Introducing John Wilkinson
The General assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) starts this week in Detroit, Michigan. After our last General Assembly, when I delved deeply into national politics, I have remained gleefully ignorant of what’s happening. But I do have a friend, Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana, who’s standing for Vice-Moderator. (For MAMD wisdom, buy her book but if you want a quick course on how brilliant she is, you can start with her blog.) So I wanted to write a bit about Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson, who is standing for Moderator with MaryAnn. Sadly, I couldn’t get an interview with Wilkinson, because I was swamped when he was available and now that I’m available, he’s not. I don't know him personally, so probably my best option at this point is to just point you to John and MaryAnn’s blog.
I’ve read through the posts and articles on John. His bio is made up of the things one would expect of a candidate: solid pastoral positions and strong service to the church and denomination. He earned a Ph.D. in American Religious History, in which he delved into Presbyterian history and the “Politics of Reconciliation.”
The most interesting post was his answer to the question, “What are some of the exciting possibilities facing the 21st Century church? What are the challenges that face the church in this century?”
