The Reverend Al Bastin is a native of Decatur, Georgia. A graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, he has done extensive post-seminary training. He trained for two years at the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care and is a Spiritual Director and a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator administrator. He was ordained in 1983. He has pastored congregations in Virginia, Michigan, and Ohio. He has served as Moderator of the Michigan Conference and as Moderator of Southwest Ohio / Northern Kentucky Association of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ. He also served as the Interim Association Minister of the Southwest Ohio / Northern Kentucky Association. He and his wife have one daughter.