Cave Spring Baptist Church, Owens Cross Roads
Madison Baptist Association
Favorite Bible Verse: Matthew 28:16–20
Favorite Hymn: “Tell the World I’m a Christian”
Hobbies: Golf and laughter
Family Status: Married to Sue Miller Dorriety
In 2006, James Dorriety came out of retirement at age 84 to become interim pastor of Cave Spring Baptist Church, Owens Cross Roads. He first entered the ministry in 1945 following his service in World War II but was again called away for service in the Korean War. Following the war, Dorriety served as pastor of various churches in Georgia and Alabama, served as an industrial chaplain in Atlanta and worked for the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Q: What led you to come out of retirement?
A: I felt a calling to work with a church that was focused on blended and broken families. There has to be churches like that considering so many individuals end up divorced in our day. After I arrived, Cave Spring voted to be that kind of church.
Q: Why have you continued preaching through the years?
A: It all started when I was a young boy and my granddad gave me a red copy of the Gospel of Matthew. I first started preaching as a 7-year-old in the back yard to my sister and friends. My mother always introduced me as her little preacher boy. But at my age, the reason I have kept going was again this desire to work in a church that spoke to broken families.
Q: What does the ministry demand?
A: At my age, when I first came to Cave Spring, I told them that there was no way I was going to come sit in an office all by myself during the day. So I held up my cell phone and asked them if they knew what it was, and they all looked at me like I was crazy. And then I told them, “This is the new church office. The office is open 24/7.”
Q: How do family members and the church support you?
A: One hundred percent. Everyone is so excited in the church about this new opportunity. They are all thrilled to death. I’ve had support from everyone.
Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?
A: I’m hoping to find a young pastor who will carry on in my focus on blended and broken families. There has to be a church like that. And I’m just going to keep talking to people and making people laugh. I’m a Christian entertainer. Because laughter really is the best medicine.
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