Dave Rochford
Lead Pastor
Office: 757-229-1771 ext. 260
Dave Rochford, who many years ago served as Associate Pastor at WUMC, was appointed our Lead Pastor in the summer of 2020 after serving as District Superintendent for the churches of the Staunton District. Alongside his wife Lisa, a local clinical psychologist and Dave's college sweetheart, the couple navigates parenthood with three boys. As Dave humorously puts it, they "suffer having a shrink and a preacher for parents": Ben, currently pursuing a PhD at Duke, Jon, an undergrad at Randolph Macon, and Alden, a video game scholar attending Matthew Whaley Elementary School.
A devout kayaker, Dave recommends paddling College Creek and the James, and is always watching for wildlife (he claims to have seen five bears, a badger and a bobcat in the Blue Ridge some time back). He is also very opinionated about where “true coarse-chopped pulled-pork BBQ” can be found and thinks Two Drummers in Toano “will do until you get back south of the border.”
Dave is passionate about crafting a worship experience that takes its shape from Scripture and charts an arc of meaning from beginning to end. In addition to preaching and teaching about God’s forgiving love, he loves history and archaeology, and therefore thinks that Williamsburg is the perfect place “to see something new turn up!” Prone to laugh and be surprised by Grace, Dave believes that we should take our call to ministry very seriously - but ourselves, not so much!
To reach Pastor Dave please email drochford@williamsburgumc.org.