Mary Miller

Rev. Dr. Mary Miller was called to ministry before the denomination’s 1976 vote to ordain women. In following that call across her forty-five-year career, she pioneered pastoral roles at several congregations and served in denominational and educational leadership. 
Mary describes her call to ministry as “an unmistakable, visceral call” while she was a middle school confirmation student at Broadway Covenant Church in Rockford, Illinois, under the leadership of Rev. Bob Hjelm. 

Mary was ordained in 1981. While attending North Park Theological Seminary, Mary’s class had included five women all raised in Covenant congregations. After graduating, only two of the five spent their vocational lives in service of the Covenant denomination, as opportunities were not yet sufficiently available. 

But there were those who always believed in Mary’s call. Mary’s husband, Tom, kept open his first placement after medical residency while she awaited a call to a church, to determine together where they would move. Mary first served as associate pastor at Farmington Hills Covenant in Michigan, then as solo pastor at Bethel Covenant in Flossmoor, Illinois. From there, she became associate pastor at First Wayne Street United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She returned to Covenant ministry, serving the Covenant Church in Plymouth, Indiana. Each of these pastorates was for approximately five years, giving her broad congregational and pastoral experience over a twenty-year period. 
Mary published Devotions for Those Living with Loss, through Covenant Publications in 1991, and served as a columnist for the Covenant Companion for twelve years. 

In 1999 Mary was called as the first woman officer for the denomination, serving as Vice President for Administration, leading a staff of seven and participating in strategic development for the ECC. In this role, she founded the human resources office, led the work to revise the constitution, and oversaw the Annual Meeting, Executive Board meetings and Council of Administrators meetings. She remained in this role until 2005, preaching and speaking in many settings across those years. 

When asked “what was it like to be a pioneer?” Mary answered, “As the only woman at a meeting, you learn never to be the first to enter a room. If you do, no one will sit with you. You wait and join others already seated to be part of the conversation.” It wasn’t easy. Mary affirmed that there was certainly suffering involved, but that it was not unexpected. Over the years, clergy women have shared their struggles with Mary. She said that many times she has quoted the end of the Beatitudes to them: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12). This text affirmed that she was in good company with others who struggled in Christ’s service. 

Mary’s career continued as she served North Park Theological Seminary as Director of the Making Connections Initiative, working to secure a $5 million grant for the seminary from the Lilly Endowment Inc. Much of her work bridged the gaps between seminary and churches through shared leadership, residency programs for pastors, and internship programs. She worked for North Park until 2010. 

Mary served as interim pastor of Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, Connecticut, for several months before becoming chaplain at the Covenant Retirement Community in Cromwell, Connecticut, a position she held for ten years. In this capacity, she preached and designed worship experiences and had an active visitation ministry, especially with those in healthcare and memory care. She also had an active ministry with staff. 

Mary tried to retire in 2021, but the renamed Covenant Living Communities and Services had acquired an existing facility in Keene, New Hampshire, where Mary served a one-year interim role as their inaugural chaplain, establishing what it might mean to become a faith-based community. In 2022, another Covenant Living campus was in need of transitional pastoral leadership, so Mary went to the Holmstad campus in Batavia, Illinois, where she served as interim chaplain, followed by three years in the permanent role. In this ecumenical setting, Mary was not as well-known as she was in Covenant circles, and she enjoyed being free of expectations or preconceptions. The community had previously had women chaplains, so there was less pioneering work and more joyful ministry, which Mary described as “refreshing.” 

Mary’s attempts to retire were thwarted again in 2025, when, following retirement from chaplaincy, she accepted the invitation to return to North Park Theological Seminary, this time as Interim Dean of Seminary and Vice President of Church Relations—integrating her decades of leadership in ministry. 

Read more of Rev. Mary Miller’s story in Cathy Norman Peterson, “The Vice-President: Mary Miller,” pages 93–100 in The Unfolding Mystery of Yes: Women Who Were Forces for Change, ed. Mary Lou Sather. Chicago: Women’s History Commission Evangelical Covenant Church, 2007. Available through the Frisk Collection of Covenant Literature.