Joseph B. Modica

Dr. Modica often remarks to students: "One day I couldn't spell the word 'chaplain,' then the next day, I became one." Dr. Modica’s journey to Eastern University has been a circuitous, yet enriching one. Working as a foster care social worker, attending seminary in Nyack, NY, pastoring a church in Queens, NY, working with the American Red Cross (Manhattan) Homeless Family Services, and being a graduate student in New Jersey, have all shaped his vocation. He has personally discovered what Frederick Buechner observed when defining the word "vocation": "The place God calls you to (Eastern University) is the place where your deep gladness (involvement in the lives of college students) and the world's deep hunger (forming college students for lives of integrity and following Jesus) meet.” He thanks God each day for this opportunity.

Dr. Modica sees himself primarily as a pastor-scholar: someone who attempts to model a robust gospel, an ecumenical spirit, a generous orthodoxy, a formative hospitality and respectful conversations.