YOUR STORY MATTERS HERE: Dale Gold

By Tim Wesley

 While lying in a hospital bed with COVID in December, Dale Gold saw the light. Well, actually she heard the light.

“I definitely had an awakening from God,” she said. “Every day, all day, I kept hearing the song ‘All Together’ by Mike Donehey. It became such a feverish pitch I had to write down the words to really absorb them.”

Donehey sings about imperfect people coming together through love and God’s grace. One line, in particular, kept ringing in Dale’s ears: “Cracks are where the light gets in…”

“I felt cracked,” she said. “But now I’m moving toward healing as a result really of hearing God tell me to live my life with more intention. It was really providential in a lot of ways. There are many things I am doing to live my life not just differently, but to actually live my life. I’ve made changes already to honor the life that God has given to me.”

Some changes around the house are small. She has two cats and, with a sore back, didn’t want to keep bending over to clean out the litter box, so she installed a ledge for the box in a closet. Others are more personal. She’s never been married but recently joined a dating service. And if she wants to go to the symphony, she’ll phone a few friends to go with her; if no one can make it, she’ll go herself instead of skipping it.

“Sometimes you have to take care of yourself and be kind to yourself,” she said.

By any measure, Dale has spent much of her life and her livelihood taking care of others, and that’s a principle that won’t change. A lifelong Christian, she comes from a family of ministers and servant-leaders. Thanks to her career in human resources, she has been practicing a ministry of her own for many years.

“My ministry is helping people to live a better life, through helping them at work,” she said. “So I’ve looked at my career as my mission: guiding and coaching people through their work life.”

Over the years, Dale has been a guiding light for many people across many industries, in both corporations and non-profit organizations. Currently, she’s part of a team supporting training and development programs for the North American division of SUEZ - Water Technologies & Solutions. Prior to that, she served as a career consultant for an international management consulting firm, and she ran her own human resources consulting business – Resources of Gold – for 10 years.

Although she has handled many complex issues, including sexual discrimination incidents, her messages and solutions are often simple and faith-based.

“At work you can’t usually speak in terms of religion, but you’re always coaching people on knowing right from wrong and treating people with respect,” she said. “I do draw on WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) in how I coach others. I can always find how to love others and find a way to serve them as well. I have been called on to recommend training and intervention techniques and classes, and I’ve been able to help people help other employees based on coaching I have provided. I love that this talent has been gifted to me.”

Dale recalled helping one particular gentleman navigate a career change with prayer.

“We met in Panera and prayed together a few times,” she said. “I coached him to remember who he was at his core, and not to worry about the past but to focus on where the new path was leading. People are extremely anxious when their careers are in transition, and that approach did help him to calm down.”

When it comes to career advice, Dale recommended digging deep into what motivates you and listening closely to God’s voice along the way.

“God shapes you,” she said. “It’s the God moments and the voice of God that can help you find your niche, your ministry in your life.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Dale has spent most of her life near the city (Murrysville, Monroeville, Squirrel Hill, and Mt. Washington), but also lived in Nashua, NH, before ending up in Cranberry Township in 2016. She joined Dutilh a year later, after attending a service in which Pastor Tom Parkinson shared the pulpit with Sam Hogue, then a high school student who was considering a career in ministry.

“I was completely impressed that a church would give that kind of opportunity to a youth member,” she said. “It showed me the respect the church leadership and church as a whole shared together. I didn’t know Sam or what he wanted to do, and that didn’t matter. It was just a smidgen of a view into how Dutilh cares for its family. It made me feel in awe and instantly at home.”

She has served Dutilh in leadership positions, as a Sunday school teacher for preschoolers, and as a leader in youth ministry. Thanks to an invite from Debbie Mariotti, she also participates in a small group known as “The Joy Ladies.”

Among her favorite aspects of Dutilh are the Sunday services, and how “the congregation really steps up and out for its members and for the community. I love the thoughtfulness with how our sermon series are structured to bring about change and growth within each of us. I even like getting involved in things I’m not really interested in because once I do them, I never regret them. I think we are intentional about being disciples of Christ, and I like that we have a world focus.”

Dale’s faithful journey is ongoing – “I’m still a work in progress,” she said – and she hopes it takes her around the world, perhaps to places such as South Africa, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

“I love both the beach and the mountain lakes,” she said. “I have to have water near me. It’s so relaxing and a way to commune with God as well. It helps me to think about things that are bigger than I am.”

And it helps her to see – and to hear – God’s light in her life.