Crystal Cathedral

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"I view this as our most significant accomplishment in my first few months as your senior pastor," says Robert Anthony Schuller. "I'm pleased to announce that, after an exhaustive search, with the assistance of a professional team specializing in the recruitment of ministerial candidates, Dr. Jim Poit will be coming on board in July to fill the important role as our executive pastor.

"We had an excellent slate of candidates - all had executive pastor experience, and were from our denomination and others. We are blessed that we found Jim, an executive pastor from a Reformed Church in America church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He best matched this ministry in gifts, talents, enthusiasm, and vision for the work we're doing here at the Crystal Cathedral. "Of Jim's strengths, number one is that he loves to be with people. He is also very intelligent and highly educated, and specializes in strategic planning and development. I will work closely with Jim to help him fully comprehend the unique, positive qualities of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, and to enable him to be successful and have an impact in God's work through this ministry. I look forward, with the rest of the pastoral staff and leadership team, to supporting Jim as he helps this ministry to become, truly, a church without walls."

Our recently retired executive pastor, Rev. Glenn DeMaster, who played an active role in the search, echoes Rev. Schuller's feelings, saying, "I think what impressed me when I met Jim is his love for God and the ministry, but right along with that is his love for people, and wanting to know more about them. I have lots of confidence that God has, once again, brought to us the right person at the right time. I'm excited that he's coming right out of the Reformed Church in America. And also that, because he's lived and worked outside the U.S., he has a global perspective.Plus, he'll make ministry fun! Everyone will want to join in to be a part of his team."

Looking back, Jim can clearly see how God's plan for him to come to the Crystal Cathedral was unfolding. "Five years ago, when I attended the Robert Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership, God laid it strongly on my heart to pray continuously for this ministry," says Jim. "And since then, every time I'd think of the Crystal Cathedral, I would pray. Little did I know what God had in mind!

"The very first time we visited the Crystal Cathedral together, my wife Linda and I went to the Sunday morning service before anyone knew who we were so we could experience it as anyone would. I was touched by the service, and especially the people we met at the Visitor's Reception that followed - so many stories of decades of commitment to this ministry and lives changed in miraculous ways. That evening we went out with Robert and Donna, and felt a special bond immediately."

After the offer to come to the Crystal Cathedral was made, Linda asked Jim if he truly felt called to the ministry at the Crystal Cathedral. Jim answered his wife with a question: "Linda, you know how it feels when you're homesick? Well, that's how I feel. I feel homesick for the Crystal Cathedral; I feel a longing to be in ministry there." Jim says that once he put it into those words, they both knew where God was leading their family.

"We look forward to being at the Crystal Cathedral where it will be a family experience for us." Jim and Linda's children - Adam (15), Elisabeth (10), Zachary (5), and Josh (3) - will not only be around on Sundays and at church events, but will also attend the Crystal Cathedral Academy and High School, perfect for the Poit kids who each have unique talents in the performing and fine arts.

Linda Poit will also be coming on staff at the Crystal Cathedral. In anticipation of the launching of a new children’s program, Kid Power Plant, in September 2006, Director of Family Ministries Sheila Coleman knew that they would need a strong leader for this new program. During Jim's interview process, Sheila had a chance to get to know his wife. Finding out that Linda had two masters in education from Rutgers University, Sheila jumped at the chance to get to know Linda better. "The more I got to know her," says Sheila, "the more convinced I was that Linda was God’s choice for Director of Children’s Ministries. When I shared my vision for children’s Jim and Linda both look forward to being in the office at the Crystal Cathedral full time in July.

"One of the greatest things I could do for the Crystal Cathedral," says Jim, "is to help empower the people already here - staff, lay leaders, and congregants - to do what they do best, to do the most with the potential that God has given them. When we build an incredible sense of teamwork, that's when God's church, our church, can really begin to grow. We are so looking forward to being a part of the family at the Crystal Cathedral."

"I know you'll come to love Jim and Linda and family," says Rev. Robert A. Schuller, "as much as Donna and I already do."