Meet Our Staff

Michael Dorn has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Downtown since 2005. Outside of his role at Trinity he has served as an officer on the Board of Regents of Concordia University Texas, as Secretary of the Board for Lutheran Church — Canada, and as a Texas District Circuit Visitor, along with various other boards and committees of the wider church.

Michael received a Master of Divinity Degree in 1991 from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. Before going into ministry, Pastor Dorn was educated in industrial electronics, electrical engineering, production management and business administration. His continuing education courses have focused on leadership, executive training, and governance-related topics. Michael is the fourth generation in his family to serve in the office of the pastoral ministry.

Prior to coming to Trinity Downtown, Pastor Dorn served as the Senior Pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Under his ministry, church attendance grew ten-fold, the staff increased from one to 100, a K-12 Christian school was opened with enrollment exceeding 300 students. Additionally, a 135 unit senior assisted living facility was built along with 175 duplex/four-plex units were built for seniors independent living resulting in intergenerational community and ministry on 170 acres.

Pastor Dorn is a member of the Houston Symphony Chorus, the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoys curling, basketball, volleyball, and building fine furniture.

Michael is married to Veloyce and they have two daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth. Veloyce serves as an elementary special needs teacher with HISD, and is the head of Special Needs department at her school. Michael and Veloyce are proud to call Houston home and enjoy being a part of its vibrant and diverse community.

Lonnie Gonzales serves as the Associate Pastor of Outreach. His responsibilities include general pastoral duties and cultivating a culture of outreach in our church for the city of Houston. He is a native Houstonian raised in Houston’s 1st Ward. His love for Houston runs deep.

Lonnie was ordained in 2000 serving several Houston congregations and a network of churches. He served as a military chaplain in the US Army Reserves from 2012-2020 and was deployed in 2015-16 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lonnie and Joy are joyfully married for over 30 years. He has three grown children: Luke, who lives Houston, and is a songwriter and musical artist; Isaiah, who is married to Anna, a full-time foreign missionary based in New Zealand; Sophie, a full-time student at Sam Houston University majoring in Health Sciences, and recently admitted to the Sam Houston School of Nursing.

Lonnie enjoys long walks with his wife Joy, making memories with his family, and vacationing with close friends.

Lonnie’s personal calling and cause are walking with others in a process of spiritual renewal and personal recovery. His motto is from his Army days, “One Team One Fight”.

Lonnie's favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:32, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Born and raised in Arcadia, Indiana, Pastor Black is a 1958 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. He was ordained and installed as assistant pastor at Trinity in July 1958 and became senior pastor in 1960, a position which he held until March 1998.

Pastor Black has served on various local, district and synodical boards and committees, including the Board of Managers for the Concordia Plan and as vice president for Area D of the Texas District of the LCMS. Currently he serves on the Woltman Foundation in Houston.

Pastor Black and his wife, Audrey, have three married daughters and two granddaughters.

Rev. Greg Finke is called by Trinity Downtown to be a deployed missionary to the church-at-large. Rev. Finke does this through a ministry he founded in 2011 called Dwelling 1:14. He is the author of the books, "Joining Jesus on His Mission," and, "Joining Jesus – Show Me How." Dwelling 1:14 is a non-profit ministry which travels around the world, training congregational leaders to disciple their people in joining Jesus on His mission in the places they already live, work and go to school.

Before founding Dwelling 1:14, Rev. Finke had been the senior pastor of Messiah Lutheran in Midland, Michigan for 18 years and Gloria Dei Lutheran in Houston, Texas for three years. Greg and his wife, Susan, have three daughters and enjoy life as neighborhood missionaries in their current neighborhood located in St. Paul, MN.

Rev. Finke is a graduate of Concordia University Chicago (1985) and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (1989).

Kim Davis serves as Trinity’s executive director overseeing all aspects of daily operations (including finance, HR, IT, marketing and communications) and supporting the ongoing implementation of strategic initiatives of the church.

Kim is a uniquely qualified leader with 25 years of non-profit healthcare experience as a director at LifeGift, responsible for personnel, budget, grant management, regulatory compliance and external relationships with hospitals, funeral homes, law enforcement, medical examiners, and others. Most recently Kim has served as a heart transplant coordinator at Memorial Hermann Hospital, taking patients and their families through the transplant evaluation process and acting as their liaison to the multidisciplinary team.

