Reverend Dr. Dale M. Weatherspoon, Class of 1994
We recently sat down with Dale Weatherspoon, Class of 1994, who shared with us his interesting journey from project manager to pastor and passionate learner/advocate/trainer for fostering cross-cultural awareness. He and his wife Debbie, also a pastor, live in the East Bay.
Dale is currently Senior Pastor, Easter Hill United Methodist Church (UMC), a predominately Black congregation, in Richmond, recently entering his 8th year this past July. Since 1999, he previously pastored four churches in cross-racial, cross-cultural appointments.
A San Francisco native, Dale describes himself as a “cradle Methodist, born and raised in the church. “Faith has always been a big part of my life. The church is my extended family and has truly shaped me and my passion for cross-cultural ministry work.”
He recently attended a reunion with members of his home church from high school. “We had a 70-voice choir back then. What a reunion weekend we had as folks traveled from near and far. We rekindled friendships and sang hymns and other songs we enjoyed together so many years ago. It was very powerful, as was learning that so many of us are still actively involved with our respective churches.”
You came to then-College of Notre Dame (CND) as an adult learner. Can you share some of your academic highlights?
After high school, I attended City College of San Francisco and then transferred to Laney College to get my Associate of Arts degree. I worked for a number of years at UPS, Wells Fargo Bank and then VISA. My parents had always impressed upon me the value of a good education so as a 40th birthday present to myself, I decided to go back to school and get my bachelor’s degree. I heard about the evening accelerated program at then-College of Notre Dame and decided to take a look at it. The College was easy to get to from work, and there was a new degree program in Human Services that I was very interested in.
My schedule for the next couple of years was intense. I’d leave my San Francisco home early in the morning to get to work in San Mateo, and four days a week, immediately following work I drove over to CND to attend four-hour classes. Some nights I would stay and talk with my professors and classmates until 10:30PM.
My experiences were great; the environment really fit my personality and needs at the time. I loved the small class sizes, got to know my instructors and met a lot of other students through study groups. Deb Cash was my advisor and Director of the Human Services program. She was wonderful – so supportive and encouraging – and her enthusiasm and love for education was infectious. I found a lot of what I was learning – marketing, strategic planning, communications and more – especially applicable to the work I was doing as a project manager and as a volunteer at my church. I learned how to listen, to make presentations and other skills that have served me well throughout many aspects of my life.
Ron Visconti was also very influential, as was Hélène Laroche Davis who taught a course on inter-cultural cinema. We saw a series of films and wrote papers about the cultural similarities and differences such as gender roles and funeral customs. It really opened my eyes as to how other people in the world live. Another favorite class was “The History of Literature of Western Civilization,” where we read and discussed classics like the Iliad and the Odyssey, Canterbury Tales and Hamlet. It was fascinating.
Did you go directly into the ministry?
After I finished my degree at CND in 1994, I heard a voice telling me, “I want you to go to seminary.” At this point, I was not thinking about becoming a pastor – in fact, if you had told me that was on the horizon, I would have gone kicking and screaming not to go into the ministry – I just wanted to continue my very satisfying volunteer work in the church. I gave myself a year to teach my colleagues at VISA the skills to do my job and then started a Master of Divinity program in 1996 at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., where I met my wife.
As part of my graduate work, I did a one-year placement at Rising Hope Mission, a United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia that turned into a couple of years. I learned a great deal about community organizing and the systemic issues affecting unhoused and other low-income individuals who lack community safety nets. It was a game-changer.
While working at Rising Hope, I realized that God was calling me into pastoral ministry, and I heeded the call. Other than myself, no one seemed that surprised that I became a pastor, although looking back, all the signs were clearly pointed in that direction.
In 1999, Debbie and I moved to California. In 2005, recognizing that I needed more skills to understand and be more successful in understanding and serving diverse communities, I took classes and completed a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley in 2013. My thesis was on Navigating the Waters of Cross-Racial, Cross-Cultural Ministry.
During this time, I became part of an I-Relate training team that offered programs to help clergy and lay persons deepen inter-cultural communications and competencies. My cross-cultural training work takes me all over the country and beyond, and along with two co-authors, I recently published a book titled Building Lasting Bridges. I’m excited to see it used in small groups to help others continue to learn how to be in healthy and respectful relationships with others across different cultures and to be more self-aware.
Are there any NDNU Hallmarks that especially resonate with you?
They all do and beautifully encapsulate my personal and professional values and mission. That being said, two Hallmarks – “We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person” and “We embrace the gift of diversity” – speak to the work of developing compassion for those living on the fringes, as well as the need to continually educate people about cross-cultural and racial similarities and differences. It truly is a gift to be able to do this work.
What do you like to do for fun?
I love listening to music, mostly jazz – KCSM is on my radio right now. I golf once a week and enjoy traveling. I’m looking forward to an Alaskan cruise with my family to celebrate my 70th birthday this year.