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Rev. Rod Dickson-Rishel was born and raised in Long Beach, MS and attended First UMC of Long Beach in his late teens.  After responding to a call to full-time ministry, he was baptized here in our church by Rev. H. J. Hedgepeth.

Rod's model for ministry follows on Jesus' admonition to His disciples to be a fisher in the Kingdom.  He comes to us after serving appointments to Mississippi City UMC in Gulfport for 9 years, Nugent UMC in Gulfport for 10 years, and before that at Plymouth Park UMC in Irving, Texas. 

Rod received his Masters of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, Dallas, Texas.  While at SMU, he met Dorothy, who after some convincing agreed to be his wife.   Dorothy has been and continues to be the greatest blessing in his life.  They both graduated from SMU in 1986.

Rod and Dorothy have two daughters.  Savannah graduated from Long Beach High School in 2008 and just finished her Junior year as a Special Education Major at the University of Mississippi She is a member of the color guard for the Ole Miss band and the Music City Drum Corp out of Nashville Tn.  Emma is a freshman International Business and Finance major at LSU in Baton Rouge La. She is an officer of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at LSU.

Rod enjoys a variety of interests, the most important being a good husband and an active and involved father. Rod has a lifelong love of inshore light tackle fishing in the local waters and has pursued fish from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Galilee. Over the years, he has also enjoyed simple woodworking projects and has built a handful of wooden boats.