Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson

Jo Hudson is a spiritual leader, pastor, mentor, and community builder who serves as Senior Pastor of Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ (UCC), the world’s largest liberal Christian church with a primary outreach to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

Rev. Dr. Hudson joined the Cathedral in August 2004, after seven years as pastor of Friends Congregational Church UCC in College Station, Texas. She was overwhelmingly elected to serve as the Senior Pastor of the Cathedral of Hope in February 2005, making the Cathedral of Hope UCC the largest church in the State of Texas, and one of the largest in the United States, to have a woman Senior Pastor.

A native Texan, Rev. Dr. Hudson received her PhD in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University in 1993 and graduated with honors from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1994. She was ordained into the United Church of Christ in 1997. Rev. Dr. Hudson is the former President of the South Central Conference of the UCC, served for ten years on the Board of Directors of the UCC Justice & Witness Ministry, has been elected to the UCC Pension Boards on which she will be seated in 2011, is a member of the Forum on Military Chaplaincy, and currently serves on the Board of Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

Rev. Dr. William Baldridge

William (Rusty) Baldridge, PhD, currently serves as Associate Pastor of Community Outreach at the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. Before assuming a pastoral role at the Cathedral of Hope, Rev. Baldridge served as the Director of Administration.

Prior to his work for the Cathedral of Hope, Rev. Baldridge was the Associate Pastor for Music and Administration for ten years at a large church in Dallas. Before going into full-time church work he was Associate Professor of Music at the University of Texas in Arlington.

Rev. Baldridge has two degrees from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a PhD in Music from the University of North Texas. He was ordained in 1991 and has two children.

Rev. Shelley Hamilton

Shelley Hamilton currently serves as the Associate Pastor of Congregational Care at the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas.

Rev. Hamilton was ordained and gained her professional pastoral experience with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. She served several churches as pastor throughout her career. Rev. Hamilton retired from MCC in 2001 and returned to the Cathedral of Hope UCC in July of 2005.

Rev. Hamilton received her theological and biblical training at Union Theological Seminary in NYC, Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Tx and received her Master of Divinity degree, cum laude, from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Ok. - where she also completed three years of course work towards a Doctor of Ministry. She has been an unceasing advocate for the human rights of all people – especially Queer people.

Rev. Rachael Sandifer

Rachael Sandifer serves as the Executive Director of the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ (UCC) in Dallas, Texas; and as the Pastor of the Cathedral of Hope Mid-Cities, a parish extension of the Cathedral of Hope Dallas.

Rev. Sandifer was an ordained Elder in the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church from 1997 – 2010. During that time, Rachael served in multiple appointments throughout Fort Worth and Arlington as Youth Director, Director of Missions, Associate Pastor and Senior Pastor, along with numerous Committees and Councils.

Rev. Sandifer received her B.A. degree from Southwestern University, Georgetown Texas in Sociology and Psychology, her M.Div. degree from Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth and completed her coursework for the D.Min. Degree from Brite Divinity School.

Rev. Dawson B. Taylor

Dawson Taylor serves as Executive Minister at the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. Dawson was ordained at the Cathedral of Hope in June of 2006 after serving on the staffs of First United Methodist Church of Richardson, TX and Memorial Drive United Methodist Church in Houston, TX.

Dawson preaches the weekly contemporary worship service, oversees evangelism and membership ministries as well as supervises the professional programming staff. He received his Bachelor’s degree in political science from Centenary College of Louisiana where he served as student body president for two years as well as a US Congressional Internship. Dawson received his Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary.

Rev. Taylor currently serves as chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Office of Communications (OC, Inc.) of the United Church of Christ.

Rev. Alejandro de la Torre

Alejandro De La Torre is an ordained priest. He holds the Master of Theology degree from Universidad Intercontinental in Mexico City, the Master of Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome and has completed courses toward the Doctorate of Spirituality. Rev. De La Torre became the pastor of the Congregación Latina at the Cathedral of Hope in May 2007. Before moving to Dallas, he collaborated as a pastor in many different congregations in Mexico and the USA.