Education
B.A. Knox College, Galesburg, IL, 1976, (psychology), Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
M.Div. Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, 1980
Doctor of Divinity, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, 1999
Spiritual direction certificate, The Claret Center, Chicago, 1996
Academy of Spiritual Formation, Nashville, Tenn., 2002-2004
Additional study in themes, history and classic texts of Christian spirituality from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago and the Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University, Chicago.
Biography
In July 2005, Pastor David L. Miller, became the Dean of the chapel and Cornelsen Director of Spiritual Formation at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
From 1999-2005 Miller was editor of The Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest circulation denominational publication in the United States. Ordained in 1980, he served congregations in Nebraska and Kansas before joining The Lutheran as a senior editor in 1987. He has written hundreds of articles and has reported from more than 30 countries around the world, winning numerous awards for feature writing, editing and photography. In 1999 Wartburg seminary granted Miller a doctorate of divinity for his significant contributions to the ELCA and the international Lutheran community.
A spiritual director, David studied Christian spirituality at Catholic Theological Union, Loyola University, the Claret Center, Chicago; and the Academy of Spiritual Formation, Nashville, Tenn. He is the author of Friendship with Jesus, A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark (Augsburg 1999), a contemporary adaptation and exploration of Ignatian contemplation, a way of prayer central to the famous spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola.
For more than a decade, Miller has been a frequent keynote speaker and retreat leader at events for laity and clergy, across the country, in Lutheran and ecumenical settings. He is committed to nurturing the life of prayer and spiritual discernment in Christ’s Church that all may know and be filled by the Loving Mystery revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Miller is deeply influenced by the spiritual tradition of Ignatius Loyola. He is also well versed in classical figures from the history of Christian spirituality and mystical theology such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis De Sales, Julian of Norwich, the Desert fathers and mothers, Gregory of Nyssa and Thomas Merton.
Miller is also the culture editor for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, an online publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But he prefers to play with his two grandsons, Zachary and Benjamin, the children of his son Aaron and daughter Rachel. David is married to Dixie Lee Miller, office manager for Grace Matters, a radio ministry of the ELCA.
Areas of Expertise
Topics that Pr. Miller is available to address at
adult forums and other congregational events:
Miller has keynoted major events such as synod assemblies and global mission events as well as leading retreats for congregations and clergy groups across the United States. His topics typically focus on prayer and meditation and the personal experience of God in daily life and experience. Specifically, he teaches on biblical spirituality, spiritual practices/disciplines, prayer and forms of Christian meditation and contemplation, spiritual writing and journaling, mysticism of everyday life, Ignatian spirituality, Lutheran spirituality, Trinitarian spirituality and classic themes in Christian spiritual formation such as asceticism, spiritual friendship, hospitality, the role of the Eucharist, daily conversion and how to build a rule of life
Titled Presentations
Recent titles include: a spirituality of writing; spirituality of Ephesians, spirituality of 1 John, Lutheran spirituality, Living close to God, Lutheran spirituality, spiritual growth/maturity, and Trinitarian spirituality
Profile
Miller is widely recognized as a passionate storyteller who weaves his life experience and that of others into presentations so that they breathe authenticity and speak powerfully to needs and hearts of listeners. He uses his 20 years of global travel as a journalist to illumine his readers and listeners to ways the Spirit labors to give life to the world amid some of the world’s thorniest issues. His work is laced with the conviction that we live in the “atmosphere of God, the precinct of epiphany where God labors to give divine life to all.” Consequently, “there are no ungraced moments, no ordinary times, because the Spirit broods and labors always and in every life. Each life is a privileged place to know God not as concept but living Presence—and friend.”
Published Works
Friendship with Jesus: A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark, Augsburg, 1999.
Miller has published several hundred articles as a pastor, journalist and as the culture editor for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics (www.elca.org/jle). Recent titles include:
“Warrior Ethics 101,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics (July 2006).
“Honest to God: The Sago Mine Disaster cries for Christian formation that blesses bitterness and sanctifies anger, Journal of Lutheran Ethics (Feb. 2006).
“Shishewana and the American Way of Fear,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics (Nov. 2005)
“Altogether gift: the gratitude of blessed moments lifts us to embrace our entire life as gift, The Lutheran, (Aug. 2005)
“Breathing space in Bethlehem,” The Lutheran, (Aug. 2005)
“A world of grace,” The Lutheran, (July 2005)
“Deus semper major,” The Lutheran, (July 2005)
“Peeved for Jesus: Too much religious rhetoric proceeds not from faith but from fear,” The Lutheran, June 2005
“The Wall” Palestinian Christians say Israel’s security barrier creates a big prison,” The Lutheran, (May, 2005)
“Child 406, life and death on the West Bank,” The Lutheran, (May 2005)
“Beyond tsunami: ELCA mission partnerships rebuild troubled lives and ruined villages in India,” The Lutheran, (March 2005)
This webpage was Last modified on April 7, 2008. |
