Head Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Sean Miller. photo by Chéye Roberson
By Chéye Roberson
Sentinel Correspondent
The First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich has chosen Pastor Sean Miller to step into the role of head minister after the position has been vacant for two years.
“It’s very humbling when a congregation calls on you. It’s a big change for our family,” Miller said recently. “My first goal is to get to know people. Getting to know the people who called on me to be their pastor—getting to know their stories and take it from there.”
Parishioners of the church have said that Miller is “a good fit”—and Miller says the feeling is mutual.
“We are ‘called’ by God to serve as disciples of Jesus Christ, in service to the church and into the world,” Miller said. “I look forward to helping members of FPCG discover and reconnect with their own sense of call.”
According to Miller, one of the challenges in ministry is adapting to the evolving relationship that society has with the church.
“The church as an institution is in the midst of a time of great transition—some have said we are in the midst of reformation,” Miller said. “People’s relationships to institutions are changing and American religious life looks very different than it did a generation ago, even just decades ago.
“The challenge in church leadership is faithfulness to the Gospel while seeking new ways to embrace and serve the community. At the same time, the challenges are great opportunities, for there is great need for what the church has always provided—a grounding in relationship to God, an inspiration to serve Christ as Lord, and an embrace of the Spirit’s leading both inside and outside the church.”
Miller, who is a loyal Chicago Cubs fan, was born and raised in Deerfield, Ill. The church was a part of his life from an early age.
“I was raised in a wonderful congregation with a very active youth program, and a strong tradition of worship, Christian education, and mission,” Miller said. “From an early age, the church felt like home to me in profound ways, and looking back, those were fruitful times that shaped my sense of call to ministry.”
Miller became very active in the church by leading mission trips for middle and senior high school youth as well as college students. After leading a middle school mission trip during a summer home from college, Miller felt called to church leadership as a profession.
After graduating college, Miller entered seminary, a place he knew would prepare him spiritually, theologically, and professionally to seek ordination and serve in church leadership for many years to come.
Miller said that in the Presbyterian faith, a “calling” is sensed inwardly and affirmed outwardly by the church.
“Looking back on those formative years, those that affirmed my call were members of the congregation who gave me opportunities to lead Bible studies and mission trips, to preach, to provide music during worship, and who supported me in difficult times,” said Miller.
Miller is married to Dr. Sarah Miller, who earned her Ph.D in forced migration from Oxford University and holds degrees from Valparaiso University and the University of Chicago. Sarah is also from the Chicago area, and is the daughter of a Presbyterian minister.
Sarah and Sean have a daughter named Hannah, born in May of 2014, and are expecting their second child in October. When the family moved into their new home, members of the church filled their pantry with food just to give the family one less thing to worry about during their transition. The church’s youth group also contributed by building a gingerbread house filled with cookies inside for the new head minister and his wife.
“It’s hard not to feel welcome when everyone’s so excited and nice,” said Sarah.
Sarah Miller is a Franklin Fellow at the U.S. Department of State, consulting for NGOs, policy-makers and members of academia about refugee resettlement and migration issues. In the past, she has been a consultant for the United Nations. She recently finished writing a book on Syrian refugees. Sarah said she is currently focusing on family and getting settled in their new town, but she plans to plug back in professionally once the family gets attuned to its new life.
Sean Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and music from the University of Colorado, and a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in 2005. He said he loves music’s ability to move people. He builds his sermons around scripture and braids in the use of music and song.
“I love to preach—both the experience on Sunday mornings as well as the discipline of weekly study and prayer,” Miller said. “Preparation for preaching is foundational to my own spiritual life and it has become my greatest joy in ministry. But beyond what I love to do, I treasure the opportunities to see members of the church ‘come alive’ in love of the Lord and service to their neighbor and community.”
Miller said that faith is important to have in this day and age, to generate a deeper sense of community.
“Faith gives us a sense of belonging and identity as children of God, in a time when it often feels as though safety and security are fleeting and tentative,” Miller said. “In my personal life, faith provides a compass by which I try to live and work, and in which I serve as a minister in the church of Jesus Christ.”
