Pastor Eric Clausen was born in 1988 in Boise, Idaho. Eric was raised going to a Lutheran Church by his parents Ken and Wendy, with his siblings Daniel and Katie.

Pastor Bob Cutler, Eric's pastor in middle school, planted the idea of Eric one day being in the ministry, and the recommendation stuck. He was ordained and installed as an Assistant Pastor at Christ Lutheran Church, Brea, California on July 31, 2016, and then installed as a Co-Pastor on February 28, 2021. 

He graduated from Concordia University, Irvine in 2010 where he majored in History with a minor in Biblical Languages. From there, he went to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned his Masters of Divinity in May of 2015, and his Sacred Theology Masters in 2018.

While at Concordia, Irvine, Eric met his future wife Hannah, whom he dated throughout his time in seminary, despite them being almost 2,000 miles away from each other. They married in 2016, and they now have two daughters, Lucy Jane and Josephine. 

Eric finds passion in teaching church history and showing how the lives of Christians before us have shaped who we are today. He hosts a podcast called, "The Faithful Forebearers" which is available on both Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

Eric's interests are his wife Hannah, his daughters, family, hiking & running, reading, motorcycles, listening to podcasts, gardening, and Ultimate Frisbee.

Contact
Email: EClausen@ChristBrea.org

Pastor Bill Brunold has served as a full-time pastor at several local parishes including Emmaus Lutheran Church in Alhambra (1984-1998), First Lutheran Church in Burbank (1998-2004), and Trinity Lutheran Church in Norwalk (2006-2016). Since 2016, Pastor Brunold has been serving as vacancy pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Montebello, where he ministers both in Spanish as well as English, and he is presently a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Ministry at Talbot School of Theology on the campus of Biola University, La Mirada, California.

Bill was commissioned as a chaplain in the California Army National Guard in 1982 where he served in the 2nd Brigade 40th Infantry Division until transferring into the U.S. Army Reserve in 1984. With the Reserve, he has served at several different locations both stateside and overseas, including serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004-2006) at Camp Arifjan, and the 377th TSC (FWD) Command Chaplain (2004-2005) in Kuwait. He is a highly decorated member of our armed forces, having received the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster), and several other prestigious service medals and awards. Bill was also an Assistant Program Manager for Operation Barnabas (2013-2015), a ministry of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Ministry to the Armed Forces. Operation Barnabas is a network of care and outreach to military reservists and veterans, proclaiming the gospel message to those who have served this country wearing the uniform of the nation.

Bill joined the Christ Lutheran Pastoral Team in March of 2020 as an Assisting Pastor, assisting with shut-in calls, hospital visitation, Bible Study facilitation, and occasional preaching.

Bill has a great passion for the theater and loves acting, singing, and performing (actually, that makes him a big "ham"). He has performed on stage in various venues in the Los Angeles area. He has been married for over 45 years to the former Patti Inglis, who is a retired Clinical Psychologist. Their marriage has been blessed with two children, Luke and Rachel (deceased), and two grandchildren, Lyle David and Liam Duane. Bill and his family live in Whittier, California.

Contact
BBrunold@ChristBrea.org