Miller was secretary of the Covenant and vice president for administration from 1999 to 2005. She resigned to accept a position as director of the Making Connections Initiative at North Park Theological Seminary. The initiative is funded with a Lilly Endowment Grant and is designed, among other things, to fund cooperative work between the seminary and other parts of the denomination.
Palmberg told the delegates that Miller’s guidance proved invaluable during “a fairly chaotic time in administration,” having helped new officers work through a new constitution early in the president’s first term. Several other denominational officers also were new and likewise relied on Miller.
One of the best ways to judge an administrator’s work is to look at the staff and its loyalty, said Palmberg, adding, “There is not a staff more loyal in our building than Mary had.”
The citation on the plaque reads:
For denominational leadership and service to the Council of Administrators and the Executive Board; for professionalism and integrity in the administration of a wide and complex network of responsibilities; for a deep sense of mission and good gifts for spiritual formation; for a firm commitment and persistent efforts to increase the human diversity of the church and its servants; for her pastoral care for the entire community; for advocacy for those who had no other advocate; for her striving for fairness in compensation and other employment policies; for her care for the workplace environment and her sensitivity to employees’ lives beyond it; and, in all things, for her deep love for Christ and his church and her commitment to live that out in her vocation as a true and faithful servant of Jesus Christ.
Miller responded by saying, “If he thinks this gets him out of giving me back my CD from Nickelcreek, he’s got another thing coming.”
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
