Michael is a native of Durham, North Carolina and has lived in the Fayetteville area for nearly 28 years. He married Jane Stuart of Roland, North Carolina in 1966. He is the father of two grown children and a proud grandfather, "GaGa", of two girls.

Before being appointed to St. Matthew's UMC in February 2001, Dr. Hale was Founder and Director of The PEACE Inc.- Personal Empowerment And Community Edification, a faith-based non-profit community based organization providing direct services to individuals, couples, and families as well as a variety of training and consultation services to church and community groups. He also founded CEPHAS: Christian Enrichment and Psychological Health Assurance System, which provided inpatient/outpatient psychiatric treatment services in the Fayetteville, NC area for over fifteen year. He has experience in the helping professions of counseling, captaincy, health care, social welfare, education, corrections/juvenile justice as well as business management.

He served as a pastor in United Methodist Churches fifteen years and then fifteen years with the Methodist Home for Children in Family Therapy, Family Preservation/Family Support, Church and Community Services and Spiritual Formation. Dr. Hale has a Doctor of Ministry Degree in marriage and family, a Masters in Counseling, and a Masters of Divinity with a specialty in Christian Education. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Family Life Educator, as well as a certified marriage and family enrichment leader. Dr. Hale is a faculty member of The William Glasser Institute. He has been a presenter and keynote speaker at regional, national and international conferences for nearly 20 years.