For seminary senior Lee Miller, II, the idea of being a pastor like his Dad once didn’t seem very likely.

It’s not that he doesn’t admire his father, who’s bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Upstate New York Synod. "I had a really blessed childhood," he recalls, "and I think I’m really a blend of my parents. -- my Mom’s passion, energy and resourcefulness and my Dad’s approach to problem-solving. Both are seekers of justice. I’m both spontaneous and reflective, and I’m like them in being concerned for justice. I’m trying to follow their ideas of being strong and creative as well as loving and caring..."

But he was thinking in his early teen years of being a lawyer. Then, while studying at the State University of New York in Albany, he decided to major in education, intending to become a certified secondary school teacher of English. "But it turned out the only jobs were in New York City, and I just didn’t want to teach in New York," he said.

So after graduation he got a couple of jobs for two years -- one at a book store, and one as assistant general manager of a Mexican restaurant.

"All along I was searching for more meaning," he says. He had spent time volunteering at a homeless shelter. Then one weekend came a turning point, attending a youth gathering in Bloomsburg, PA, with teens from the congregation he was a part of -- Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Albany.

The words of inspirational speaker Bart Campolo caught his attention. "He was speaking to the high school kids," Lee recalls. "But I thought he was speaking only to me... He said you can grow up, go to college, buy a house with a fence and a dog and have 2.5 kids -- or you can decide to really do something with your life...."

Soon, Lee had set his sights on seminary study. "I decided quickly I didn’t want to be a status quo pastor in a status quo church," he says. "I wanted to see how people in a baptized community reach out to others." For Miller that felt like studying in the Urban Track at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and experiencing life in a creative congregation that on the one hand might be facing the danger of dying but where he found "the faith is essential to the lives of people and the community they are trying to develop around them."

Lee Miller became involved in several congregations during his field work life at the Seminary, but he spends most of his time now at Christus Lutheran Church in Camden, NJ, a place where he has discovered that "even though there is a certain crassness of life in Camden, the people of the church know God and they really know each other -- and they know they need each other." His experiences in the congregation have shaped his life, he says.

What about Seminary? Miller says he especially appreciates two aspects, looking back. "Professor Katie Day (Assistant Professor, Church and Community) told me that if I wanted to discover at the Seminary where I felt called, I would have to pave my own road. And she said that if I did that, the Seminary would give me room to grow...That’s really happened for me," Miller says. "The other thing I’ve discovered here is a real sense of community. I’ve met other students touched by faith who are searching and finding like I am. And I couldn’t have done what I’ve done here without them...."

Lee Miller, II is excited these days. He’s been approved for ordination and looks forward soon to continuing his journey of faith as pastor of a church in the city somewhere. One of his last Seminary memories is likely to involve his father. Lee, Sr., is the commencement speaker.