When Pastor Paul Miller tells his parishioners they are “messed up,” he’s greeted with a resounding “Amen.”
It’s the core message of the church, Miller said, that “we recognize that we are broken, but God’s love sets us free.”
Miller, 36, leads the congregation at Iola’s First Assembly of God, 1020 E. Carpenter.
Average attendance at Sunday’s service is about 65, he said, and he estimates the small congregation is a good representation of Iola’s greater demographics.
“The average person in our church has been married 2.5 times,” he says with admitted hyperbole. “We do hold marriage to be sacred,” he said in mock defense of the obvious.
The challenge, he said, is to teach that a marriage “is way more important than a wedding,” but that the significance of the ceremony plays a role in a couple’s faith journey.
“People need to realize that a marriage is not a 50/50 proposition,” he said. “It’s a 100 percent proposition. If your spouse is hurt and needs to be spoon-fed, then you need to be willing to do that. There are no half-measures.”
Same with a person’s faith, Miller contends. Ideally, you’re in 100 percent.
MILLER IS GROUNDED in his faith from being raised in a Christian family.
He grew up in Omaha, Neb., born in 1974, the third of four children. The family attended an Assemblies of God church. The Miller children attended Christian schools.
“I was a good kid,” Miller said. Good grades. Good manners. Good Christian.
In high school he was a National Merit finalist. He played basketball and football.
Facing college, Miller said he was ready to “test” his faith.
“I wanted to get away from a Christian school environment to see if my faith was worth anything in the real world. It wasn’t a rebellion, but rather to see if my faith would float,” he said.
With that in mind, Miller looked for what he terms an “anti-faith” school.
He settled on Grinnell College, a small liberal arts institution about 35 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, where he also played football for two years.
Despite the influx of non-Christians, including those who practiced witchcraft, Miller’ faith flourished.
He majored in liberal arts with an emphasis on religious studies and math.
“I skipped chemistry my senior year, otherwise I would have been a math major,” he said.
After graduation he and his wife, Kari, whom he met at Grinnell and married in 1996, headed to Kentucky where Miller attended Asbury Theological Seminary. Upon completion of his studies, the Millers moved to Indianapolis where he taught math at a Christian school and pastored a small church, whose congregation, Miller said, comprised “country folks in the city.”
After eight years with the church, the Millers felt the need to move and Paul left his role as pastor.
For the next three months the Miller searched for a church. He recalls that time as “Scary. No job, no unemployment benefits, no health insurance,” and a young family.
The Millers have two children; a son, Jon, 10, a fourth-grader at Lincoln Elementary, and a daughter, Bethany, 3.
MILLER BECAME pastor at Iola’s First Assembly of God in September. He replaced Jason Pickering, who stepped down last summer.
The gap between pastors “didn’t help attendance,” Miller said.
The Assemblies is a Pentecostal movement whose members believe “God’s Holy Spirit is relevant and speaks to us to in daily life,” Miller said.
Speaking, as in tongues. Or for some, unintelligible gibberish.
“Yes, that’s true,” Miller said. “That’s the Holy Spirit speaking God’s word through us.”
Speaking in tongues is the “scholarly distinction” that separates Pentecostals from other Christian faiths, Miller said. “But when you meet a Pentecostal, it’s not about talking in tongues. It’s about prayer and worship. It allows us to pray in the spirit, to have a direct connection with God.”
That intimacy with the Holy Spirit is an “active relationship,” Miller said, which he said “is the most important in your life.”
As a pastor, Miller sees his job chiefly as a religious educator.
The church’s Wednesday night youth program is a great way for Miller to reach those “who don’t have much faith instruction at home,” he said. “Faith in God starts in the home,” he said.
The program is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and averages about 30 youths, he said.
EASTER SUNDAY the congregation departs from a typical celebration, Miller said.
Instead, parishioners will host a community-wide Easter Egg Hunt beginning at 11 a.m. at Riverside Park. Included is free food and activities for the whole family.
“Jason (Pickering) started the tradition,” Miller said. “It’s been a big hit. We hope to see it grow even bigger. After all, Christ’s resurrection is a celebration.”
