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Dear Neighbor,
Welcome! On behalf of us all at Trinity Church, let me say I'm glad you're visiting us on-line. We're looking forward to greeting and meeting you in person sometime soon! When you visit us, you'll find that Trinity Church is a community full of stories. Since I began serving them as pastor in August of 1997, the people of this congregation have taught me more about the ways in which God works than I could ever hope to teach them. Sometimes miraculous, sometimes mysterious, sometimes subtle, sometimes unmistakable . . . these people know that God is with them, no matter what. I dare to believe their stories will inspire you as they have inspired me. My story begins, really, outside my college dorm in the fall of 1991, when I was heartbroken. The girl with whom I thought I was destined to enjoy a marvelous romance had just given me the bad news: she'd met someone else! I spent that night wandering around campus, my emotions running from rage to self-pity and back again. How dare she? How dare God? Didn't God know I loved this girl? Didn't God want me to be happy with her? I was angry. I was devastated. I was bitter, and I wanted to get back at her--to make her feel as bad as she had made me feel. In fact, I wanted the whole world to be miserable right along with me. But as I was walking the campus, weeping and shouting, I stopped outside my dorm, because I saw, in my mind's eye, the image of a cross. I hadn't been thinking about religion--religion was the furthest thing from my mind! But, apart from anything I thought or did, my attention was fixed on that cross, and on the man dying there. And I knew at that moment--even in the middle of all my emotional muck--I knew that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was embracing me, holding me, and loving me. I was no saint--I'm still not! But seeing Jesus on the cross convinced me, beyond any doubt, that he suffered with me. In fact, he suffered as I will never have to suffer--all out of love for me: mere, mean-spirited Mike Poteet. Wow! It's a night I'll never forget. That vision did not make my pain go away. But it did give me peace in the midst of my pain. Friend, Jesus Christ loves you just the same way. Unconditionally. Without qualification or reservation. Jesus loves you, and me, and everyone else on the face of this planet--because he is God with us and God for us, and God is Love. Jesus loves us just as we are. But Jesus' love never leaves us just as we are! Jesus changes us. Jesus makes a difference. Jesus calls us to be more than we think we can be. Jesus challenges us to let go of who we think we should be so that he can transform us into who we were created to be: children of God who rejoice in abundant life now, and have sure and certain hope of eternal life to come. That's good news! The people of Trinity Church--men and women, young and old--know that good news. Their lives are testimony, in big ways and small, to the life-changing power of God's love for us, made known in Jesus Christ. I join them in extending a heartfelt invitation to you to join us on our journey as we seek to experience that love more deeply--not so we can keep it to ourselves, but so we can share it with the world around us. May God's richest blessings be yours--today, tomorrow, and forever! Pastor Mike Poteet |
Although a native Texan, Pastor Mike is thrilled to be living in Delaware County and pastoring Trinity Church. "I play along with the Texas ten-gallon ego game sometimes," he says, "but the East Coast feels like home. Plus, we all know it's God's Country!"
Born in 1972, he attended Stratford High School, where he grew to love the theater; he fondly remembers playing "Daddy Warbucks" in the musical Annie. Mike earned his undergraduate degree at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he double-majored in English and Religion. He took several active leadership roles in "Wesfel," the campus ministry of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. "I owe a lot to that congregation," Mike says. "Their ministry helped me claim the glad promises of Christian faith for myself for the first time."
During his junior year he met his wife, Karen R. Nelson. Together they attended Princeton Theological Seminary; both were ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1997. Karen currently serves as Chaplain at Presbyterian Children's Village in Rosemont.
Mike began his ministry at Trinity on August 3, 1997. When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor, he responds, "Watching the often-dramatic intersection of God's Word with the lives of God's people. I'm always amazed at how the Spirit works through the folks at Trinity Church! When there's a need, they respond in a heartbeat. When times are tough, they turn to God. They've taught me more about Christian living than I could ever hope to teach them."
Pastor Mike serves the larger church as one of nine vice-moderators for the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and facilitator of the local chapter of The Company of Pastors, a monthly group of pastors who meet for theological reflection and mutual support.
Mike's other interests include Arthurian legend, Broadway musicals, making ice cream, and baking chocolate chip cookies. "I was famous for my cookies in seminary!" he laughs. He is also an aspiring science fiction writer. His first professionally-published story appears in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds II (Pocket Books, May 1999). "People are sometimes surprised I think religion and science fiction can complement each other," he says. "But I can't believe that God's creativity was exhausted with the creation of Earth!"
So what makes Pastor Mike tick? "Knowing that, despite who I am, God loves me in Jesus Christ as I am--just as God loves each person. That's the best news any of us could hope to hear!"
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