Heading home

Longtime senior pastor at Bidwell Presbyterian Church Steve Schibsted (pictured) is leaving the pulpit after 17 years of leading the heavily attended, red-brick church that sits next to the Chico State campus on First Street. His wife, Leslie, who worked for Chico State, recently landed a job as an associate vice president for development at San Diego State.

The well-respected and welcoming Schibsted is more or less heading home. Originally from San Diego, he grew up in Los Angles and attended college in Santa Barbara. According to the Bidwell Presbyterian website, when asked what he would do if he wasn’t a pastor, Schibsted answered, “being a point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers.”

Bidwell Presbyterian has plans to conduct a nationwide search for Schibsted’s replacement.