Bill Miller-Zurell
Pastor  

Pastor Bill Miller-Zurell was born in Toledo, Ohio where he was adopted as an infant by… no surprise here… Lutheran parents. Pastor Bill has two grown sons and is married to the Rev. Mary Miller-Zurell, also a Lutheran pastor.

Pastor Bill’s first eight years were in Toledo, Charleston, West Virginia and Hebron, Ohio before his family moved to Aiken, South Carolina in 1962. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (’77). He entered seminary in 1992, receiving his Masters of Divinity at Lutheran Theological Lutheran Seminary (‘96) in Columbia, South Carolina. In the years between college and entering seminary, Pastor Bill enjoyed a career in production, process engineering and quality management for a large apparel textile manufacturer and a first tier automotive textile manufacturer in the Carolinas.

Having been raised in the church Pastor Bill’s decision to become a pastor was a natural outgrowth of his faith and the positive experiences he had with the church, his pastors and mentors as a young person. Ordained in 1996 he became the pastor of New Hope in 2005 after serving as Assistant to the Bishop in the Florida-Bahamas Synod following his first call to Christ the King Lutheran Church in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Pastor Miller-Zurell’s favorite Bible passage is 2 Corinthians 5:17-18…

“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

We need not look any further for the basis of our mission in the world. Christ, having begun the work, has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Strengthening our relationships with God and with one another is the first, best mission of the church and it is something that all of us are equipped to do. For we have been “Gathered and Sent to Share and Serve”.