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Miller Joins Union College Staff as Campus Minister

Union College would like to announce the addition of the Rev. David K. Miller as College Minister. Miller joined Union June 1, 2004 and hit the ground running with back-to-back conferences that focus on spirituality and higher education.

Miller served Union as adjunct professor for the 2003-2004 academic year teaching critical dialogues. "Teaching brought out in me a renewed interest in ministering to this age group. The content in the critical dialogues teachings helped me realize the connection between great literary works, art and spirituality. That was a great learning experience for me." Miller said.

Miller '87 is no stranger to Union College or the community. An adjunct professor and the former pastor to Barbourville's First United Methodist Church, Miller has had plenty of time to develop roots and a love of the college since moving to Barbourville four years ago.

Miller began his work at the college with a trip to the United Methodist Church's Kentucky Conference in Louisville. Miller then attended a national conference in Nashville hosted by the Institute of Higher Education focusing on church relations and higher education. Miller hopes the knowledge he gained will help him meet his goal of helping established campus organizations expand upon or include a spiritual component to their activities.

Miller graduated 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and history. He then attended seminary at Lexington Theological Seminary of Lexington, Kentucky graduating in 1991. After graduating seminary, Miller became pastor of several churches in the Northern Kentucky area. As pastor of Brooksville United Methodist Church in Brooksville, Kentucky, Miller became the founding president of the United Bracken County Ministerial Association. The association focused on bringing together the churches of Bracken County to better serve their community.

In addition, Miller and six other pastors of Falmouth, Kentucky became the driving force behind the massive recovery efforts after 80% of the town flooded in 1997. PennCARE, Penndleton County Area Recovery Effort, was instrumental in coordinating thousands of volunteers over the course of two years. The organization would match volunteers of many different religious affiliations to community members with specific recovery needs.

Since beginning his post this summer, Miller has already had an opportunity to meet with the majority of the Spiritual Life Committee and has set a tentative date for Spiritual Life Night. All students are invited to attend activities on Tuesday nights at the Spiritual Life Center. Several different activities are tentatively scheduled for this night. Miller plans to have bible study, current event discussions, and will have service activities for students to participate in.

In addition, Miller hopes to secure the Willson-Gross Lectures and the Staley Lectures for the upcoming academic year. Both lectureships are part of a series designed to address academics as related to Christian life.
During confirmation, Miller hopes to have a church directory completed as a part of student's information package. The directory will include listings of local churches along with information regarding church activities.

Look for Miller and members of the Spiritual Life Committee during Welcome Weekend and as the fall athletes arrive on campus. The group has invited several local church groups to assist students as they move onto campus and a Worship service will be held for students on Sunday, August 22 during Welcome Weekend.

For students who may be apprehensive about attending a new church, Miller and the Spiritual Life Committee will be taking groups of students to visit area churches. "I feel that students going with a group, rather than attending a new church alone, will make students feel more at ease," Miller commented.

Lastly, Miller wants to let everyone know that weekly luncheons for book discussions will resume this fall. Miller will announce a schedule and the books to be discussed at a later date.

July 15, 2004

 

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