Kim was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan where her parents and siblings are still. She is married to Bob Davis, a native Houstonian and lifelong Trinity member. Their two sons, Dillon and Nathan attended Trinity’s schools from Pre-school through 8th grade.
Kim studied nursing at the University of Michigan, Dearborn and the Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing.

Haley Zimmerman serves as the Director of Youth and Children's Ministries, serving early childhood through high school graduates! Her duties include running weekly and seasonal programs, connecting with children and students.

Graduating from Concordia University Texas in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Education, Haley served at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Dallas and guest lectured for LCC classes at T.C. Marsh Preparatory School before accepting the call to Trinity Downtown.

She served on the Glory Bound 2018 planning team, a youth conference for high school students; specifically working on the service team that ran a Cost of Poverty Experience for 700 high school students!

Her philosophy of ministry is that everyone belongs! Out of that belonging, comes belief in Jesus as our Lord and Savior to our community.

Haley loves rock climbing and swing dancing. She’s a born and raised New Mexican so she is always up for spicy food!

Angela graduated from St. Pius X High School and earned her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from LeTourneau University. She began working at Trinity as a substitute teacher in 2010, and in 2013 started working in the church office. Prior to working for Trinity, Angela worked in the Natural Gas/Electric Industry for 17 years in the Contract Administration/Credit Risk Dept. at CenterPoint Energy.

Angela is a native Houstonian, and has lived near downtown Houston her entire life. She and her family became members of Trinity Lutheran Church in March of 2009. Angela and her husband, James, are blessed with three children, Candace, Chelsea, Travis and four grandsons: Noah, Luke, Christopher and Joseph.

Rebecca Castillo is a talented and accomplished music educator and performer from Houston, Texas. With a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Sam Houston State University and a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, she has dedicated her life to music and teaching. Rebecca has been a public school teacher for ten years, leading award-winning high school and junior high choirs. Her commitment to education goes beyond the classroom as she also teaches for the non-profit organization Partnerschools and the Segundo Barrio Children’s Chorus. Rebecca performs with various professional choral ensembles, including the GRAMMY®️ award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, Mercury Chamber Singers, Pasión (GRV), and EXIGENCE (Sphinx Organization). Rebecca has been involved in church music for many years, serving primarily as a vocalist. She has had the opportunity to experience worship in different denominations and worldwide. She has been serving in the choir at Trinity Downtown since the fall of 2022, and she is looking forward to serving the congregation as the Director of Worship and Music.

Sarahai coordinates membership services, security, mail, purchasing, facility-related matters, event coordination and ministry-related matters.

Sarahai is currently educating herself to become a professional in every aspect of her life. She is single and currently living with her blessing of a family of six including herself. She is the only daughter and oldest sibling of three younger brothers. She is a youth ministry leader at her home church and assists in administration when help is needed. God has placed a heart of service in her to help and love like Jesus! Her prayer is that she is a blessing to Trinity and all God’s children.

Roseann joined Trinity's Financial Department as our Accountant in December of 2013.
She was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas and has 20 years of experience in Construction and Oil & Gas Corporations as an Accountant, Business Administrator.

Roseann and her husband Baltazar Gamez were married in 1995 and have two children. Their daughter, Reewa Gonzales, lives in Houston, TX and son, Jamall Pena and daughter-in-law, Pamela also live in Houston, Texas. They have four grandchildren.

For the past 30 years Roseann has traveled across the world. Roseann serves with several Women's Ministries in the Houston and South Texas Region.

Ken serves as Trinity's IT expert, including worship-related technology such as audio, lighting and streaming services.

Carris has been a part of the ministry team at Trinity for many years. As owner of CRS, he and his team provide custodial and other facilities-related services to Trinity on a contractual basis.

Pam joined the Trinity congregation & staff in 2001. She works with publications including, Trinity Today, Worship Service Folders, & ProPresenter presentations for sanctuary worship. A Texas native, Pam serves on the Banner Committee, Trinity Brass, & Worship Team.