American preacher Reggie Dabbs to present at Brisbane schools on motivational speaking tour

Some parents are concerned an American evangelical preacher and motivational speaker will give a presentation to students at a Brisbane state high school.

Reggie Dabbs after speaking at Urangan State High School in Hervey Bay in 2014. Pictured with students Matt Ryan, Mikha Bryen and Kerri-Anne Hetherington. Photo: Supplied.

An American evangelical preacher and motivational speaker will give a presentation to students at a Brisbane state high school next week, prompting concerns from some parents.

Reggie Dabbs has been speaking in schools across the globe for more than 30 years. He speaks to students about choices they face with drugs, alcohol and suicide – combining these serious messages with humour and music through his saxophone playing.

Dabbs is also known as “Pastor Reggie Dabbs” or “Uncle Reggie”. Recordings of his sermons at churches across the United States can be found online.

“I can’t change my past, but Jesus can change my future, and if he did it for me, he can do it for you today,” he said at a Free Chapel service in the United States in May 2022.

“If you love sin, you need to get as far away from my voice as you can because the longer you sit in this service, the more in jeopardy your nasty life is of leaving you.”

Dabbs has also promoted and spoken at Planetshakers Conferences in Australia – a Christian event also described as “a Holy Spirit-inspired initiative”.

According to Dabbs's schedule, he will spend five days in Brisbane, May 29 – June 2, as part of the iDECIDE Schools Tour. Dabbs and his team charge $550 per seminar.

The P&C Association at Centenary State High School in Brisbane’s southwest is putting on an out-of-school hours presentation by Dabbs on Tuesday, May 30.

The school’s P&C Association said in a Facebook post they had “supported an approach” for a presentation by Dabbs.

“This session will be held after school hours for students and families who wish to attend … This is a P&C hosted event, not a school organised event … staff will not be providing supervision. Parents/carers are welcome to attend with their student/s,” the post read.

Dabbs will also play his saxophone during the school’s morning break, but the P&C Association stressed “this is a musical session and is not a public speaking session”.

The Courier-Mail understands parents have raised concerns about Dabbs's presentation being held on campus.

Centenary State High School limits who can comment on its Facebook posts, but the post regarding Dabbs received six ‘angry’ reactions, 15 ‘likes’, and six ‘love’ reactions.

Dabbs will also speak at Staines Memorial College next week – a Christian College in Redbank Plains in Ipswich.

In a Facebook post, the College said Dabbs's visit was “thanks to iSEE Church”.

iSEE Church has three locations in Brisbane, as well as churches in Logan, Moreton Bay and Townsville. They are also located in Adelaide and Launceston.

According to Dabbs's Schools Tour schedule he will visit Brisbane, Launceston, Adelaide and Townsville as part of “a life changing week”.

A Department of Education spokesman said the P&C Association’s decision to host Dabbs at Centenary State High was made “with input from the broader school community”.

“It is an established and successful practice of the department to allow school facilities to be available for appropriate community use outside of school hours, when not required for school purposes,” the spokesman said.

“Disallowing or excluding groups or individuals from accessing school facilities under these arrangements due any religious affiliation is discriminatory.

“Mr Dabbs’ presentation is not aimed at proselytising to the community and is motivational in nature, drawing on his personal experiences and hardships.

“The department is not aware of future presentations with Mr Dabbs at other state schools.”

Reggie Dabbs and his saxophone visited Burnside State High School on the Sunshine Coast in 2014. Pictured with students Corben McCosker and Kiara Shepperd. Photo: Warren Lynam.

A P&Cs Queensland spokesman said it had received no complaints from parents regarding

Dabbs's scheduled presentation at Centenary State High.

“We are of the understanding the guest speaker was invited by the P&C in his capacity as a youth motivational speaker,” the spokesman said.

“We also are unaware of any other P&Cs engaging this speaker to deliver presentations at other schools.”

The Courier-Mail is in no way questioning Dabbs as a youth motivational speaker, he turned an incredibly challenging childhood into a positive message.

His motto is: “You can never change your past, but you can change your future.”

Dabbs's mother became pregnant while she was a teenager and working as a prostitute. She lived in a chicken coop in Tennessee while pregnant.

His mother contacted her former schoolteacher, Mrs Dabbs, for help.

Mrs Dabbs and her husband took the pregnant teenager in and cared for little Reggie as foster parents until he was in Year 4, when they officially adopted him and gave him the Dabbs surname.

After graduating college, Reggie Dabbs began public speaking. He first addressed a school assembly in 1987, he has been a motivational speaker in schools for more than 30 years.

“My job with my words is to come and sit by this kid and to tell them you can make it, to tell them you’re loved, and tomorrow holds the answer to the problem they are facing today. My job is to love your kids, just the way they are,” he said about his school seminars.