Rob Odum

I grew up in Southern California attending a number of different “churches." Though I was baptized as an infant in an Episcopal church, my family left that assembly shortly after. We made our way to a number of different “churches,” finally finding a home in Hope Chapel Church in Hermosa Beach. I attended AWANA and Youth Group through my childhood and prayed with my leaders to accept Christ, however, my life after that point did not reflect the true change of heart that only God can bring. A few years later my father became a pastor and led his own church in addition to a mission outreach he and my mother ran in Long Beach, California. For myself, instead of growing closer to Christ, I moved farther away and began to pursue fulfillment through different spiritual paths that ultimately led nowhere. After spending several years seeking spiritual fulfillment apart from Christ, with nothing but disillusionment, I walked away from all religion and found myself focusing on my career; like most of the people I was friends with.  

A few years later my life would take a drastic change after moving from Southern California to Northern California through a promotion and new job offer from my employer. It would be in 1998 that I was brought to a place where a true surrendered walk with Christ would graciously be made a reality in my life amidst the rubble of what my life had become. In the ruin of a failed relationship at home and a city that was over 500 miles from any other family or friends, God revealed Himself in a way that assured me of His control and was undeniable to me. It was at this time I accepted Him truly and turned over my life to Him, acknowledging God’s plan in changing my life’s direction. Although my life has often been one small step at a time in each and every aspect of being sanctified, God has been abundantly good to me.

Ultimately, God lead us to Cool, California. To say that God did a HUGE work in my life at this point would not be an overstatement! My family and I began attending Cool Community Church in 1999. Through the grace of God, I began serving in the Church in 2002. Roughly 11 years later, after serving in multiple music ministries, I was again graced by God and given the opportunity to pursue my biblical education through the Evangelical Free Church in their Gateway program. I completed 4 years of Doctrinal studies within that program. After graduating this program I added Youth Ministry to my role at Cool Church on top of the Music Ministry, and a few short years later I was ordained by Cool Church to serve as Associate Pastor.  

I have always considered Proverbs 3:13-18 a very key verse for my life as this was one of the scriptures God gave me to pull me from so much other noise I had in my life during my younger years: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” When Christ became the source of this knowledge I finally understood what had only been a mystery until that point. From that point on my life verse became Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the Power of God unto Salvation.”

It has been an incredible blessing to have been able to serve for as long as I have here. My family and I count everyone in this Church as our family and we look forward to many more years of service to come.