VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH - Exalting Christ, Equipping the Saints, and Evangelizing the Lost
ELDERS
PASTOR DARRELL WILKINSON
Darrell Wilkinson was born and raised in North Central Florida where he grew up on a small farm in Union County. He is blessed to be the husband of Crystal (Starke, FL) and the father of two sons, Conner and Caleb. They have faithfully supported him in the ministry.
Darrell made a profession of faith as a young teenager and went into the ministry as a young man. He was trained and credentialed in a Christian denomination, served for years as a youth pastor then later as a senior pastor in Florida and Texas.
He began working in missions in 2000 in the Dominican Republic. With his heart set on Spanish missions, he enrolled and graduated from the Missionary Language School of Rio Grande Bible Institute in Edinburg, TX. After graduation, Darrell and his family moved to the Dominican Republic to serve as the administrator of a new orphanage.
In 2010, after 15 years in the ministry, God opened Darrell’s heart to the necessity of expository preaching for the spiritual health of the church and individual study. His heart melted as he realized how many of the truths of the Gospel and Biblical doctrine were neglected by spiritual diet consisting only of topical preaching. Since then, he is committed to verse-by-verse expositional preaching as a pastor.
Outside of ministry, Darrell is a builder by trade. He has been blessed through the years with many opportunities to combine his love for ministry and ability to build by leading or assisting in construction projects for families, churches, and ministries both in the United States and abroad.
In addition to serving as pastor at VCC, Darrell serves as a high school Bible Doctrines teacher and the Maintenance/Facilities Administrator at Macedonian Christian Academy in Alamo, TX. He is also serving as Executive Director of Missionary Evangelism, Incorporated, a missionary supply and support ministry.
MANNY GUTIERREZ
Manny Gutierrez was born in Abernathy, Texas, grew up in La Grange, Wyoming,
studied in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music then
went to Chicago Illinois to study at the Moody Bible Institute.
After he finished his studies there he returned to Michigan to serve as a Minister to the
youth at the Gull Lake Bible Church in Hickory Corners, Michigan. A year later he was
accepted by UFM International to serve as a teacher and a church planter in the
Dominican Republic where he served for 4 years.
He returned to marry Jane Reeves of Albion, Michigan. In August of 1975 they came to
the Rio Grande Bible Institute and Missionary Language School in Edinburg, Texas
where they have served since that time. Manny went on to study at the University of
Texas Pan Am and at Ohio State. He obtained a Master’s in Languages and a Doctoral
degree in Educational Leadership.
Dr. Manuel Gutierrez and his wife Jane have two grown sons Andrew and Joel. Manny
has served at the Rio Grande Bible Institute as Bible and Language professor, Dean of
Men, Director of Christian Service, Academic Dean and Vice President of Education.
He has served on the boards of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, Crusader
Ministries, the World Radio Network, CrossGlobal Links and the International Congress
on Language Learning and now serves on the board of trustees for the Moody Bible
Institute.
STEVE CROWN
Steve Crown grew up in a home with godly Christian parents and a father who was a teaching elder in
the church. He trusted Christ as his Savior and Lord at a young age and has been privileged for
almost 50 years to grow in his faith under godly pastors and Sunday school teachers who
preached the truth of God’s word.
In college, Steve was actively involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) both
in personal ministry and training. In 1982, after his sophomore year in engineering, he spent one
year in Africa with CCC showing the film “Jesus” in cooperation with local churches.
After graduating and in preparation for vocational ministry overseas, he attended the Institute of
Biblical Studies, Staff training with CCC, spent months at the Southern Institute for Appropriate
Technology, took a year working as an engineer, went on a missions trip to Haiti, and met his
future wife Leslie.
Realizing the opportunity for ministry in other cultures as an engineering professor, Steve
pursued a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. His first teaching position was at a Christian
college in the states. Ultimately, Steve and Leslie were led to the Rio Grande Valley in 1994
where Steve is an Engineering Professor at the University and Leslie home schools their last
child at home.
Steve was ordained as an elder at Valley Community Church in 2016. He and Leslie came to the
church in 2008 and they have three children … Kayla, Joshua, and Karissa. Steve enjoys studying
and sharing the truth of God’s Word so that the body of Christ may better know, love, serve and
glorify Him.