Dante D. Wright I was born October 5, 1970, to the late Peggy Wright and Thomas Wright Jr., and grew up in Dallas, Texas. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, Texas, where he was an accomplished wide receiver in football. It did not take long before sports had become a vitally important part of his life.
After his collegiate career ended as a 4 year starter at wide receiver (two years at Cisco Junior College; two years at Southeast Missouri State University) Dante was afforded the opportunity to become an assistant football coach on the collegiate level. For the next nine years of his life, Dante served as an assistant football coach at Hofstra University (Hempstead, N.Y.), University of North Texas (Denton, Texas), Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, Louisiana) and Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, Arkansas). He also served as director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the east Arkansas area.
Three of the players he coached in college Brian Waters (Kansas City Chiefs), Terrence McGee (Buffalo Bills), and Wayne Cherbet (New York Jets) went on to become National Football League (NFL) All Pro Players. Waters and McGee are still active players in the NFL. Dante also had the privilege of being on the staff at Hofstra University that produced Raheem Morris who is now currently the head football coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Dante also understood the importance of getting a good education, and as a result, upon graduating from high school, he enrolled in Cisco Junior College (Cisco, Texas) on a full athletic scholarship where he received an Associates of Applied Arts Degree in 1991. After graduating from Cisco Junior College, Dante went to Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO) on a full athletic scholarship where he earned a Bachelor of Science and Liberal Arts Degree in 1994.
He continued to pursue higher education by enrolling in Criswell College (Dallas, TX) where he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Christian Leadership in 2000. He also earned a Master of Divinity Degree in 2007 from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (Lynchburg, Virginia). Currently he is pursuing a Doctorate of Ministry Degree at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
Whereas coaching and his involvement in the world of sports were his passion, his call to the pastoral ministry proved to be even more powerful. In 2003, Dante accepted the call to become the senior pastor of True Light Baptist Church (Blytheville, Arkansas). For the next year and half he faithfully served as a full time coach at Arkansas State University and a full time pastor at True Light Baptist Church. After many years of collegiate coaching, Dante took one giant leap of faith and resigned from Arkansas State University in 2004 to give his total focus to the True Light Baptist Church (Blytheville, Arkansas).
In March 27, 2005, Pastor Wright accepted the divine assignment to become the Senior Pastor of the Sweet Home Baptist Church of Round Rock.
He has nurtured and fed the flock so that it has experienced growth in its membership from 60 active members to over 800 members in four years. The congregational growth the church has experienced has been, in part, due to the prayer of Jabez in Pastor Wright’s heart, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory", 1 Chronicles 4:10.
He emphasizes how imperative it is to know and to embrace the mission of this church which states, “We exist to Build Soldiers to Reach Sinners, to Resemble the Savior.” It helps the congregation to know and to understand that its purpose is to reach the world for Christ. Furthermore, the congregation is given a vivid understanding and challenge that we are to disciple people to have strong biblical principles that changes lives, builds strong families, and ultimately produce a stronger Christian community
As a result of his visionary insight, he along with other leaders of the church orchestrated the purchase of 28.75 acres of land on which to erect a new multi-million dollar church campus, fondly referred to by the congregation as "Savior on Sunrise". This anticipated move will allow the church to strengthen its current ministries and operate on a larger scale in our evangelistic and community outreach efforts.
Pastor Wright is a proven and effective leader as is demonstrated by the creative and innovative operations of the church. He operates on the cutting edge with unwavering faith. He intentionally surrounds himself with and communicates with some of America's leading academic minds and pulpit pontificators.
His doctoral studies have taken him to Israel (where he experienced baptism in the Jordan River), Greece, and University of Oxford Regent’s Park (Oxford, England). His time of study at University of Oxford (Regent’s Park) afforded him a deeper enlightenment regarding the subject homiletics and biblical hermeneutics. His sermon, The Temptation to Quit, is published in the 2008 Oxford Sermons Book-a compilation of sermons by other renown U.S. pastor and preachers.
Pastor Wright is the proud parent to Chare, Tiffany, Dante II, Kai, and Jay (Jeremiah). He is also a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.