VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 12/21/22)—American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire Executive Minister Rev. Dale R. Edwards has announced his intent to retire on September 1, 2023. Edwards plans to work with the Region Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee to prepare for the transition over the coming months.

Rev. Soozi Whitten Ford, interim associate general secretary for Regional Ministries, said, “Rev. Dale Edwards has brought renewed stability to the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire during his tenure as executive minister. His strong sense of missional theology, combined with gifts of leadership and care for churches and their pastors, have provided welcome support for church leaders to engage in creative mission, especially during the COVID pandemic. We extend our best wishes to Rev. Edwards as he begins this new season of retirement, even as we are grateful for his service as a regional executive minister.”

Rev. Dale Edwards is in his eleventh year serving as the Region Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire. He enjoys traveling in the region, visiting with pastors and churches. His ministry has been dedicated to Church Renewal in New England.

Edwards, a graduate of Berkshire Christian College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lebanon, N.H., for 25 years. During that time, he also served for several years as pastor of Logos Community Church, a mission congregation of the Korean Presbyterian Church meeting at Dartmouth College.

He and his wife Laurie have been married for 38 years, and have two children: Daniel and his wife Libby and Beth and her husband Nate. Their granddaughter, Charlotte, will turn four this summer.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.