Meet the Pastor
Rev. John Miller is the Teaching Pastor for Sanctuary. He started in that position in July of 2023. With a bachelor's degree in religion from Hope College and a masters of divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, John brings almost 25 years of parish experience to his role.
Active in the communities where he has served before, he is excited to develop the education program at Sanctuary while joining the outstanding worship team. He lives in Shelby Township with his partner Kathy, and is the proud dad of his recent high school graduate son, Ethan.
OUR BELIEFS
We Choose a
Life of Love
sanc· tu· ary | n | a safe place to explore faith.
We are a church with doors wide open. We understand deeply that all of us have wounds to be healed, gifts to offer, questions to ask, and stories to share. We're a community that believes in four basic and essential freedoms:
Soul Freedom
We each are responsible for our personal relationship with God, without the control of clergy or government.
Bible Freedom
We have the individual freedom, right, and responsibility to interpret and apply Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Church Freedom
We act, meeting the needs of our wider community, often in partnership with others.
Religious Freedom
We believe everyone should be able to worship (or not) as they feel led, with strong support for our constitutional protection of religious freedom for all.
OUR VISION
Freedom, Safety,
and Life-giving Faith
We believe people from all walks of life can join together and pursue freedom, safety, and life-giving faith. There will always be a need for a community in which people can safely explore faith. For those reasons, and many more, we are here.
While we share a common vision of fellowship, respect, mutual support, and dialog in Christ , that doesn’t mean we all think the same. While we may not always be of one mind, we do look towards Christ’s model of acceptance, love, and progressive action to make the world a better place.
All are invited and encouraged to experience and celebrate the gift of God’s saving love and guiding presence and to share, teach, and nurture one another in faith. The community here is caring and is there present for each other in every one of life’s circumstances, through the ups and downs.
OUR MINISTRIES
Reaching out
to the world
Through local involvement and missions that extend beyond city lines, we want to see people all over the world live with freedom, trust, and love. We want to hear from you. Use the form to learn more about how we are reaching our city and our world.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Loving our neighbors
When Jesus called us to “love your neighbor,” that included everyone—without regard to affiliation, gender or gender expression, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, finances, or ability. Jesus cared about meeting human needs, about remedying social injustice, about calling out intolerance, and about standing for those who have been exploited. Jesus has called us to pay attention, and to act. We align ourselves with needs in the areas of human health, marginalized groups, global concerns, and emergency needs.
Local
There are a number of programs in southeastern Michigan with which we are proud to affiliate. They include:
Global
On a global level, we support missionaries in China, Thailand, Hungary, Democratic Republic of Congo. International disasters, such as the coronavirus, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes are just a few of the causes we aid, and have long-supported global peace-making efforts. Micro-loans to entrepreneurs through KIVA are also a part of our contribution efforts.
