From The Pastor:

Pastor Michaele Wood

What's Your Superpower?

When I was a kid I loved to picture myself as a superhero. I dream of the special powers I would possess and spend the day pretending how those powers would change my life. (If the truth be told I still wish for certain superpowers at times). For example, I would like to be invisible so I could be somewhere listening to folks as they express their real opinion instead of their polite one.  Or maybe so i could see what is really needed by the person who continually says “I'm fine” when you can see they really are troubled.  Maybe being a shape-shifter would be a good superpower.  I could transform into a tiger to ward off danger or maybe into an eagle to live in the heights above all the world’s trouble.  I could experience things from different viewpoints and always have a new experience to explore simply by changing who I was at the time.  Or maybe a great superpower to have would be super-speed.  I could run from activity to activity without worrying about gas, parking, or car insurance.  Everything would be done on time and there would be enough time to do everything well.  Or maybe just to control time for short periods to recover or catch my breath before moving on. Add to that super strength and it would be just impossible to stop my progress.

Of course, when I would really think about it, I would always come back to flying.  I don’t like being earthbound.  In fact, I don't know too many people who do.  Given a chance most of us would like to fly.  To rise above the limits of the earth and see things at great distances, to see what's coming before it gets here.

One thing I've noticed that all superheroes seem to have in common is the need to bring about truth and justice for all.  They possess an insatiable desire to help those around them and know that their special talents are for that purpose. They look to a better world, one in which they have a part.

Well Christian, maybe you think you don’t have a superpower but God gives us all what we need to live this Christian life. Invisibility? Serving without demanding attention.  Perhaps seeing what's going on with someone simply by listening to what God is telling you.

• Shape-shifter? As Paul said, “Need to be all things to all people that we may win some” to Christ.
• Superspeed? Working with the intensity to accomplish things expediently.
• Super strength? I can do all things through Christ.
• Controlling time? Taking a sabbath rest to experience eternity so that earthly time doesn’t control your life.

Well, maybe I am not a superhero but I still have an insatiable desire to help others find a better life here, to live as a successful Christian, and enter eternity with Christ.  I will help by putting my talents to work on their behalf, praying for them and sharing my faith with all who will listen.  I will look for that better world and do what I can to bring it to pass.  After all, that’s a Pastor.

How about you Christian? What are your superpowers? What are you doing with them? And no, I did not forget about flying because that's a promise God will keep.  God will lift us into glory when our time is through. Yes, “Some glad morning I’ll Fly Away.”

Blessings,
Pastor Michaele

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Rev. Michaele RJ Wood was born the eldest of four children in Harrisburg PA. Her father was a Marine and Korean Veteran and her mother was a caterer. Michaele says, “Dad maintained order and discipline and mom added the spice.” She attended Catholic school through her junior year before graduating from a public school closer to home. It was during a school assembly about teen suicides that the message “God is love” became real and the Bible became a favorite read.

The years following high school were a hodgepodge of military service as an EMT / Practical Nurse and a liaison to the Military Police Units working narcotics, often accompanying them on the execution of search warrants and arrests. She met and married her husband during that tour and one year later put military service behind to be a mom to a new daughter. The following year she gave birth to twins.

In 1990, she was ordained as a minister in Kingdom Fellowship Ministries, a Charismatic fellowship, and assigned to Fountain Gate Ministries, an inner-city Harrisburg Church. There she served for 15 years as an elder, ordained minister associate and part-time instructor in Biblical & Church History for the ETS School of Ministry. She also held the position of Chief Financial Officer for a Harrisburg non-profit organization, while maintaining employment as a medical claims adjuster and raising a family.

The church grew quickly but the authoritarian form of government did not support the growth which led to problems of discipline and doctrine within the fellowship. This led her to a time of discernment. Seeking the help of a more experienced female pastor, who just happened to be Presbyterian, she was introduced to the Book of Order and Reformed Theology. Michaele states, “I had found the missing piece of my faith journey but the church I served was not ready

to change its style of government.”  In 2005, she became a member of Capital Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg. She was soon asked to serve on session and was ordained as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. Michaele completed the Dubuque CRE training in January 2006 and was then accepted to Lancaster Theological Seminary receiving her Master of Divinity in 2009.  In 2010, she was ordained by Carlisle Presbytery as  Minister of Word & Sacrament. Subsequently, she was  accepted as a member of the initial class of the “For Such A Time As This Program” leading to her installation as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pontotoc, Mississippi,  where she served until December 2017. 

She now comes to Gainesville as the called pastor of Kanapaha Presbyterian Church and will be installed as the way is made clear.

Pastor Michaele holds an Associate in Human Services from Harrisburg Area Community College; a Bachelor of Christian Ministry from Chesapeake Bible College; a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary; a diploma from the CRE program at Dubuque Seminary, and Certificates of Completion in Spiritual Direction; Clergy Tax Management & Law (Chitwood); and Stewardship (Kirby-Smith).

She is the widowed mother to three adult children, grandmother to (10) ten grandchildren, great-grandmother to two boys, ages 2 years and an infant of 3 months, with another due in October. Saying of her journey thus far, “Life has not always been easy, but then, God didn’t say it would be. God did promise to give us strength to continue the journey even when it seems impossible, even when we are afraid, even when we aren’t sure where God is leading us.  And so, I look forward to our journey together.”

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