Pastor Mike Pickett was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was placed for adoption. His adoptive parents, James and Joyce Pickett, who already had grown children of their own, were in their forties at the time of his adoption. Mike’s father was a heavy drinker and a truck driver, who was away more than he was home; his mother worked two to three jobs at a time, often leaving Mike to fend for himself or ride to extracurricular activities with friends. His parents did not create a stable environment for Mike, staying in one place just long enough to be evicted before moving on to another location. As a result, he attended two elementary schools, six middle schools, and one high school.
At age ten, Mike attended a local vacation Bible school where he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. By the time he entered high school, Mike was living in Pensacola, Florida, and he “followed a girl” to a service at a local Church of God, marking his first experience with anything Pentecostal. Mike jokes, “They told me it would be just like my Baptist church, but they lied to me!” At 16, he became involved with a different local church and met a young woman named Jodi. They began dating and were inseparable immediately.
Mike and Jodi as Teenagers
At a Teen Talent event at 17, Mike felt the Lord calling him to preach. Mike shares that he was frightened by this calling and “ran hard and fast in the other direction,” indulging in partying and all that goes along with that.
That same year, Mike’s biological mother, Carol, was killed in a drug deal gone wrong. Even as a child, Mike knew he was adopted, but he did not know who his biological parents were. He would eventually learn that his biological mother was someone he already knew: a family friend named Carol. Carol lived a hard life; she was a drug addict and suffered from schizophrenia. Mike did not find out who his biological father was until many years later when he used a DNA and lineage searching service. There, he discovered his father’s identity and found five siblings on his father’s side and four on his mother’s.
Mike’s Extended Family
Mike’s Extended Family
As he entered college, Mike majored in music education and minored in acting, hoping to perform on Broadway someday. However, due to a series of events and health crises involving his parents, Mike left college without completing his degree. Not long after, in 2000, Mike and Jodi discovered that she was expecting, and at four months pregnant, they married. In March of 2001, Mike and Jodi’s son, Aaron, was born. Their second child, a daughter named Ashlynn, followed in 2005.
Shortly after the birth of Aaron, when Mike was 22 years old, God woke Mike up at two in the morning, reminding him of his call and that His hand was upon his life. Mike also felt the Lord caution him: “If you will not do what I’ve called you to do, I’ll give it to someone else.” Right then and there, Mike rededicated his life to the Lord, agreeing to do whatever the Lord had for him.
Pretty quickly, an opportunity arose for Mike to apply to be a youth pastor. Two other people were in the running for the position when he threw his name in to be considered. The head pastor agreed to interview Mike and told him, “Because the Lord told me to – and beyond my better judgment – you’re hired.” Mike knew that the Lord had orchestrated this first opportunity, and he took full advantage of it. Over the next decade, Pastor Mike served as youth pastor in several churches before taking his first full-time head pastorate at Christian Fellowship Tabernacle in Spanish Fort, Alabama. He then moved on to Friendfield PH Church in Scranton, South Carolina, before heading on to Central Church in Pensacola, Florida.
Pastor Mike Pickett’s Former Pastorates
In 2022, after the global COVID pandemic and a particularly challenging time both personally and professionally, Pastor Mike found himself broken in a way he never imagined. Weighing 430 pounds, he was unhealthy, living with a diabetes diagnosis, and his mental health was in a poor state, leading to a “mental breakdown”; he even feared he might be doomed to discover he had schizophrenia, just like his mother. Pastor Mike bravely chose a brief hospital stay at a behavioral center. There, he received the help he needed and emerged with a renewed determination to transform his physical and mental health.
Later that summer, Mike interviewed and was chosen to pastor Southgate Church in Moore, Oklahoma, where he and Jodi now pastor and reside.
Southgate Church, Moore, Oklahoma
Their son, Aaron, recently married Nora, and their daughter, Ashlynn, is enjoying life as a pastor’s kid.
The Pickett Family: Nora, Aaron, Mike, Jodi, and Ashlynn
In addition to being a full-time pastor, he is also the social media consultant for the General Superintendent’s Office of the IPHC, as well as the Clergy Development Director and the School of Ministry Director for the Heartland Conference.
Pastor Mike’s journey to a healthier version of himself is ongoing. To date, he has lost more than 150 lbs, and with his social media presence, he is encouraging others to do the same.
Pastor Mike Pickett Before
Pastor Mike Pickett After
Mike has completed his Bachelor of Theology from Covenant Bible College and Seminary and is currently three classes away from his Master of Theology.
Pastor Mike is also healthier mentally than ever, saying, “I’m doing a lot better with Jesus, my counselor, and medicine.” Pastor Mike tells this story of broken chains and second chances to encourage others: “If I can make it, you can make it.” When we do the hard work of breaking generational chains of mental health issues, drug use, and familial instability, God can bring hope out of a life of tragedy and peace from a life of chaos.
Mike and Jodi Pickett Today
