Hadrian’s Wall, 2012 Duane A. Miller©

Hadrian’s Wall, in the Borders, where Scotland and England come together (sort of). Constructions started c. 126, if I remember correctly.

‘Iranian Diaspora Christians in the American Midwest & Scotland’ in Global Missiology

Hi All,

Am glad to let you know that I have published my first article in the online journal Global Missiology (the English-language edition). Here is the Biblio:

Miller, Duane Alexander. 2012. ‘Iranian Diaspora Christian in the American Midwest & Scotland: Historical Background, Present Realities, & Future Challenges’ in Global Missiology 9:2, January.

Here is the abstract:

Over the last few years (2009-2011) I have been able to meet with numerous Iranian Christians in various cities in the UK and the USA. I have attended their churches and gatherings, I have sat down at Starbucks or over Persian food for conversations, and even in a hot tub once. In this article I will share a few of my preliminary conclusions and mention what I understand to be some of the key issues and challenges facing the Iranian Christian community in the coming years.

Download the PDF, or the Word Doc, or just check out the HTML. (I recommend the PDF.) Am glad to answer any questions in the comment section.

The ancient church, Orthodox, Nazareth

A picture of the ancient church, built into the side of a hill, where the water source of Nazareth is located. At the end of the church is where the water comes out, people sometimes take some with them in bottles. Many people toss an offering into the well so there are many coins and bill from all over the world in there.

Iconostasis in St Gabriel’s Orthodox Church, Nazareth

Iconostasis in St Gabriel’s Orthodox Church, Nazareth. Duane Miller 2011 c.

Christ Church in Nazareth (©Duane A. Miller 2011)

Christ Church in Nazareth (©Duane A. Miller 2011)

To see a complete collection of my Christ Church Nazareth pictures on Flickr just click.

The priest prepares for the service. Duane A. Miller 2011 copyright.

The priest prepares for the service. Duane A. Miller 2011 copyright. (Christ Church, Anglican, Nazareth)

Basilica of the Annunciation (Nazareth) as seen from Christ Church Anglican, Duane Miller 2011

Basilica of the Annunciation (Nazareth) as seen from Christ Church Anglican

John Zeller

John Zeller, who was instrumental in building Christ Church, Nazareth.

‘Anglicanorum Coetibus and the Church of Our Lady of the Atonement…’

Miller, Duane Alexander. 2011. ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus and the Church of Our Lady of the Atonement, the Founding Parish of Anglican Use in the Roman Catholic Church, Feast of St. David of Wales, 1 March 2011′ in Anglican and Episcopal History, Vol 80:3, September, pp 296-305.

In this church review I go through the history of John Paul II’s Pastoral Provision, and the establishment of the Anglican Use in the USA, and the more recent Apostolic Constitution of Benedict XVI, Anglicanorum Coetibus.

Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) is the founding parish, and by far the largest one, of the Anglican Use in the American Catholic Church. After reviewing the history behind these initiatives, I describe the liturgy and the physical space of our Lady of the Atonement.

Read it at Scribd.

Anglicanorum Coetibus is HERE.

‘Cracks in the Foundation of Islam?’ by Duane Alexander Miller

Miller, Duane Alexander. 2009. ‘Cracks in the Foundation of Islam?’ in St Francis Magazine, Vol 5:3, pp 110-117.

Read it all at St Francis Magazine or at Scribd.

I am specifically reacting to (and disagreeing with) a portion of the ‘Camel Training Manual‘ in this article.

Here I challenge the idea that more missionaries is, in and of itself, better:

Increasing Missionary Force: I agree with the author that many more people are considering missionary work in the Muslim World than ever before.  But there are still some very real concerns: missionaries are like other professionals, meaning that today there is a real possibility of changing careers after a few years.  Is it really better to have five missionaries who are learning Arabic and getting familiar with the local culture and who will leave after five years than to have one missionary who has mastered the language and spent many years in the region?  It is an error to assume that more is better; indeed sometimes more is not better, as inexperienced short-term missionaries can at times create more trouble than benefit.  I would also point out that the now-popular short-term missions are a very resource-intensive (i.e., expensive) form of ministry that is generally speaking not a good fit for the Muslim world.  It is one thing to send folks to build a church in Mexico, it is another to send them to Morocco or Jordan or Pakistan.