Jonathan Pickett
Associate Pastor, Student Ministries
When asked about his family, Jonathan always smiles. He has been married to his wife, Michelle, since 2000. He says, “We met at Collegiate Week at Glorieta, New Mexico. I don’t know how I would be able to do ministry without her.” Jonathan and Michelle have four boys.
His family, he reports, is one of the best parts of his life right now. “I love where I am at with my family. God teaches me so much through them, and I have so much to learn as a parent. I love having four boys. Our favorite thing to do is to wrestle around on the floor. I love having a wife who supports me and helps me in my ministry, but even more than that, is a great mother. (She’s also a great cook!)” He adds, “I also love where God has brought me ministry wise. I am so excited to be here at Edmond, and I am also overwhelmed that God would have me here.”
As he grows in his own relationship with the Lord Jonathan relates that “God has really been challenging me with the idea of daily surrendering everything that I am and everything that I have to Him. It is amazing how much of the time I try to do things on my own.”
Some of Jonathan’s favorite books are:
- Raising a Modern Day Knight
- Read for Your Life
- Family Driven Faith
- Rite of Passage Parenting
- Celebration of Discipline
- Do Hard Things
Some of Jonathan’s other favorite things include Chai Tea – hot or cold, and The Blue Bean Coffee Co., - his favorite coffee place located in south Oklahoma City. He likes to read, “...although,” he adds, “with four small boys it seems like it takes forever to finish a book.” One of his newest hobbies is competing in triathlons. He completed his first sprint triathlon this August and is planning on competing in more in the future. Currently he is saving for a new road bike (donations welcomed).
And of course playing with his boys ranks right up there in his list of favorites. “My boys – the things they do, the things that they say, the things that they come up with – sometimes all that you can do is laugh.
When asked what he dreamed as a child that he would one day be, he laughs and says, “A professional baseball player, of course!”
Jonathan first felt God’s call to ministry when he was a freshman in high school. He surrendered to that call when he graduated from college. “It was at that point,” he recalls, “that I surrendered everything to God.” After graduating from Weatherford High School, he went on to college at Oklahoma Baptist University where he graduated with a Marketing Degree. He received his Masters in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
It’s clear that Jonathan’s ministry with youth is all about relationships....his relationship with them, their relationships with their friends and family, their relationships with other believers, and most importantly, their relationship with the Lord.
He describes his ministry goals like this.... “My desire is for the youth ministry to have as it’s main focus prayer and disciple-making. If we can be a ministry that saturates everything that we do in prayer, and if we can be committed to living out 2 Timothy 2:2 (taking what we have learned and entrusting it to others who will in turn pass it on); then I feel we will be on the right track. I also believe the youth ministry exists to support and partner with parents as they raise their children in the ways of the Lord. We must focus on coming alongside of parents and not competing with them. Parents are still the primary influence on their child’s life!”
Jonathan is one of those people who shares scripture with those around him very easily in casual conversation. One verse that he loves to share is his favorite verse. Some people call their favorite verse their “Life Verse.” Jonathan’s says, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2