From The Pastor:

Pastor Michaele Wood

God has always had a people, a faithful remnant.  Why a remnant?  A remnant typically refers to a remaining, usually small, part or quantity of something.  It can also mean a fragment, a trace, or a piece left over from something larger.  In troubled times through history, even when humanity has turned away from God, even in the darkest of circumstances, God has always had a group or individuals who remain faithful.

Time and again God's own people, Israel, would promise to be faithful only to find their ways to foreign gods and ideologies.  Repeatedly, Israel would be captured by foreign enemies when they turned from true faith in the one true God.  Repeatedly, God would need to send a deliverer to rescue or protect those who remained faithful in captivity.

In Genesis, we find the story of Noah.  He and his family were the only ones saved when God sent the flood to cleanse the earth.  Why?  Because Noah remained faithful.  Moses delivered his people from Egyptian slavery. Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego refused to bow down to human authorities and were thrown into a furnace.  They were protected in the furnace by one like the Son of God.  Later, when prayer was forbidden in Babylon,  Daniel was punished for praying.  Again, God delivered his servant even though he had to spend the night with the lions.

Esther became Queen of the land, but even as queen, would have been killed when the date was set for her Jewish people to be executed.  But, God had another plan and those who would have killed her people were executed themselves.  God always has a people, a spokesperson, a deliverer.  God always gives deliverance to the faithful.

There are many serious issues that face us today, serious and important issues that sometimes make us feel powerless or hopeless.  We cannot help but be concerned about our lives in this world.  But, when our concerns drive us to fear-based responses or human logic and strategies, our ability to hear God’s perfect guidance decreases.  Whenever we turn to God, however, listen for His voice and determine to obey, however He leads, we become life-changing instruments in our Father’s apt, history-holding plans.   We pray to hear what God will say to us about our situation.  No matter how bad things may seem, we need to build relationship with our God, to honor God as his children regardless of what is happening.  We aren’t responsible for fixing our world’s problems.  We couldn’t do it, even if we tried.  Our role is to discover God’s will for us at each moment and then to respond with faith-driven obedience, trusting Him to take care of everything.  God has more than proven Himself capable.  God has always had a people, a plan and a will for us and our world.  As you pray, God will lead us.  His individual guidance will be as unique as our personalities, experiences and circumstances.  God moves His plans 

forward through the obedience of His children, not human wisdom or strategizing.  World governments have fallen short; world leaders have fallen through time.  No Dictator or Caesar can hold power forever.  No problem can remain forever.  No personal trial can stop God’s preordained purpose for your life.  Even Satan himself cannot stop God’s plan of salvation.
 

Don’t let anything stop you from being a person of prayer. People of prayer shine God’s light in the darkest circumstances, bring hope to those who have lost theirs, and leave the greatest eternal impact.  God has always had a people, a remnant of the faithful that births the next victory. Stay strong in your faith for we are God's remnant in this age.
Maranatha!
  

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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