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Keith Miller and the Lay Renewal Movement

Keith Miller was not the first or the founder of the lay renewal movement in the late 60's, but it was through his down-to-earth and insightful writings that I became immersed in it and through him found my way to others in the same veign such as Robert Raines, Elton Trueblood, Bruce Larson, and eventually the writings of Elisabeth O'Connor and the stories of the experiences of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC.

My first book I read by Miller was a book he co-authored with Bruce Larson , The Edge of Adventure, which turned out to be the first part of a trilogy of books co-authored by Miller and Larson, follwed by Living the Adveture and The Passionate People. I then went back and picked up some earlier writings of both men, (Miller: A Taste of New Wine, The Becomers, and A Second Touch, Larson: The One and Only You, No Longer Strangers, Ask Me To Dance). In these books I found very attractive the theme of intimacy in the comunity of the committed; finding a place to be ourselves with abandon, and discover together, often through sharing our own struggles, how community brings healing and empowering. The theme of Nouwen's "The Wounded Healer" was strong in these writings.

This focus on the interpersonal; that "The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of right relationships" was to be pivotal in my own journey, and lead me to recognize how some of this relational theology manifests itself in social relationships, extending ourtward from our inner circles of friends to the world community and what role we are called to play there.