PERSONAL PROFILE
- Galen C. Dalrymple -Galen was born in 1952 in Iowa where he lived on a small farm with his father, mother and older sister. They lived in Iowa until 1960, when they moved to Florida for 10 months, then to southern California when Galen's father went to work for North American Aviation, the company that built the lunar lander.
Galen's father entered full-time ministry in Antioch, California in 1964, and Galen graduated from high school in Antioch, California and married Laurel Woolcott in 1970. At that point, Galen and Laurel moved to Tampa, Florida to attend Florida Christian College. Galen graduated in 1972 with A.A, then attended University of Southern Florida for a while. In 1973, their first child, Doug, was born and Galen and Laurel moved back to California where Galen went to work.
He worked for several businesses, but in 1977 became employed by Triad Systems Corporation, a computer hardware/software/data company located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Galen would eventually work for Triad (and CCITRIAD - the result of a merger between to similar companies) for nearly 25 years. In June of 1997, Galen entered the full-time ministry at Crossroads Christian Church in Tracy, CA, responsible for education, discipleship and small groups. In October of 1999, he returned to CCITRIAD as director of operations for the automotive data services organization.
While on staff at Crossroads Christian Church, Galen earned his bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies and was ordained. He is currently completing his master's degree in theology.
During their marriage, Galen and Laurel have lived in California, Florida, North Carolina and most recently in Maine. They returned to California to start a new non-denominational church in Cloverdale, California, in September of 2003.
Galen and Laurel have three children and two grandchildren: Doug (born 1973 - married to Anna, with grandson Charlie, 6 mos.), living in San Jose, CA; Tim (born 1976 - married to Joyce, in grad school in Boston); Lisa (born 1982, with granddaughter Kailani, 1 year old), living in Tracy, CA.
Galen grew up in a Christian family and in the church. During his life, he has taught adult classes for 33 years, served as deacon (4 years) and as an elder (approx. 18 years), in addition to the 2 ½ years in the full-time ministry. His experiences working in secular work have helped shape him for ministry and have given him an understanding of what it is like to work in the secular world.
Starting in 1997, Galen began to write and publish DayBreaks, an email devotion intended to encourage believers that is distributed free of charge on Monday through Friday to anyone who wishes to receive it. It has been published ever since 1997.