Rev. Gary L. Miller

Contact Rev. Miller at gmiller@ahcc.org

 

Click here to listen to sermons by Rev. Miller

 

Born in Tonawanda, New York (a Buffalo suburb), on May 3, 1943, the Rev. Gary L. Miller was nurtured in a deeply faithful family of musicians who found in the church a perfect setting for the sharing of God's wonderful gift of music. This beginning filled Gary with a rich appreciation for the worship experience and the power it contained when it was "alive" and filled with the spirit of God's presence.

 

Rev. Miller's ordained ministry began in June 1968, with a three month interim assignment in rural Fillmore/Boltonville, Wisconsin. In September of 1968, he became the Youth Minister at The First Congregational Church of Saginaw (Michigan). In 1971, Gary initiated "non-traditional" worship services in local churches with a heavy emphasis on contemporary and jazz music. In 1972; he organized the Celebration Road Show, an all-star collection of musicians, to further explore the possibilities of music and worship in the church and from 1972 - 1977 the Celebration Road Show traveled over 800,000 miles providing programs and worship in the sanctuaries of most major Christian Denominations, classrooms, concert stages and supper clubs.


In January of 1977, the Miller family moved to the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ as Associate Conference Minister, under the auspices of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, with major responsibility for Christian Education, Youth Ministry and Media/Identity Development. It was during these next two years that Gary was to acknowledge the urgency of his family's return to a local church setting.


In January of 1979, Rev. Miller accepted and began a pastorate at The Congregational Church of Algonquin, Illinois. In the thirteen and one-half years of his service and ministry, the church grew from approximately two hundred members to almost fourteen hundred members.  The hallmark of that growing and exciting church is worship that is alive and generating power for each and all of the church's members and ministries.


On August 1, 1992, he began his work as the Senior Pastor of the Coral Gables (Florida) Congregational Church. It is a church of diverse and multi-cultural influencesand one of the leading churches of the United Church of Christ in its commitment to mission and outreach. During Rev. Miller's time there, the church began seeking to energize the creative balance of worship and mission for all of the people of God. Needless to say, it was alive with the "sounds of music."

In February of 1999 Rev. Miller became Senior Pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church. AHCC has seen tremendous growth both in numbers and in the scope of "faith-full" service in which its members engage. And of course, music is a major component of the worship experience as it opens windows to the presence of the Creator.

Rev. Miller and his partner since 1968, Beth (a counselor and educator), have three sons - Kent, Mark and Christopher - and four grandchildren.