ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 25, 2005

David Miller, Editor, The Lutheran, Resigns, Accepts New Role
05-097-JB*/JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. David L. Miller resigned
effective June 30 as editor of The Lutheran, the magazine of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), to accept a five-
year term as Dean of the Chapel and the first Floy L. and Paul F.
Cornelsen Director of Spiritual Formation at the Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago (LSTC).  Miller, 52, will leave The
Lutheran in the middle of his second term as editor.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced
that Sonia C. Solomonson, managing editor, will serve as interim
editor of The Lutheran.
     Miller will offer courses and retreats in spiritual
formation, coordinate the worship life of the seminary and
develop a center for spiritual formation at LSTC, according to an
LSTC news release.  LSTC is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
     "The LSTC community and I are delighted to have David Miller
as the first Cornelsen Director of Spiritual Formation," said the
Rev. James Kenneth Echols, president of LSTC. "He brings to the
task a rich background of study and practice in spiritual
direction and spiritual formation. It is critical that leaders in
the church have a well-developed spiritual life as a basis for
their ministry. Pastor Miller has the gifts not only to help
LSTC's students in their formation, but to be a resource to the
wider church as LSTC develops a center for spiritual formation."
     "I am grateful for the ways in which Pastor David Miller has
opened our eyes and ears to the words of God's love in this
church and throughout the world," Hanson said.
     "For the past 18 years he has gone into the midst of war,
famine and devastation, and used his poetic imagination so that
through his words and pictures we might see the presence of the
One who is God's love for the whole world," Hanson said. "The
gifts he brings as pastor and leader will serve him well in his
new call to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where he
will equip this church's future leaders to give faithful witness
in the world."
     LSTC initiated the position of director of spiritual
formation to help ministry students grow in their faith and
spiritual lives during their academic and professional
preparation, the news release said.  In 2000 the Floy L. and Paul
F. Cornelsen Foundation announced that it would make a gift of
$1.5 million over five years to endow the position as part of
LSTC's Campaign for Worship and Spiritual Formation.  The
Cornelsen Foundation completed the gift in 2004, earlier than
planned, and LSTC began its search to fill the position.
     "We are very pleased with the selection of David Miller as
director of spiritual formation," said Paul Cornelsen. "We
believe that his work will round out some important aspects of
the overall theological experience."
     Miller holds a certificate in spiritual formation from the
Academy for Spiritual Formation, Nashville, Tenn. He has studied
spiritual direction and Christian spirituality at the Claret
Center, Loyola University's Institute of Pastoral Studies and
Catholic Theological Union, all located here. During the past
decade he has led numerous retreats and workshops on prayer,
spirituality and spiritual direction throughout the United
States.
     "I've been moving for at least 10 years toward a ministry of
spiritual formation," Miller said. "I decided that if an
opportunity to work in the area of spiritual formation came
along, I would present myself as a candidate. I look forward to
changing focus. This is something I've done as an avocation --
not for my daily bread -- but I've done a lot of it. At LSTC the
intellectual life and the spiritual life are valued and their
interaction is rich and deep."
     As for his role as editor of The Lutheran, Miller said in
his May 23 resignation letter to Hanson that he has been
"privileged to encounter the face of Christ in thousands of
places and faces around the globe, all of them connected with the
ministries of our church."
     "I have enjoyed a privileged position to . do my favorite
thing: to tell stories, rich, full stories, filled with the life
of the One who is pleased to fill me, even now, with gratitude
for what has been and with expectation for what will be."
     Since 1987 Miller has served on the editorial staff of The
Lutheran. He was first elected editor of the magazine at the 1999
ELCA Churchwide Assembly and re-elected at the 2003 Churchwide
Assembly.  During his tenure The Lutheran received several awards
for outstanding writing, photography and design.
     Miller earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and
philosophy from Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.  He earned a master
of divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque,
Iowa, an ELCA seminary.  In 2000 Wartburg Seminary awarded Miller
an honorary doctorate.
     Before joining The Lutheran staff, Miller was pastor at
Salem Lutheran Church, Superior, Neb., and St. Mark Lutheran
Church, Olathe, Kan.
     He is married to Dixie Miller, and they are members of Our
Saviour's Lutheran Church, Naperville.  The Millers are parents
of two adult children, Aaron and Rachel.

Solomonson to Serve as Interim Editor
     Solomonson, 63, will serve as interim editor through the end
of the calendar year.  She is eligible to be considered for the
role permanently or on an acting basis until the 2007 Churchwide
Assembly, said the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for
administration, ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop.  She was
appointed jointly by the advisory committee for The Lutheran and
the ELCA presiding bishop.
     "These days are critical for The Lutheran," Solomonson said.
"The magazine has experienced circulation decline in the past few
years.  However, such a crisis offers opportunities for building
relationships and collaborative efforts.  We have begun work on
several fronts to keep this magazine vital and strong, and I look
forward to developing that."
     "I am grateful for this new opportunity to serve, and I
remain excited and hopeful as the magazine continues to tell the
stories of God's activity in this church through its
congregations, institutions, global partners, and in the lives of
its members."
     "Sonia's work as managing editor will enable her to provide
continuity at this important time in the life of The Lutheran and
of the ELCA," said the Rev. Karen G. Bockelman, chair of the
advisory committee for The Lutheran and assistant to the bishop,
ELCA Northeastern Minnesota Synod, Duluth.
     "Even more, her passion for the church and for the mission
of The Lutheran will serve us all well," she added.
     Solomonson has served on the staff of The Lutheran since
1987 in various capacities including news editor, features
editor, senior news editor, senior editor and managing editor.
She was assistant director of interpretation, Office of
Communication and Support, for the former American Lutheran
Church, Minneapolis.  Solomonson has work experience in
advertising, marketing and graphic design, and she and her family
served five years as missionaries in Papua New Guinea.
     She earned an associate in commerce degree from Waldorf
College, an ELCA higher education institution in Forest City,
Iowa, and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University
of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
     Solomonson is a member of All Saints Lutheran Church,
Palatine, Ill.  She has three grown sons.
----
     The Lutheran is at http://www.thelutheran.org on the Web.

*Jan Boden is director of communications and marketing for the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news