Meet the Staff: Scott Pickering
Name: Scott A. Pickering
Hometown: Berlin, New Jersey
Position: Chief Operating Officer
What do you do at Harvest USA?
I oversee Harvest USAโs daily operations, including all of our programs, administrative functions, and our finances and accounting. I also serve as a member of our development team, where I help coordinate our efforts to cultivate new and existing ministry partners.ย ย ย
How did you get to Harvest USA?
I love to tell this story as it points so clearly to Godโs sweet, covenantal care and leading of his people. My history with Harvest USA actually began a year or two before I joined the staff. I was working at a local bank while attending seminary. At the bank, I met a Christian businessman who provided accounting services to a number of local Christian nonprofits. We developed a relationship, and I mentioned that I would love to use my accounting skills to help support a Christian nonprofit, specifically one that shared my theological convictions. The conversation didnโt go any further and I didnโt give it any more thought.ย
Fast forward a year or two: Iโm now working as a consultant for a local insurance company. It was a good-paying, flexible job that allowed me to continue my seminary studies. At this point, I felt God leading me to do missions work in Bosnia. This was scary, though, because it meant leaving my job. How would I afford seminary? Would I find a job that would accommodate my school schedule? I was bombarded by these and many other questions, but Christ stood by me, strengthening my faith and giving me courage. I went ahead and gave official notice that I was leaving.
Within a week, I received a phone call from the Christian businessman I met at the bank. He told me of a job opening at Harvest USA, a nonprofit that shared my theological convictions. I was delighted but explained it wouldnโt work as I was leaving shortly to spend the summer in Bosnia. He asked when I was going to return. When I answered, he said, โThatโs perfect. Thatโs right when the position is opening up.โ He proceeded to coordinate an interview for me with Harvest USA and, in Godโs kindness, I was hired before I even left for Bosnia!
What is your favorite Scripture passage or book of the Bible?
This is like asking if I have a favorite child. I love all of Godโs Wordโitโs difficult to point to a favorite. That said, Iโve found myself coming back again and again to 2 Corinthians.ย
First, 2 Corinthians 1:8โ11 is the text of the first sermon I ever preached in a church. In it, the apostle Paul learns โspirituality 101,โ and in so doing, he reveals Godโs wayโhis โcurriculum.โ The trials and testings I face are part of the means God is using to wean me from my self-reliance and teach me the joy and power of looking away from self and trusting in him. If Paul needed it, how much more do I!
Second, Iโve found great instruction and encouragement meditating on Paulโs description of Christian ministry as โalways carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesusโ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in youโ (2 Cor. 4:10โ12). We make the life of Jesus โrealโ to those around us as we die to ourselves in order that others might experience life in Christ.ย
What is your favorite thing about living in Philadelphia?ย
There are many things to like, but my favorite is probably Wissahickon Valley Park (a.k.a. โthe Wissโ). The park boasts over 1,800 acres and 50+ miles of trails. Itโs the Central Park of Philadelphia. I love to go there for a good jog or a leisurely walk.ย
Can you tell us an interesting fact about yourself?
I spent a summer teaching English in Bosnia and have been to Ukraine and Uganda on short-term missions trips.ย ย