The Reverend Rick Miller of Northport Covenant Church in front of St. Martin in the Field in London. "My hope is that after this experience it will not be business as usual for Northport Covenant Church," Miller said.

In land of C.S. Lewis, Northport pastor enjoys enriching sabbatical

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. … Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

The quote from famed Irish author and scholar C.S. Lewis contained in The Weight of Glory, a collection of essays and sermons, is one of Rev. Rick Miller’s favorites. It was also one of many passages Miller contemplated while on an 11-week sabbatical in and around Oxford, England, in which the legacy of Lewis played a major role.

“This sabbatical was an incredible gift the congregation gave me,” said Miller, the pastor of Northport Covenant Church.

Members of Northport Covenant not only gave him the time off, they provided financial backing that allowed Miller to spend time away from the daily routine of running a vigorous and healthy church.

Miller said he had two main areas of study while he was on sabbatical: theology and fantasy. While gone Miller read a dozen books and attended many lectures at University of Oxford’s theology school. He was at Oxford for eight weeks of his sabbatical and stayed at the C.S. Lewis Study Center, which is the house Lewis lived in while he was at different universities and colleges around Oxford from 1930 until 1963. An interesting fact about Lewis: he died on Nov. 22, 1963, the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

“Lewis is one of my favorite authors. Mere Christianity is probably my favorite book by him,” Miller said. While on sabbatical, Miller also read books by authors George McDonald and G. K. Chesterton.

Lewis is a well known and beloved figure in the U.S., and is perhaps best remembered for writing the children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia. Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., has all of his original works in a special collection.

“The C. S. Lewis Foundation is based in California,” Miller said, which he found a little strange since Lewis was a life-long resident of the British Isles. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was educated and lived the rest of his life in England.

Miller’s overall goal during the sabbatical was to take a break from the routine of his ministry and recharge his batteries. By spending most of his time in the Oxford area, Miller said he experienced a vital and young Christian community.

“Most of England and Europe are post-Christian, even more than we are here in the United States. In the midst of this is Oxford, a bastion of Christianity, with lots of churches and packed with college students. All the churches there are very concerned about outreach programs, getting the message out,” he said.

Most churches in Oxford are affiliated with the Anglican Church. Miller said he was often the oldest person in any given service. “That is almost the polar opposite of what you see around here,” he said.

While he is still processing all he took in during sabbatical, Miller was inspired by the “intentionality” of the churches’ outreach. “Each congregation there works very hard on reaching out to the ‘unchurched,’ those that went to church as a child or young adult and have stopped going for various reasons,” he said.

Miller said he sees the same trend in the county. “Statistically, in Leelanau County we’re a little higher than the national average of the unchurched. I want to be more intentional about reaching out to those people,” he said. Miller also wants to see if he can bring some of the diversified worship experiences he saw in Oxford to Leelanau.

Miller is glad to be back among friends and his congregation. “We’re a pretty healthy and vital church. The congregation here is already attuned to the intentional outreach,” he said. Miller credited the Northport Covenant’s women’s ministry and youth ministry with already doing what he would like to see more of: reaching out to the community.

Miller, in his 10th year as pastor at Northport Covenant, said the sabbatical was an incredible gift from his congregation. “It was a true blessing,” he said.