Art & Rosa Hodges

The son of a Pentecostal church planter, Senior Pastor Art Hodges received the call to lifelong ministry at a young age. Initially desiring to be a pilot, he honored his father’s request and attended bible college, setting him up for lifelong ministry. After graduating, he was a traveling evangelist, preaching the Acts 2:38 message across the country and abroad. Life led them to assist at the First United Pentecostal Church of National City, eventually being unanimously elected as its pastor. A true visionary, Pastor Hodges prepared the church for explosive growth, thus leading the church to its existing location in Chula Vista.

In addition to his role as pastor, Pastor Hodges is a leader in the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). He serves as the District Superintendent for the Southern California District of the UPCI—leading over two hundred ministers and 100 churches throughout Southern California and Nevada. He is also an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Apostolic Bible Institute in St. Paul, MN.

In 2020, he was involved in a landmark legal case challenging the ban on church services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Gavin Newsom, went before the U.S. Supreme Court three times and eventually succeeded in protecting the religious freedom of churchgoers of all Americans and their right to assemble for worship.

Art & Rosa are high school sweethearts with three children and are Grandpop and Grammy to five grandchildren.