About Our Pastor

Within the church community, God calls certain persons to positions of leadership, with special responsibility for preaching and teaching God's Word, administering the Sacraments, and ordering the life of the Church for mission and service to the broader community. Steve Elliott answered that call in 1995. What people often find strange is that he was a lawyer at the time!

A graduate of Millville High School in Millville, NJ, Elliott completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in public administration and political science from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, BA before earning his Doctor of Law (Juris Doctor) degree from American's oldest law school at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

Licensed to practice law in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Elliott's law practice included "a little bit of everything." He was appointed Solicitor of he Fairfield Township Public Schools, advised the Commercial Township Planning Board, and the Millville Housing Authority engaged him as a hearing officer / administrative law judge. While doing all of that, he also served as the Sunday School Superintendent and Youth Director of his home church, Trinity UMC in Millville.

Busy and successful in his law career, his Christian service gave him deeper satisfaction and fulfillment. God's call to full-time ministry became a daily urging of the Spirit, so he made the move "from law to grace" and enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1998. While at Asbury, he served as Ministry Intern at Park UMC in downtown Lexington and Chaplain of the Royal Manor Nursing Home in Nicholasville, KY.

Returning to New Jersey, Elliott was ordained in the former Southern NJ annual Conference of the UMC and appointed to the United Methodist Churches of Tabernacle and Chatsworth. He came to Dobbins UMC in 2002. Pastor Elliott leads our Sunday services, and teaches adult Sunday School and

Bible study classes. He has retained our congregation's reputation for biblical preaching and teaching, and continued our strong support of missions at home and abroad. Under his leadership we celebrated 150 years of Methodist ministry in Delanco, have made significant capital improvements to our church and parsonage, improved our financial stewardship, strengthened our fellowship with one another through weekly covered dish suppers, and have attracted younger families with children. A gifted but shy, musician, he occasionally delights us with his talents on the piano, organ and trombone.

In addition to his ministry at Dobbins, Pastor Elliott serves as Chairperson of our Annual Conference's Commission on Archives and History, and is the Capital District Coordinator of the Evangelical Network for Renewal and Growth (ENRG). He has also been a guest preacher and Bible study leader at the South Seaville Camp Meeting.

Our pastor's wife, Corine Elliott, is a former Christian school teacher and educational missionary to Poland, where she helped open the first Christian school in that country after the fall of communism. Currently, she serves as the office administrator of a Christian school in Burlington County. At Dobbins UMC, she serves as Choir Director and has produced several truly outstanding cantatas. They get bigger and better every year. Corine also leads our Christian Writers' Society and "The Lord's Table"- a weekly Bible study. She supports and makes a very active contribution to her husband's ministry in countless ways.

Meredythe Elliott is a student at an area Christian school. A budding young author, she recently celebrated the publication of her first book. 

Meredythe absolutely loves Dobbins UMC, especially our Wednesday night suppers and Sunday School. She also participates in a local Brownie troop.

As a family, Pastor Steve, Corine and Meredythe consistently try to model Christian family life at its best. We are glad to have them as our "pastoral family."