Baylor campus into\u00a0a church where it doesn\u2019t matter what you\u2019re wearing or where you live. Countless Baylor students have ventured over from campus to join worshippers — many of whom are poor, homeless, and\/or battling addictions — and build unlikely friendships while gaining the kind of understanding you can\u2019t learn in a class.<\/p>\n

This weekend, Church Under The Bridge celebrates its 25th anniversary<\/a>. Baylor alumni Jimmy (BA \u201972, MA \u201993) and Janet (BS \u201980, MS \u201902) Dorrell had just founded Mission Waco<\/a> in 1992 when Jimmy began having weekly breakfast with a few homeless men, who asked him to host a Bible study under the bridge. That week, Jimmy brought his Bible and Janet brought her guitar, and the foundations for Church Under The Bridge were set<\/a>. Fast forward a quarter of a century, and today, more than 250 visitors come together each Sunday for church — still led by Pastor (now Dr.) Dorrell.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Jimmy and Janet have kept a close relationship with their alma mater (and her students) as they impact the city. A steady stream of Baylor students attend Church Under The Bridge and\/or volunteer through one of Mission Waco\u2019s many community outreaches. Still others gain understanding of the plight of the homeless through Mission Waco\u2019s famous poverty simulations<\/a>. The Dorrells also teach at Baylor; both serve on the faculty of the Honors College\u2019s Philanthropy & Public Service program<\/a>, and Jimmy also teaches at Truett Seminary.<\/p>\n

Church Under The Bridge is a big part of what the Dorrells do, but it\u2019s just one outreach of many to the city<\/a>. Mission Waco is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Its relationship-based mission is to empower the marginalized, mobilize middle-class Christians to see how they can help, and address systemic issues that marginalize the poor. Their outreaches include a non-profit grocery for low-income residents in North Waco, the redevelopment of a once drug-ridden corner of the city with a theater and restaurant, GED classes, a homeless shelter, and more.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a>, Jimmy shared a saying that sums up much of what they do: \u201cYou say you love the poor; tell me their names.\u201d Thousands of marginalized people are a name, a face and a friend to the Dorrells, as well as to Church Under The Bridge and Mission Waco staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n

Sic \u2019em, Church Under The Bridge!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every Sunday morning for the last 25 years, Church Under The Bridge has transformed a nondescript patch of concrete underneath I-35 across from the Baylor campus into\u00a0a church where it doesn\u2019t matter what you\u2019re wearing or where you live. Countless Baylor students have ventured over from campus to join worshippers — many of whom are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}