Please Welcome Our Seminary Intern, Michael Wilkerson!

Michael is a second-year Master of Divinity student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston. He moved to the area last year from the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked as a component design engineer for Intel Corporation over the previous 20 years. Prior to that, Michael served in the U. S. Navy for 13 years in both enlisted roles and as a commissioned officer in submarines.

Michael was born in Ocala, FL, and moved around while growing up, mostly in the southeast of the country. He received both his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and has two adult children from a previous marriage, Thomas and Mikayla, who live in the west.

Michael is currently a certified candidate for elder ordination in the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has served in many roles in his sponsoring home church, Song of Life UMC in Queen Creek, AZ, and has learned much in each new role. In his last year there, Michael was appointed as a part-time licensed local pastor.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn and serve Christ at First United Methodist Church at The Chicago Temple! I look forward to building new relationships and growing in my discipleship.”