We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will
remember the late Pastor Clint Dobson who was killed in Arlington, Texas on
March 3, 2011. We encourage people to remember how he lived on this earth and
not how he died; we thank God that he is in heaven now. We will honor him and
make him one of the 26 Christian Martyrs of Unit 1012, where we will remember
him every year on March 3.
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Clint Dobson, 28, pastor of NorthPointe
Baptist Church.
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Let us hear from people who loved
him:
INTERNET SOURCE: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/03/06/arlington-church-service-full-after-pastors-death/
Arlington Church Service Full After Pastor’s Death
March 6, 2011 4:29 PM
ARLINGTON (AP) – More than 200
people packed an Arlington church on Sunday to comfort one another and mourn
their young pastor, who was slain during an apparent robbery in which his
assistant was severely beaten.
Many cried and hugged each other as
they walked into NorthPointe Baptist Church for regular services Sunday, three
days after the Rev. Clint Dobson was killed. Some paused at a makeshift
memorial of flowers and wreaths and others looked at a picture of Dobson, who
was pastor about three years at NorthPointe, a satellite church of First
Baptist Church of Arlington. Dobson’s funeral is Wednesday.
The congregation sang the hymn “It Is
Well With My Soul,” and church leaders prayed for strength and peace.
The Rev. Dennis Wiles, First Baptist’s
senior pastor, said the 28-year-old Dobson had a gentle demeanor and warm
spirit, and that Dobson won a top preaching award as a seminary student.
Wiles told the NorthPointe congregants
that it was natural to ask questions at such a troubling time.
“Why did this happen? …
Where was God on Thursday morning? Could God have stopped this?” Wiles preached in the
sanctuary, where a large cross is behind the podium. “God
has not abandoned you. That’s what Jesus said. … We’ve got to keep believing, even
when we don’t understand.”
A suspect the shooting, 24-year-old
Steven Lawayne Nelson, was arrested Saturday by Arlington police. Police
declined to say what led to Nelson’s arrest and said the investigation
continues. More information will be released after authorities charge him with
capital murder this week, police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard said Sunday.
She said Nelson did not have an attorney.
No one answered the door Sunday at the
apartment of one of Nelson’s relatives where he had been staying.
Police have said some items were
missing from the church and that robbery appears to have been the motive.
Dobson was found dead and his assistant was found severely injured Thursday
afternoon in the church building after relatives could not contact them.
Sunday’s crowd was much larger than
usual at NorthPointe, and some congregants had to sit in chairs in a hallway
outside the sanctuary. The church barred news reporters from speaking to anyone
who attended the service.
After the service, Wiles said it was
important that the building be open Sunday — not only because it’s a place of
worship, but NorthPointe and First Baptist members and others in Arlington
affected by the tragedy needed to be together.
“God has given us the
strength to carry on,”
he said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated
Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Clint Dobson, 28, pastor of NorthPointe
Baptist Church.
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Career Thugs Arrested for Robing and Killing Pastor
in Church
VIDEO
SOURCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soIL0JwtBZ0
Funeral Service For Murdered Arlington Pastor
By Robbie Owens & Melissa Newton, CBS 11 News March 9, 2011 9:01
AM
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Friends, family and church
members gathered on Wednesday to say a final farewell to Rev. Clint Dobson, the
28-year-old Arlington pastor who was killed in his church last week during a
robbery.
The funeral service was been billed as
a celebration of Dobson’s life. Although their hearts are broken, those who
knew Dobson tried to put aside the
horrible way that the pastor died, and instead concentrate on the way that
he lived.
“Clint Dobson’s life was
lived well,”
said friend and Rev. Jeff Waldo. “He loved people and
he loved God.”
At a packed
and emotional service on Sunday morning, just three days after Dobson was
found murdered inside NorthPointe Baptist Church, the young pastor was remembered
fondly as a person who loved God and lived a life full of passion and
principle.
On Wednesday, more than 1,500 people
filled the church to say goodbye to the pastor whose life and death left an
impact on the community.
“We’re not going to talk about
why, because why is too hard,”
said his father-in-law Dr. Phillip Rozeman.
“We don’t ask for answers
because even if we have them our hearts would still ache in our chest,” added friend and Truett
seminary professor Dr. Robert Creech.
As the congregation and Dobson’s
family try to make sense of the tragic crime that took him from them, they
remembered him with fond words and loving stories. They recounted his quirky
character and playful personality. But above all, they remembered him for his
love – first for God, and then for his wife Laura.
