 My name is Carl Wilton. As you may expect, I'm a preacher. I've served my present congregation, Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, since 1990. Mostly, I'm a lectionary preacher, although, in the last year or so - having been through the lectionary 6 times in my present congregation - I figured I (not to mention our people) needed some new challenges. So, I've been doing some more topical stuff lately. At the moment, I'm preaching through the narrative portions of the Acts of the Apostles. A cheerfully compulsive over-achiever, I naturally hold a couple of part-time jobs as well. I'm an Adjunct Professor at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, teaching Presbyterian Studies. I also serve as Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Monmouth - the 47-congregation governing body of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), here in central New Jersey. As Stated Clerk, I keep the Presbytery's records, take minutes at meetings, serve as Parliamentarian, and write a blog for local-church Clerks of Session. I'm a cancer survivor (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), and have been blogging about that since 1995, ever since getting diagnosed and enduring a 4-month season of chemotherapy. The chemo put me in remission for only 8 months, but the cancer that's come back is now an indolent (slow-moving) form. The only recommended treatment at the moment is "watch and wait." I have no symptoms, other than those associated with the mental game of living with this slow-rolling wave of uncertainty. There's lots of hope, though, because of the many recent breakthroughs in NHL treatment. I'll have lots of choices, at such time as I may need them. More than ever, I appreciate this life as God's good gift. Although it seems like ancient history now, before coming to Point Pleasant 20 years ago I served on the staff of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa, first as Director of Admissions and Student Services and later as Assistant Dean. I also taught speech. Before that, I served the Presbyterian Church of Toms River, New Jersey as Assistant Pastor. I've studied at Washington College in Maryland (B.A. in Philosophy); Manchester College Oxford (now Harris-Manchester College) of Oxford University; Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.); and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Divinity). I've written several books of sermon materials: Lectionary Preaching Workbooks for Years B and C, with a new Year A volume forthcoming. I was also co-author and editor of Hear My Voice: Preaching the Lectionary Psalms. All these are by CSS Publications, and are available through my Amazon.com author's page. For a time, I was coordinator of the writing team for The Immediate Word, part of CSS' Sermon Suite family of subscription online preaching resources. Currently, I contribute illustrations to Homiletics magazine. I've been married to Claire Pula since 1980. She's a Presbyterian minister as well, serving as Coordinator of Bereavement at Meridian Hospice, a mostly home-based hospice program affiliated with the regional hospital system in this area. We have two kids: Benjamin, a singer-songwriter and guitar teacher who's about to embark on an epic car trip in search of America, and Ania, a senior at Chapman University in Orange, California, studying Art and English. Our niece, Elizabeth, a senior at Point Pleasant Beach High School, lives with us as well - across the street from the church in our rambling Victorian manse, with our 3 cats (Murphy, Notes and Lily) and Maisie, an impulsive, lovable mixed-breed hound dog who just can't bring herself to stop chasing Murphy and Lily (to our consternation and theirs). Contact: webmaster@wikipreacher.org |