Dr. DONTE' L. HICKMAN, Sr., D.Min.

It was on Easter Sunday in 1987, when Reverend Hickman accepted Christ as his personal Savior, and was baptized and fellowshipped into the Gillis Memorial Christian Community Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

Reverend Hickman, being obedient to the call of God on his life to preach the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ, preached his initial sermon on May 2, 1990 and received his license. Reverend Hickman was ordained in August 1994.

Pastor Donté Hickman is a remarkable example of what faith in God can do. Having been raised in a single parent home in Edmondson Village under tremendous peer pressure it seemed as if Reverend Hickman would become another statistic. He was expelled from three High Schools living a life that was destined for failure. Nevertheless, with the help of God, the church, his faithful mother and an inner determination he turned his life around starting with passing the G.E.D. examination without any preparation or success beyond the tenth grade.

On May 2, 1994, Reverend Hickman received his earned Bachelor of Arts Degree from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. On June 6, 1997, he received a Master of Divinity Degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. On May 8, 2006, Reverend Hickman received the Doctor of Ministry Degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Recognizing the need for a new standard and mind-set for ministry leadership in today’s culture Reverend Hickman enrolled in the Executive Master of Business Administration program at the Sellinger School of Business of Loyola College in Maryland. He will complete his studies in May 2008.

Reverend Hickman has studied abroad in South and Southern Africa during the Centennial Celebration of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He has achieved certification in Clinical Pastoral Education at the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, during the summer of the Olympics.

Reverend Hickman has served as the Assistant to the Pastor of Gillis Memorial Christian Community Church of Baltimore, Maryland for three years and served as Senior Pastor in Philadelphia, PA for two years. Being led by the Spirit of the Lord Reverend Hickman returned home to further his call to the Pastorate.

On Sunday, October 6, 2002, Reverend Hickman was called and presented to the congregation as the new pastor of Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Since assuming the Pastorate of Southern the church has experienced phenomenal growth spiritually, numerically, and financially. With the implementation of a vision and mission, Reverend Hickman led the church in a $1/2 million dollar renovation, initiated a strong marketing program through television and radio, renovated church owned property to become a Transformation Center to minister to people suffering from HIV/AIDS and administer Behavioral Counseling, and several ministries and workshops that impact people spiritually and socially.

Reverend Hickman is a member of both the Board of Trustees and Executive Board of the United Baptist Missionary Convention & Auxiliaries, Incorporated of Maryland. Reverend Hickman was recently elected to serve on the board of the Associated Black Charities. And he was recently appointed by the honorable Mayor Martin O’Malley to serve as one of the Housing Commissioners for the Housing Authority Board of Baltimore City.

Reverend Donté L. Hickman is happily married to the former Miss Danielle Chere' Curtis and they are the proud parents of two kingdom purposed children, Donté’ Lamont Hickman, Jr. and Dawson Luke Hickman.