A UNC alum, Paul considers serving at University Baptist Church his “dream job.” He loves that UBC is a place that values love, community, justice, freedom, and thinking critically about faith.

After graduating from Carolina in 2007, Pastor Paul received his ministerial training from Campbell University Divinity School, earning a Masters in Divinity in 2011 and a Doctor of Ministry in 2019.

The focus of Paul’s doctoral work was the issue of pastoral vulnerability. Paul believes that to meet its many challenges, the Church needs authentic leaders who are brave enough to let their congregations see them as the humans they are, in the same way that God revealed God’s self to us in the flesh in the person of Jesus. If the people in the pews see their leaders as their vulnerable, human selves, it will grant them permission to be more vulnerable in their own faith, helping the modern Church push back against its reputation of being inauthentic and irrelevant to real life. As a result, our pastor openly shares with us who he is, commenting freely on his life and heart, with all of its joys, sorrows, convictions, and questions.

When he’s not at church, Paul enjoys cheering on the TarHeels, running, meeting students, watching movies, working with his hands, and spending time with his wife, Eliza, and their two boys, Steven and Parrish.