wfn.org | Former NCC President J. Irwin Miller Dies; Led on Race, Peace

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

J. IRWIN MILLER, AN NCC FOUNDING FATHER, DIES AUG. 16 IN INDIANA
Prominent Industrialist was NCC President 1960-63; Led Work on Race, Peace

August 19, 2004, NEW YORK CITY b J. Irwin Miller of Columbus, Ind., a
prominent industrialist, philanthropist, biblical scholar and patron of the
arts whose decades of service to the National Council of Churches USA
included his term as the NCC's first lay president in 1960-63, died Monday
(August 16) at his home at age 95.

His memorial service is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at his home
congregation, North Christian Church (Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ)), which he had helped to organize several decades ago.

"J. Irwin Miller applied his faith to all areas of his life," commented NCC
General Secretary Bob Edgar.  "He felt the Gospel message had to be relevant,
and he worried that a number of Christians and Christian leaders were not as
courageous as they should be.  He sought to keep the church faithful,
relevant and effective."

Miller once said, "I believe there is no area in life which should not be
governed by Christian principles.  Christianity should speak to labor
leaders, business leaders, politicians, doctors, lawyers and bankers."

Combating poverty and racism were especially important to Miller.  As Dr.
Edgar described him to the Columbus, Ind., newspaper The Republic, "Here was
a fairly wealthy individual with a true passion for the poor and a true
passion for all people amid the racism of the 1950s and 1960s."

Author James F. Findlay, Jr., in his 1993 book "Church People in the
Struggle: The National Council of Churches and the Black Freedom Movement,
1950-1970," wrote that as NCC president, Miller pressed the church not to
"miss serving the clear need of our time."  That required sensitivity,
imagination and excitement, he told the NCC's General Board, for if plans and
programs do not "fire the hearts and spirits of men and women" they will
"come to nothing."

Under Miller's leadership, in 1963, the NCC founded the Commission on
Religion and Race, which coordinated organized religion's support for strong
civil rights legislation, and jointly sponsored the March on Washington.  

He led a religious leaders delegation that met with President John F. Kennedy
on June 17, 1963, just two days before Kennedy introduced his first major
piece of civil rights legislation into Congress, the eventual Civil Rights
Act of 1964.  Miller chaired that meeting and oversaw follow up at the
President's request.

Miller met with the newly sworn in Lyndon Johnson Dec. 9, 1963, days after
Kennedy's assassination, along with other NCC leaders to reaffirm their
support for passage of strong Civil Rights legislation and to discuss with
Johnson how the churches might best work for the cause of racial justice.

An alternate delegate from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to the
NCC's Constituting Convention in 1950, Miller served on the steering
committee for the NCC's 50th Anniversary Celebration in November 1999.	Both
meetings were held in Cleveland, Ohio.

In between, he represented his denomination as an NCC General Board member
(1952ff), serving on the Board's Business and Finance and Policy and Strategy
committees.  He also served as chair of the Message Committee at the 1957 NCC
General Assembly held in St. Louis, and also served as vice-chairman of the
general department of United Church Men. 

He served as Vice Chairman of the NCC Division of Christian Life and Work,
1957-60.  The division dealt with such matters as the Church and Economic
Life, International Affairs and Social Welfare.  Among accomplishments under
his leadership: the launching of the Nationwide Program for Peace in 1959,
which included a meeting of 100 church leaders with President Eisenhower at
the White House. 

The Commission on Religion and Race, founded in June 1963, in its first four
months alone participated in anti-segregation demonstrations and interracial
services of worship in the Deep South; sent teams of troubleshooters to many
specific areas of tension when invited; helped release on bail more than 90
persons; helped induce a national bonding company for the first time to
provide bond for civil rights cases in Mississippi, and jointly sponsored the
March on Washington with nine other groups. 

"In his later years, J. Irwin Miller remained actively interested in the
National Council of Churches," commented Dr. Edgar, who talked with Miller in
person or by phone periodically since becoming NCC general secretary in
January 2000.  "He was especially supportive of the NCC's priority work to
rebuild burned Black churches, to combat poverty and to revision its own life
and mission for the 21st century."

Miller led the Cummins Engine Co. for more than 40 years, overseeing its
transformation from a small Indiana firm to a Fortune 500 company with more
than 25,000 employees in 131 countries and more than $6 billion in annual
sales.	

In its statement marking his passing, the Cummins Company said Miller would
"be eulogized as a great business leader, social activist and philanthropist
whose influence will continue well into the 21st century."  

A patron of the arts, Miller transformed Columbus, Ind., into a city of
architectural wonders, attracting prominent architects and earning Columbus
the nickname the Athens of the Prairie.  For that, the NCC's Department of
Worship and the Arts in 1992 presented him with an award celebrating his
"lifetime of service to worship and the arts." 

An early anti-apartheid activist, Miller shut down the Cummins factory in
South Africa to protest apartheid and helped write legislation in 1986 that
led to economic sanctions against South Africa, the Indianapolis Star
reported.  James Joseph, former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and Cummins
vice president, told The Republic that Martin Luther King, Jr., mindful of
Miller's business ethics and anti-racism work, "once called him the most
socially responsible businessman in the country."

Miller was a long-time trustee of Christian Theological Seminary in
Indianapolis, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)-affiliated
institution.  During the 1950s, he provided leadership to the Disciples'
Church Extension Board.

William Chris Hobgood, General Minister and President of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), described Miller as "a man of true faith who
manifested that faith in so many things that he did.  It's hard to put into
words the greatness of this man and what he's meant to so many people and
institutions."

The Rev. Dr. Brenda Girton-Mitchell of Washington, D.C., NCC Director of
Public Policy, will represent the NCC at the memorial service for Miller,
scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at North Christian Church, Columbus,
Ind.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the North Christian Church
Endowment Fund, 850 Tipton Lane, Columbus, Ind., or to an organization of
interest to the donor.

-end-

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Media Contact: Carol Fouke, cfouke@ncccusa.org; 212-870-2252