Eighteen and a half years ago, Kenneth Hale showed up to work in Dale Baptist Association at almost exactly the same time Jim Hill came on board as pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Ozark.
“We got there one day apart,” Hale said.
So it’s fitting that after years of seeing God at work in their association, Hale is retiring as director of missions (DOM) — and handing the reins over to Hill.
“We are so, so blessed to see all the Lord has let us do together,” Hale said, noting that his years as DOM have been marked with a sense of associational unity and cooperation. In the past 18.5 years, Hale has seen the association’s churches rally around an annual women’s retreat and men’s swamp cookout.
“That has been a tremendous blessing — we present the gospel and have folks saved there every year,” he said.
Hale also led Dale Association in recent years to build a new office and ministry center, both of which are totally paid off.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Hale has been “an exemplary leader for his association and beyond.”
“He has truly gone beyond the call of duty in assisting church leaders in their local church ministries,” Lance said. “Although Kenneth is retiring from this director of missions role, I know he will be active in ministry in other ways in the days to come. We wish him the very best.”
Even though Hale officially retired at the end of March, he is still helping out as the association transitions to Hill’s leadership at the beginning of May.
After that, he’s “walking into a new phase of ministry,” Hale said.
“My goal is to do something bivocationally, whether that’s supply preaching, interim pastor work or teaching a Sunday School class,” he said. “I’m just going to preach and do what the Lord lets us do.”
He and his wife, Carol, will celebrate 50 years of marriage in December. The couple has two children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. (TAB)
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