|
|
The United
Methodist Church of Davis Our Pastor
|
Rev. John Oda was born and raised in Stockton California. At the age of nineteen he moved to the Bay Area to attend San Francisco State University. Shortly after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology John moved to Berkeley to work as a counselor at a Transitional Residential Treatment facility for the chronically mentally ill. In 1987, John attended U.C. Berkeley and received Master’s Degree of Social Work. He then held various jobs as an administrator at several non-profits. His last secular job was with the California State University system. In 1997 God called John to seminary. He attended at San Francisco Theological Seminary and received a Master’s Degree in Divinity. He worked stints as a chaplain at Marin General Hospital and as the Youth Director at Berkeley Methodist. John was then appointed to Pine United Methodist Church in San Francisco, where he just completed his ninth year. For fun John loves to golf, work out (run), work in the garden and hang out with friends and family. His musical tastes are quite eclectic and range from: Mercy Me to Madonna, from Cold Play to Sanatum Kaur. His favorite meal is either a Carnitas Burrito or Pasta Pesto. Currently John serves on three Cal/Nevada committees: the Committee on Reconciliation, the Committee on Older Adult Ministry and the Committee on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. John has also been a Board member of the Reconciling Ministries Network for the past two years and co-chairs the United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church. This past month John received two awards. The first award was with the Asian Pacific Islander Family Pride for his work for the full inclusion of the LGBT communities into the church. He was also given a Commendation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for his ministerial work “marked by the breadth of outreach to the LGBT and Muslim communities.” At this summer’s Annual Conference John became an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, through the “Recognition of Order.” His wife Sue is a Landscape Architect with a business based in Albany, California. His daughter Emiko is nine years old, just completed third grade and is into gymnastics. |
Rev. John Oda |
