By Jeremy Dale Henderson
Dale Peterson, minister of music at Auburn First Baptist Church, has got it made. In fact, he’ll tell you he’s had it made for quite a while. Since 1973, he’s been paid to do what he would pay to do.
“That’s honestly the way I feel,” Peterson said.
Things have changed, sure. The leisure suits are gone. Folk groups are now called praise teams. It’s harder than ever to coordinate people’s schedules with choir practice. And it’s becoming obvious to old-guard frontliners like Peterson that emphasis on what he considers to be the sacredness of the traditional church choir is weakening in congregations across the country by the year.
“But I still enjoy what I do,” he said.
Not only does he enjoy it, he’s good at it — some say the best. And giving God the best come Sunday is his passion.
“Dale is passionate about offering his best to God and expects no less of those who sing in the choir,” said Leigh Anne Armstrong, who grew up at Auburn First and was a member of the college choir from 1981 until 1984. Still active at Auburn First, Armstrong directs the older children’s choir.
“His effectiveness lies in his ability to urge and inspire singers to offer their personal bests in gratitude to God,” she said.
July will mark Peterson’s 35th anniversary at Auburn First. His service to the church was honored at the 35th college choir reunion held May 25 (see story, this page). Peterson has directed the college choir since his arrival at the church.
Keith Hibbs, director of the office of worship leadership and church music for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, called Peterson the “dean of Alabama music ministers.”
“He’s been there so long,” Hibbs said. “As far as I know, he’s been at that one position longer than any other (Baptist) music minister in the state. He’s a great guy.”
Peterson is also the longest-tenured staff member in the church’s history. He started when he was 25 years old and will turn 60 in June.
He credits his longevity in part to the pastors he has worked with, current pastor Jim Evans and pastor emeritus John Jeffers.
“I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve worked with outstanding pastors who have had a high regard for church music and for the leaders of church music,” Peterson said.
Evans said Peterson has always been “disciplined and devoted” in his work.
“The key to his success is that he pays attention to details. There are no loose ends when he leads a choir to present a piece of music or in his own compositions,” he said.
It is Peterson’s week-in-and-week-out enthusiasm for choral technique that Wally Ridgway actually credits as “the main reason I have stayed in Auburn over the years.”
Ridgway is manager of engineering media services at Auburn University’s college of engineering and has been singing at Auburn First since he started college in 1972, a year before Peterson arrived.
“The first thing you find out about [Peterson] is that he is totally dedicated to music as his way of giving glory to God. To him God is the audience we sing to on Sundays and all other times,” Ridgway said.
Peterson said he had no immediate plans for retirement. “It’d be hard to quit when you love what you’re doing.”
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