Troy Miller

I was deeply moved by my interview with Troy Miller in Nashville, Tennessee. Troy is the CEO of an evangelical media network called National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) and is a conservative Christian, most certainly he is of different religious and political beliefs than the ones I hold. And, yet, it was important for me to meet him precisely because of our differences. I wanted to understand Troy’s spiritual journey and how he ended up leading this organization that brings together the various evangelical Christian denominations. 

I learned that Troy is a deeply faithful man who was raised Catholic but then has bounced around multiple conservative Christian denominations including Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, and Lutheran. His wife likes to say "You're as comfortable in a group of hyper-Pentecostals as you are in a group of hyper-Reformed Presbyterians,” and he says that is true. Troy often wondered why he couldn’t easily find one religious home and also wondered where he would land. But now he sees it as a great blessing that God was preparing for him to lead a wildly diverse organization. He likes to call NRB the “public television of evangelical Christianity.” 

While Troy is firmly in the Christian world, I feel he is a kindred spirit in trying to bring people together beyond normal societal divisions and I honor that calling in him. I also feel he is a kindred spirit in that his “ministry” is not of the formal kind in that he is not clergy. He regrets that door did not open for him, but he is absolutely ministering to people around the world as the CEO of a media network using all of his God-given skills, the same I feel with Portraits in Faith.

What moved me most deeply about Troy was the journey he shared of his wife’s five miscarriages and coming to the realization that they could not have biological children. The opportunity for international adoption was opened for them which led them to adopt two Korean sons, a Chinese daughter and Indian daughter. The two girls have been raised as twins having been born only 3 weeks apart. Their second son was expected to have cerebral palsy but they decided to stick with the adoption and miraculously he was completely healthy upon arrival in the USA. 

The Miller’s family story is filled with countless miracles, including how it brought his very white and almost racist family of origin (by his own admission) with the diverse family he created. The greatest blessing of all is that Troy wouldn’t change his journey in any way. His youngest children are now 25 so they have all “launched” as adults and he can look back on all of this experience for the blessing it has been.

I was deeply moved by Troy’s very honest appraisal of his own faith. I loved when he said, “I’m not sure there was a moment where I’ve ever doubted my faith. There have been moments where I doubted the sincerity of my faith. I don’t think I’ve ever doubted that there is a God and that there’s a Creator. And I’ve never doubted that, and even as a Christian, I’ve never doubted the story of Jesus. But I have doubted whether or not I was part of that story.” 

This was especially true after his grandmother passed away and during the time he travelled the world working in IT for the very successful computer manufacturer, Gateway. It was with other Christian men that he felt great fellowship. It was what helped him see himself as fully authentic in his faith. Of course, I didn’t miss the opportunity to remind Troy that Jews are encouraged to doubt and question in case he wanted to join us!

I left the interview with Troy feeling built up with a spiritual strength knowing I had met a fellow traveler on this road of faith. I want to thank our common friend and public relations expert, Torund Bryhn, for connecting me with Troy–a very special soul who is also on a journey to bring people together in a sacred way.