“Our little girl was in the
arms of a man who would protect her, love her, honor her for the rest of her
life,” Rozeman
said of the romance Dobson and wife Laura shared. “We
thought the story was done, but life changed.”
NorthPointe Baptist Church is a
satellite church of First Baptist Church of Arlington. Associate pastor Terry
Bertrand and other church leaders have encouraged the congregation to rely on
faith during these times. Bertrand even spoke of compassion for the 24-year-old
man charged with Dobson’s murder.
“I have prayed for his
family, because I know it’s a difficult time for them,” he said. “Just
as we’re going through a difficult time, this is a difficult time for his
family as well.”
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|
Brad Loper/Staff
Photographer
Pallbearers exit
First Baptist Church Arlington with the casket of North Pointe Baptist Church
pastor Clint Dobson, following funeral services. Two suspects have been
arrested in Dobson's slaying. (PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/arlington/headlines/20110309-slain-pastor_s-tremendous-impact_memorialized-at-arlington-funeral.ece?ssimg=139797#ssStory139775)
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Slain
pastor's 'tremendous impact' memorialized at Arlington funeral
By JESSICA L. HUSEMAN
Staff Writer
Published: 09 March 2011 02:08 PM
Updated: 11 March 2011 11:52 PM
Related
Hundreds
gathered Wednesday to mourn the Rev. Clint Dobson, who was slain last week in a
robbery at his Arlington church.
“Clint
is a man who lived God’s word. A man whose life had tremendous impact even if
it was only 28 years,” said Dobson’s father-in-law, Phillip Rozeman. “Clint would talk to us about faith and putting it into
actions.
“It
is on these thoughts that Clint based his life, and we cherish those thoughts.”
Rozeman
thanked the audience at First Baptist Church Arlington for showing their love
“to Clint, and to us” before leaving the pulpit in tears.
Dobson, 28,
was killed March 3 during a robbery at NorthPointe Baptist Church, a satellite
church of First Baptist. His ministry assistant, Judy Elliott, was badly beaten
but survived. Two suspects have been arrested and charged with capital murder.
Dennis R.
Wiles, pastor at First Baptist, officiated at Wednesday’s service. He said that
his church had received “a tremendous outpouring of prayers and grace from
literally all over the world.” He prayed with those gathered for “strength,
hope and encouragement” as they moved through the mourning process.
The Rev.
Jeff Waldo described his former intern as a Christ-centered person who grew
into his faith by becoming the chaplain for his fraternity at Baylor University
before entering seminary.
Dobson
began seminary at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, but when Hurricane
Katrina closed the school temporarily, he returned to Baylor to attend Truett
Theological Seminary. He began working at NorthPointe in 2007.
Waldo said
Dobson possessed rare qualities that made him a talented preacher.
“Clint
had a big heart,” he said, “but the truth is
that he had the ability to get into the hearts of others.”
All who
spoke at the ceremony mentioned the love Dobson had for his wife, Laura, whom
he met at Baylor.
“Our
little girl was in the arms of a man who would protect her, honor her and love
her for the rest of her life,” Rozeman said. He said Dobson gave his wife the
“independent strength that carries her now.”
Daniel
Goodman, Dobson’s best friend since childhood, said that although Dobson had
many notable achievements, his “proudest accomplishment was finding the person
that would be his wife.”
He
described Dobson as an “all-or-nothing guy” and an “all-American” boy from childhood,
whose charm made him one of the most-liked students in their high school.
But,
despite his popularity, Goodman said, his friend remained “humble and
gracious.”
“When
I have a son, I want him to turn out exactly like Clint,”
he said.
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|
Laura Dobson, the widow of murdered Arlington
pastor Clint Dobson, offered emotional testimony at the trial of his accused
killer. (Credit: WFAA)
|
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340919/pastors-killer-goes-berserk-after.html
Pastor's killer goes berserk after death sentence
Posted Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012
By
Dianna Hunt
Just
minutes after receiving the death penalty for the brutal slaying of an
Arlington pastor, convicted killer Steven Lawayne Nelson flew into a fit of
rage Tuesday, breaking a fire sprinkler in his holding cell and sending black
water flooding into the courtroom.
Surrounded
by heavy security during the 12-day trial, Nelson had sat quietly as a jury in
state District Judge Mike Thomas' court handed down the death sentence in one
of the highest-profile cases in Tarrant County in years.
Nelson
was convicted last week of capital murder in the death of Clint Dobson, 28, the
pastor of NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington. Dobson was beaten, bound and
suffocated with a plastic bag during a robbery of the church on March 3, 2011.
Church secretary Judy Elliott was severely beaten and left for dead but
survived.
