Pastor's Welcome

"Greetings, all! This is Austin Miller, your new pastor, and I just wanted to briefly introduce myself to you all.  Firstly, I am incredibly excited about how we can work together to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and use it to transform our community!  I grew up the son of a pastor, living all over Illinois (I finished high school at Glenwood in Chatham, just south of Springfield). I have completed seminary at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, and I love all kinds of discussions about theology, though in practical terms my focus is on how we (humanity) were saved by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and how we are called to replicate that love to create the most fulfilling and joyful life, not just for others, but also for ourselves.  Most  recently, I have been working as a youth director, and I absolutely love discussion, questions, and disagreement (they are how we learn).  If you ever disagree with something I say, please do not hesitate to let me know; I may have misspoken and even if I didn't, I will surely appreciate hearing your perspective.  My goal is "to become right", not "to have always been right", because I understand that we all are just trying to grow in our understanding of God and our love in both God and our neighbors.  I know I will grow in my time with you and am hopeful that you all will grow with me!  My hobbies include games (mostly board games), movies (historic greats as well as contemporary genre films) and books (mostly fantasy or science fiction).  I also have a dog, a 5-year-old  German shepherd, who has been slowly getting better with people (she is a rescue).  Lastly, I again want to emphasize how excited I am to get to be the church with you all!  All churches, regardless of size ("where two or more are gathered") have the power to transform the world and contribute to building the kingdom of God, and I am especially excited about these two churches I will be working with for the forseeable years!   - Pastor Austin Miller"