Jill Wilkinson, Author

Jill Wilkinson resides in Birmingham, Michigan, with her husband, has been blessed with two children and is on the verge of becoming an empty nester. The Detroit area has been home her entire life, including an early childhood in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and early marriage time in the inner city of Detroit.

After graduating from Albion College with a degree in Economics and Management, Jill supported her husband through medical school. First she became a CPA working for Arthur Andersen & Company and then worked for a large hospital system as a financial analyst negotiating their external financing including bond issues and finishing there as Divisional Controller. Jill was blessed with the opportunity to take “early retirement” and spent the following almost 20 years home raising their two amazing daughters. With the gusto and energy of her former profession, she managed their family filled with ambitious dreams and talents and helped each achieve their passions.

During this time Jill was involved in Community Bible Study for 11 years, several of those years serving as a Core leader. Other outreach activities include medical missionary work through Benevolent Missions International, an eye health program serving among other countries Belize and Bolivia. While her husband performed surgery, Jill was blessed to serve in the clinic helping with such services as providing glasses, taking histories and helping to organize the volunteer lay staff.

Jill has always had her hand in community service whether it was serving on the board of the Figure Skating Club of Birmingham, on the board of the local YMCA, on various committees for the local school or school board. Reaching out to the inner city of Detroit through ongoing programs at the First United Methodist Church of Birmingham is a very important part of Jill’s “ministry of availability.”

Jill’s own passion is reading. Books are a favorite pastime and talking about books brings two of her favorites together, books and people. When she found out there was an interest in starting a bookstore at her church, she immediately contacted the Senior Pastor to get in on this opportunity. The bookstore thrives on Sunday mornings and is called The Circuit Rider Bookstore as a reminder of the early days of Methodism and how Christian materials were distributed to our country’s early residents. At the bookstore, Jill’s responsibilities include managing the finances and working the sales desk most Sundays she is available. Sharing great stories and why their message is important is probably the most pleasurable way to serve the Lord!

Since reading is so important, it was natural evolution to start writing. Several years ago, at a book group, a leader asked, “Do any of you see yourself writing a book?” That seemed to be an amazing concept, not one that she was ready to act on at that time, but a seed was planted. Her husband who writes music in his “spare time” has been a constant encourager to write. But it wasn’t until her youngest child received her driver’s license and a whole chunk of time opened up for Jill that she actually started to act on this dream of her own. She started by attending a writers group that was starting at her church. Once she started to write at the computer, she felt she had finally found Nirvana.