Shortly
after Nelson received the death sentence and was led away by sheriff's
deputies, the sound of spraying water erupted from the holding cell behind
Criminal District Court No. 4 and water poured into the courtroom.
Nelson
could be heard screaming and howling from his cell as court personnel scurried
to pick up boxes of evidence before they got wet. The water, infused with a
fire retardant, sent a chemical smell throughout the courtroom and deputies
quickly evacuated bystanders after the trial ended.
"We
will probably never see another one like this one if we live 100 years,"
the judge said later outside the courtroom.
The
rampage was just the latest in a string of violent, destructive acts by Nelson
in the Tarrant County Jail since he was arrested on March 5, 2011.
Nelson
has repeatedly flooded cells, created mayhem and fought with jailers, and he is
accused of using a jail blanket to strangle a mentally ill inmate who was
placed on the cellblock with him this year.
'Good and evil'
Before
the outburst, Dobson's widow, Laura Dobson, confronted Nelson in a victim
impact statement after the sentencing.
"No
one wants to remember you," she told Nelson, "but they will always
remember Clint. ... I vow to be his voice and carry on his legacy, that good
will always trump evil."
Laura
Dobson's father, cardiologist Phillip Rozeman of Shreveport, told Nelson that
the killing of Clint Dobson was "a cosmic collision of good and
evil," but he vowed that they will rebuild their lives.
"We know that Clint is in heaven asking God all the questions
he always wanted to ask," he said.
Clint
Dobson's parents, Rod and Sharon Dobson, also spoke to Nelson about their son
and his good deeds, and Sharon Dobson read the epitaph on her son's grave.
"He was generous of heart, constant of faith and joyful of
spirit,"
she said. "I wish you could have known him."
The
Rev. Dennis R. Wiles, pastor of NorthPointe's parent church, First Baptist
Church of Arlington, issued a statement on the church's behalf after the
sentencing.
"We have all waited for this day," the statement said. "We have asked God for the truth to be known and for
justice to be served. ... We also want our community to know that Clint Dobson
did not die in vain. His life was given courageously in service to the Lord
Jesus Christ."
Nelson's
mother and other relatives testified in his behalf Monday but did not return to
court for the sentencing Tuesday.
'Nothing left to lose'
During
closing arguments, prosecutors Bob Gill and Page Simpson had urged jurors to
give Nelson the death penalty with a prescient nod to the trouble he has caused
while awaiting trial.
"It's
like he wanted to violate the conscience of this community," Gill said.
"If you think he was hell on wheels in the Tarrant County Jail while
awaiting trial, think what he'll be like in prison ... with nothing left to
lose."
Nelson,
25, of Arlington, had an extensive criminal history that began when he set fire
to his mother's bed when he was just 3 years old. He had spent years in
juvenile facilities in Oklahoma and was sent to juvenile facilities in Texas
after his mother moved here for a job.
He
had been released from a court-ordered anger management class just a few days
before Dobson was killed, and he had a long history of burglary, criminal
mischief, car theft and assault. He described himself as a "monster"
during texts to a young woman he was courting, and on the day after the
killings, he spent hours partying in a Dallas nightclub with a cross-dressing
male lover, witnesses told jurors.
Defense
attorneys Bill Ray and Steve Gordon had urged jurors to hand down life without
parole, arguing that Nelson was abandoned psychologically as a child and didn't
get the help he needed. His mother, Kathy James, told jurors that Nelson's
father was an abusive alcoholic who didn't visit his son, but James also
appeared sketchy about some of the details of Nelson's life.
"We
ask that you spare his life," Gordon said.
The
defense's own expert psychologist, however, admitted under questioning that
Nelson was a dangerous psychopath who was beyond repair.
Jurors
deliberated about 90 minutes on Tuesday before handing Nelson the death
sentence. He will be held briefly in the Tarrant County Jail until he can be
sent to Death Row.
Terry
Grisham, spokesman for Sheriff Dee Anderson, said the county has no plans to
modify sprinkler heads in the jail or courthouse. He said that they meet
standards and that upgrading them would be a needless expense for taxpayers.
Many inmates know how to break the sprinkler heads, but it happens only
occasionally.
"A
child can do it," he said. "But we move literally hundreds and
hundreds of people through those cells each week without problems. ... We're
not going to change anything because a person who now has nothing to live for
continues to call attention to himself."
Staff writer Bill
Miller contributed to this report.
Dianna Hunt, 817-390-7084
Pastor killer could get death
VIDEO
SOURCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df_yEeAaFJs
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