Pastor Steve Miller, who has led the First Church in Jaffrey for the past four years, will be giving his final sermon on Nov. 16, before retiring.
Miller said preaching is something of a family tradition: He grew up with several uncles and great-grandfather who were clergy, but at first, it wasn’t something he was initially drawn to.
“I wasn’t that interested at first, because the church seemed kind of boring to me,” Miller said. “But as I grew I began to understand the work that I could do through the church.” In college, he worked with his church’s youth ministry and eventually decided to go to seminary school. He was ordained in 1987.
During his decades in the pulpit, he had mainly served four churches, split between the East Coast and the Midwest, working in Iowa, Connecticut, South Dakota, and, most recently, in Jaffrey.
Miller grew up in Worcester, Mass., giving him his East Coast connection, and served in Iowa during his ministerial training. There, he met his wife, Jill Tyler, who is from Iowa, and still has family there.
He had served his previous church in South Dakota for 27 years, but in 2021, he wanted to return to New England to be closer to his mother, who was in ill health. Jaffrey seemed a good fit for him, Miller said. His approach to the ministry has always been about building connections within the church and outside of it.
“I said I didn’t think the church was fun at first. Part of my thing is to try to develop community, the relationship with my parishioners, and between my parishioners and the wider community. And having fun is one of the pieces I’ve tried to bring to that,” Miller said. “Things that bring people joy, and peace and hope, those are important qualities of community for me, especially in the hard times in which we live.”
Sam Greene, moderator for the First Church, said in his 46-month tenure at the church, Miller has helped to increase that sense of community.
Under Miller’s leadership, the church has inducted 45 new members or associate members, an increase of 60%. The church opened its doors as a meeting place for Scout Troop 33 and allowed the Scouts to use its storage space.
Miller also began a faith studies group on world religions and Christianity, a class that attracted about 30 people, not all of whom were members of the church.
Miller said he’s also been open to being a “community pastor,” providing services and funerals or other ceremonies for people who don’t have a regular church, and providing prayers and services during community observances of Memorial Day and other events. He also has traditionally provided the annual Blessing of the Animals hosted by the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge.
The First Church has been involved in community events such as the celebration of the birthday of the Jaffrey Meetinghouse, which was the original home of the First Church, and the annual Church Fair, which Miller said relies on a host of volunteers, many of whom don’t attend church services.
“I think that people are attracted to community or a church for a lot of different reasons. We try to do a lot of projects that help people connect with us,” he said. “We are getting better at understanding that we can provide opportunities to do a lot of different things to support the communities. We want to be good caretakers of our wider community.”
In his retirement, Miller said he and his wife will be moving back to Des Moines, Iowa, where they met, and he expects to enter full-time retirement. He said he’s looking forward to quiet time reading, for prayer and meditation, and time to play some music.
The First Church will search for a replacement pastor and in the interim will have congregation members trade off the duties of giving sermons.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.