An interview with Duane Miller on his latest book: "I Will Give Them an Everlasting Name"
What first drew you to this area of ministry?
Two things got us interested in ministry to and among Muslims. One, studying church history and learning that so many of the places that were key in the early days—Nicea, Constantinople, Ephesus, Antioch, Carthage—are almost entirely Muslim today. Two, I took a stripped-down version of a great course, Perspectives in World Missions, and learned that a large portion of the world’s Muslims do not have access to the gospel or a local Christian community.
How did you and your family get to where y’all are now?
So back in the early ’00s Sharon and I got married and we then talked to the mission committee of our parish and they told us to find a mission society to work with. We found Anglican Frontier Missions and went through the application process, which is a lot like the process of discernment for ordained ministry with psychological testing, training, and more.
We then raised the funds for the move and so we’d have an income. Through thick and thin we’ve been missionaries since 2005. I was a lay missionary at first and then a deacon and now am a missionary priest. From day one we’ve relied on the contributions of individuals, families, and churches to fund our missionary work in Jordan, Israel and for the last 3+ years, here in Spain. Prior to Spain, we enjoyed three and a half years back in San Antonio, TX where we did outreach to the growing Muslim community and training and teaching.
What skill or area of ministry development has been the most helpful to you as your minister to Christians from a Muslim Background (CMBs) or Muslim seekers?
That’s a really great question. I received my BA in philosophy from UTSA in ’99. I learned how to listen carefully, the importance of understanding the meanings of words, and then communicating in a way that the speaker would then understand. All of this was a blessing entering cultural contexts that were variously Islamic, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian.
And may I note that Sharon received her BS in mathematics from that same university, and that has been as helpful as she manages much of our ministry’s finances.
The name of your newest book, I Will Give Them an Everlasting Name, carries such beautiful promise and desire. Biblically and in many cultures, the names we are given hold a depth of identity and meaning. Can you speak to why you chose this to be your title? What is the significance of identity in CMB's discipleship?
Oh boy, I’m a professor of Old Testament at a local seminary so I could really go on about this.
The verse is from Isaiah 56, which belongs to the third section of that book. In that section, the prophet is speaking to people who have gone back to Jerusalem and others who know about that return. The leaders in Jerusalem—Ezra and Nehemiah—had valid concerns for maintaining the purity of the faith and identity of their small community, which resulted in excluding some spouses and children whom they did not consider Jewish enough. Meanwhile, some gentiles had joined themselves to Israel, professing faith in the God of the Patriarchs and the Torah revealed to Moses as YHWH.
Here the prophet is saying to these people, these converts, that they are accepted. God knows their name. Not only that, they are so precious that God will give them a new name, an everlasting name. In Hebrew culture, if you did not have children your name would be forgotten, which was a great tragedy that people in our culture today can’t easily grasp. And here is God, saying that their true identity or name is in their relation to him and his covenant, not to their ethnic past or their progeny.
All of that to say, converts from Islam have a key challenge, which is the formation of a new identity, a new name. The purpose of this book is to help Christians to be part of that process of giving them a new name and helping them to know that they have the new name.
In your experience, what are the top 2-3 challenges CMBs face in their faith journey?
I mentioned the first one—the formation of a firm identity. Many converts struggle with this question—who am I?—for years or decades.
Second, suspicion and not being trusted. Many Christians are doubtful when someone from a Muslim background says they have become a Christian or want to do so. This is especially true in Muslim-majority countries where conversion is often illegal and punishable by law. Even in places where that is not the case, the person’s family may well take matters into their own hands to some extent. Imagine telling someone you are a Christian and them doubting your honesty.
Third, persistence and consistency. Any pastor working with believers from a Muslim background will tell you this. There is a lot of zeal and sincerity but transforming this into consistently showing up on Sunday (or whatever day) is really hard.
Your research and interviews for this book are on the cutting edge of this area of ministry and study of best practices. Can you describe your hopes for how this book will provide some guidance or even change some practices in mission among and to Muslims?
I have tried to stay on the edge! I published the first book on contextual theologies of converts from Islam, the first book comparing Islam and Christianity as metanarratives (that is, not religions) and then this one, the first book on pastoral care for converts.
My hope for this book is that average Christians from all denominations who know a convert from Islam or a Muslim attracted to Christianity will be able to read this brief (less than 100 pages) book and have some practical ideas for how they can come alongside their friend and accompany them towards the wonderful destination of knowing the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3).
Along these lines, what direction would you like to see this area of study and practice go in the future?
I hadn’t thought about this before.
In one word: catholicity. I’m an Anglican and believe that we are at our best when we are blessing mere Christianity. I see that with TS Eliot, Madeleine L’Engle, NT Wright, and of course CS Lewis, among others. I’m proud that the foreword is written by a presbyter from the Assemblies of God, himself a convert from Islam. I’m proud that the recommendations on the back cover come from an Anglican, a Presbyterian, and a Baptist.
So yes, let us appreciate the richness and goodness of the many streams or branches of this mystical unity that is the body of Christ, his Church. That also means that we must stay true to the biblical and historical teachings of that Church, which means a clear and proud confession of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.
If you could speak a word of encouragement to those, like yourself, who are pastoring CMBs, what would your message be?
Read Ecclesiastes 3. Memorize the poem that opens the chapter. Don’t be in a hurry. Recognize that you are not in control of time. Read about the history of the Church’s mission to Muslims. Recognize that decades (centuries?) of preparation were needed before one could even begin planting the seeds, much less harvesting them. And appreciate that all of this, in God’s time, is beautiful (Ecc. 3:11).
Pick up your copy of I Will Give Them an Everlasting Name here.
Rev. Dr. Duane Alexander Miller lives in Madrid with Sharon and their three children where they teach and minister at the Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer. He is associate faculty at the Protestant Faculty of Theology at Madrid (UEBE). See more of Duane’s work by visiting his blog duanemiller.wordpress.com