Rev. Dave Wilkinson
Associate Clergy
- Phone: 920-437-9252, Ext. 103
The Reverend Dave Wilkinson has been on the staff since 1997. He came to First Church after serving for 12 years at Church of the Saviour in Cleveland, Ohio. As a second career Dave entered professional church work in 1985, was consecrated a diaconal minister in 1994 and was ordained a permanent deacon in the United Methodist Church in 2000. Dave serves on the Board of Ordained Ministry for the Wisconsin Annual Conference.
Dave has a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he studied art and architecture. He did his seminary training at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Dave is the founder of our SOUND BITES Ministry, a five-day-a-week inspirational e-mail ministry, which he began in 1999. The United Methodist News Service ran an interview with Dave about SOUND BITES. Click on UMNS to view the story with its accompanying photos. You can now follow SOUND BITES as a blog. Go to www.soundbitesministry.blogspot.com. Dave is a member of the United Methodist Association of Communicators.
Dave is also one of the founders of our Fresh Bread Contemporary Worship Service held at 10:45 a.m. in our Sanctuary and plays the drums in the JAM Praise Band.
Recently Dave completed 4 units in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Residency at Lutheran Homes in Oshkosh, which provided an opportunity to hone his pastoral care ministry. Dave is also a trained facilitator for premarital counseling through Prepare/Enrich. He works with couples in not only preparing for their wedding, but for their marriage as well.
Dave is married to Donna, a musician, piano teacher and Bible study leader. The Wilkinsons have three children. Their son, Ryan, is a certified athletic trainer and assistant professor on the faculty at the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ryan and his wife, Kate, live in Franklin, Wisconsin with their daughter, Michaela. Dave and Donna's daughter, Lindsay, lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan in residential real estate leasing. Their son, Dustin, passed away in 1998 at age 16 as a result of a brain tumor.
Dave and Donna founded a local chapter of The Compassionate Friends, a national self-help support group for bereaved parents. Dave serves as Chaplain for the group.
The Wilkinsons co-led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2009 through Educational Opportunties. They look forward to leading similar trips in the future.
In addition, Dave is an architectural pen and ink artist. His renderings of homes, churches, schools and businesses have been commissioned from various parts of the U.S. and Canada. Dave also has a series of Door County inspirational prints he sells. In 2011 his drawings were given by our Annual Conference to a delegation from Korea and one from East Angola.