Clergy

Father Basil

Priest of St Thekla Independent Orthodox Church

Fr Basil (James Miller) received a BS in Biblical studies from Liberty University in 2004. During his studies he felt there was something missing in the Evangelical theological tradition. After a brief stent as a pastor in emergent evangelical ministries he started a philosophy degree at Western Kentucky University in 2005. At WKU he looked into other traditions and soon met a few friends interested in social justice and who had similar questions. This group eventually became focused on starting an Orthodox mission. James was received into the Antioch Orthodox Church in 2008 taking the patron St Basil the Great. James began almost immediately serving in the altar and soon after parish council.

James graduated from the philosophy program and pursed an MA in folk studies, looking to study more about belief, social justice, and intentional communities. These interests also lead him to complete a graduate certificate in Gender Studies. Along the way he was also pursuing theological education and ordination in the Antiochian Church.

In 2016 he was ordained a sub-deacon in preparation for the diaconate. While his particular parish was relatively progressive he began to see the overall church was not. The church was often quite hostile to LGBTQIA, rejected women clergy of any rank, and was not attentive to social issues even within the church. He did not feel he could pursue ordination to the diaconate or priesthood in the canonical churches. These considerations lead him to take a step back in 2017. Without a more progressive jurisdiction to go to, he wandered around a bit. In 2019 he and his wife moved to Florida. He was ordained in the UOC in 2021 and soon after joined the Convergent Catholic Communion.

Fr Basil completed is Masters of Theological Studies from the Antiochian House of Studies in 2021.