Rev. Nori Ochi has a B.A. from Pomona College and an M.Div. from Fuller Seminary. He is an ordained minister through the American Baptist Churches. During seminary he interned at the Asian American church where his supervisor and mentor challenged him to stretch himself and be willing to be uncomfortable in the journey of faith. That challenge led him to accept a position at Panorama Baptist Church, an African American church attempting to become more multiethnic. As the family pastor there, he planned many overseas mission trips for the church, from the annual Mexico trip with AIL, to trips to Egypt and South Africa with YWAM.

Nori's personal growing belief in the necessity for affirming the LGBT community led him to leave the church and seek to be where Jesus was calling Christians to be. He spent time working in homeless services in Hollywood before getting together with friends and planting a church in the downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row area, for people not feeling welcomed at church. As a pastor on a stipend rather than a salary, he volunteered with an afterschool tutoring program for kids in Skid Row as well as with an Asian American LGBT Equality organization.

Nori has retired from pastoring to be a full time, stay at home parent to help raise two daughters and take care of the house to allow my civil rights attorney spouse to concentrate on her work. He continues volunteering at church, teaching Sunday school on social justice topics like LGBT inclusion, race, and immigration, while continuing to help out annually on medical clinics AIL has to rural areas in Oaxaca, Mexico. I’ve also brought groups to visit with immigrants being detained at Adelanto Detention facility, supporting them on their asylum claims.