About Me
Hello and welcome! My name’s Michael J. Miller. I have a BA in Religious Studies from Mercyhurst College and my MA in Pastoral Studies with a concentration in Religious Education from Gannon University. From youth ministry at the parish level to thirteen years in the high school classroom, I've studied and taught religion for over twenty years.
During my college years as a religious studies major, I first met the Historical Jesus alongside the Christ of Faith I already knew. I learned the Kingdom of God was about making this world "as it is in heaven" and, in so doing, I learned why religion matters. (Listening to a lot of U2 helped, too.)
It wasn't about Sunday services and saving my soul as much as it was about radically transforming our world with God's love and justice.
Even before college I was interested in this idea of justice. When I was in youth group during high school, the issue of full inclusion for LGBTQIA+ members in the church was a point of particular confusion for me. So I asked questions.
How, teenage me wondered, could love be wrong?
Isn’t God love?
Aren’t we made in God’s image?
The answer I received again and again always bothered me – that the orientation was okay but acting on it wasn’t. It was asking people to deny a fundamental piece of their human nature. So I kept asking questions; I kept seeking.
These questions of God and love, meaning and purpose, humanity and relationship, life and justice, have shaped my entire career.
As Augustine asked in his Confessions (10, 6), I too wanted to know, “What do I love when I love my God?” And what did a life lived in that love look like?
Twenty-five years spent studying religion, teaching religion in a Catholic high school, and working for the Catholic Church led me to become a consulting theologian.
I’ve often said the hardest part of my job is other Christians, those who fuel the sense that being Christian means being judgmental, hypocritical, and shaming others in the name of God. The religious right have only become more vocal and with that voice fueled this narrative around Christianity. I’ve done my best to break open that point of view, interrogate it, and offer a more authentic vision of Christianity and the Christian life for over twenty years.
I love God. I love Jesus’ style! And I love the world Christianity can help us create when we are authentically anchored in both Jesus’ mission and God’s love.
Now my mission is to help you be so anchored as well.
In addition to my academic and ministry work, I’ve blogged for years at My Comic Relief where I write analyses and personal reflections about Marvel, DC, Doctor Who, Star Wars, books, movies, music, TV, and whatever else pops into his head (if you caught the Bon Jovi lyric on the homepage or the Ghostbusters quote above, bonus points for you). There are also memoir-y pieces as well as explorations of social justice themes, theological and mythological themes, and psychological themes in pop culture. Life is long and my mind is tangential so nothing’s off limits there and you’re welcome to peruse those pieces if you’re so inclined. You can also find me on Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, or Twitter (no, I’m not calling it “X”).
Are you ready to begin your journey to find greater harmony in your life through the liberation Jesus offered? Then let’s setup a time to chat and we can get to work! I can't wait to meet you and talk about the liberating power of God's love!
