Before Cupertino he spent six years at First Church in Redding, California, first as associate pastor and then as interim. Between those two appointments he has spent most of his working life doing what he'll be doing here — preaching on Sunday, sitting with people the rest of the week.

Rajiv was born and raised in India, and his education followed him around the world. He earned a Bachelor of Theology at South India Biblical Seminary, then studied in South Korea, where he completed a Master of Theology, a Master of Missions, and a Master in Public Administration focused on international peace and conflict studies. He finished his Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Not all of that ministry has happened in a sanctuary. He has worked at a social welfare trust in Gujarat, India, and at the International Seafarers Center in Long Beach, California, sitting with men a long way from home and not much to go back to. Those years are why justice and reconciliation aren't side projects in his preaching — they're the point of it.

At home in Sunnyvale, Rajiv lives with his wife, Anna Nikitina. He cooks his way through other people's cuisines, watches historical films and the occasional action movie, plays tennis, and spends as much time outdoors as he can with his daughters, Eva and Sonia.

He arrives with a deep love for God, a real interest in people, and a heart for building a community rooted in grace, hope and service. The simplest way to meet him is to come on a Sunday — he's usually near the door afterward.