Dover-Foxcroft: Pastor headed to Newcastle

The Rev. Ken Dale (photo) is not ashamed to say that his last service Sunday at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church will be an emotional one for him. Dale, who has spent 20 years supporting the congregation, has resigned and will begin ministering at Newcastle Congregational Church on Nov. 21. “Sunday will be difficult just because of the love that is celebrated in this church,” Dale said Tuesday. During his initial interview in 1984, Dale recalled, he was told the Dover-Foxcroft church needed someone who would “bite the bullet and hang in there with us.” He has served the longest of any minister in the church’s 182-year history. Dale was involved in 188 baptisms, 136 weddings and 328 funerals. He also oversaw construction of an addition for offices and Sunday school classes in 1988, a project that was built and paid for in five years. Dale has also coordinated the volunteer chaplain program at Mayo Regional Hospital, then was hired as director of pastoral care when the hospital created the position in 2000. “What I most enjoy is being involved in the lives of individuals and families,” he said.