Energetic pastor comes full circle to Sultan church
Published 10:32 pm Friday, June 6, 2008
SULTAN — On the morning of his wedding, when most people would be fretting over last-minute details, Sean Wilkerson bought a big green machine — a 1977 green Pontiac Bonneville — that he tried to convince his new wife was a classic.
He wanted to drive her to their honeymoon destination.
Wilkerson is not a likely man to lead a spiritual community: young, quirky, he rarely sits down, gets sick on anything that goes in a circle, loves the roller coaster and boasts no experience as a lead pastor. But the congregation of Mountainview Christian Fellowship, rocked by his love for God and the rock ‘n’ roll he plays, thinks they’ve found a good fit for their church.
For a few moments on Sunday, the sanctuary at Mountainview moved to the lyrics, “Who are you? Who who, who who,” by The Who.
Wilkerson, the congregation’s new lead pastor, was introducing his sermon on the first chapter of the book of John.
“Who do you think Jesus is?” he asked the roughly 70 people gathered for worship.
The chapter explains the miracle of how Jesus became a man to save mankind, Wilkerson said.
“Wow. That’s cool,” he said pacing back and forth, punctuating sentences with wild arm motions and his own brand of humor.
If the church’s search committee had stuck to its original criteria, Wilkerson wouldn’t be here today to rock the house.
He almost didn’t get the job.
On a recent Sunday in May, Wilkerson, 32, slim, wearing a white, green and brown plaid shirt over Levi jeans, stood inside the church entrance, the first to greet worshippers arriving for the morning service.
This was Wilkerson’s fifth Sunday at Mountainview, an evangelical church just off U.S. 2 in Sultan, where it has been tucked away at the end of Sixth Street for more than 30 years.
After a five-month hunt by the church’s seven-member search committee, Wilkerson, who didn’t have experience as a lead pastor — one of the committee’s original criteria — and whom they feared was too young, did get the job.
By a unanimous vote by the committee and the congregation, Wilkerson became Mountainview’s new lead pastor.
“When I first applied for the job, they originally told me I didn’t have a chance,” he said. “My heart was drawn to Sultan so I kept calling to see how the process was going and they finally granted me a courtesy interview. After that interview, the group voted unanimously to hire me. I was floored.”
“One of our criteria was that we wanted someone who had been a lead pastor,” said Cindy Anderson, one of the search committee members. “Ordinarily we would not have considered him. He was persistent, and he came in and called me a number of times, and I really liked him. I felt drawn to him. We had a week where we didn’t have anyone to interview so I said let’s go have coffee with him.”
After that meeting, the committee invited Wilkerson back to give a sermon on April 6, and in a vote held afterward, the congregation voted to have him as lead pastor, said Anderson.
Wilkerson said he likes to say he’s come full circle now. Conceived in Sultan but born in Sunnyside, he said his return to Sultan means he’s come home to a small town, population “8,000 in the ZIP Code” where he is “excited to see lives and hearts transformed.”
Wilkerson said his mother and father lived in Sultan briefly, but separated before his birth. He has never met his father, and wonders if he still lives in Sultan.
“Maybe I’ll run into him one day,” he said. “That would be great, but I imagine it would be awkward, too.”
Last year, Mountainview’s average weekly attendance was roughly 80 people.
That number is now 123. It’s not just the rock ‘n’ roll and youthful exuberance that has increased attendance in the month since Wilkerson has been at the church.
“God is working here,” said Wilkerson. “Four people have been saved and quite a few have reconfirmed their faith.”
Wilkerson said most families who attend the church live in Sultan, but there are also people who come from Monroe, Gold Bar, Granite Falls and one family who now comes all the way from Fall City after visiting once.
Mark Thornton, who lives in Gold Bar and attends Mountainview with his wife, Linda, said he has been “coming ever since it was the Glory Barn,” a reference to the barn that existed before being converted into the present church, which was renovated and given a 16,000-square-foot addition.
“I love that this small church has such great faith to build a big building,” Wilkerson said.
Ron and Pat Wiediger, who have lived in Sultan and attended Mountainview for 30 years, said they like their new pastor. “He’s energetic; he’s preaching from the heart,” Ron said.
“I’ve noticed when the kids are here and he gives examples, they really pay attention,” Pat added.
Wilkerson, known in the area for launching the Snohomish Children’s Carnival and egg hunt that drew 7,000 people to a field off Highway 9 over Easter weekend, had been the associate pastor at Snohomish Faith Assembly.
There, he and his wife, Debbie, a “missionary kid,” had served in various capacities over the last eight-plus years.
The couple has two children, Noah, 6, whom Wilkerson described as “our red-headed wonder. We have no idea where his red hair comes from.”
Lillie, 2, is “our self-proclaimed princess.”
Reporter Leita Hermanson Crossfield: 425-339-3449 or lcrossfield@heraldnet.com.
Mountainview Christian Fellowship
211 Sixth St., Sultan
360-793-0731
