Biography : Paul Bodin

A native Californian, Paul Bodin grew up in the Chico area. After serving as a Lutheran pastor in settings as diverse as coastal Washington State and New York City, he returned to California in 1994 and currently serves as Senior Pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Modesto. Under his leadership Emanuel has developed programs to serve its neighborhood by providing a fifty-child daycare and preschool center and an after-school literacy program. Pastor Bodin currently chairs the sponsoring committee working to initiate a faith-based community organizing effort in Modesto and surrounding communities based on the model developed by the Pacific Institute for Community Organization.

Pastor Bodin holds degrees from Pacific Lutheran University (BA, 1974) and Wartburg Theological Seminary (MDiv, 1978), and has pursued graduate theological study at Union Theological Seminary of New York.