Hello everyone. My name is Dave Miller. I have a Master's in Theological Studies from Emory University, and I'm an electronics engineer by trade. I'm currently pursuing a Master's in Community Counseling through Argosy University. I'm also a lay pastor at a local United Methodist Church.

As an engineer for over 25 years, and as a volunteer chaplain at a local men's recovery mission for almost 10 years, I've been blessed with meeting people of many different cultures, faiths, and orientations.

I've studied sacred texts from many different cultures as well, including Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, and Jewish. I recall my delight in reading the Taoist philosophy of Lao Tsu as I recognized Christ's words and philosophy in many places throughout the book. Lao Tsu describes the "Way of Heaven," and as a Christian, I recognize Christ as "the way, the truth, and the life."

I found that I recognized Christ in works from other faiths and philosophies as well. Islamic texts focus on devotion to God. Hindu texts speak of Avatar, or God in Immanent form, coming to the earth to restore justice and love. Buddhist texts speak of finding enlightenment within through the pursuit of selflessness. And of course Jewish texts speak of unwavering faith in God, and God's unwavering Grace, through incredible hardships and millennia of history.

I'm often confronted by Christians who point out the "unchristian" nature of many texts as well. It seems that Jesus' words are true, we find what we seek. If we're looking for Christ, even in the sacred texts of nonChristian traditions, we will find Him. If we seek justification for rejecting, fearing, and hating others, we will find that as well.

I'm also often confronted by Christians who exhibit very unchristian behavior towards people of other cultures, faiths, and orientations. I've found that when I ask these Christians why they speak and act in disrespectful and unloving ways towards others, they point me to Christian texts that they interpret to promote this sort of exclusivist behavior.

Then I'm confronted by a great many former Christians who have abandoned the faith because they have been convinced by popular Christian culture that Christianity is, in fact, a religion of hatred and rejection. Invariably, they site examples of being threatened by or witness to threats of "eternal damnation" for not conforming to an exclusivist form of Christian doctrine.

When challenged by these "exclusivist" Christian doctrines that on the surface seem to reject people of other faiths, subjugate women, and openly threaten and abuse gay people, I began to seek out the Holy Spirit within the context of these Christian doctrines and their supporting texts. Fortunately, I was delighted to find that Christ's promise to "seek and ye shall find" works within the context of Christian Scripture as well as it does in nonChristian scriptures! The Ecumenical Christian Creed within this website is the result of my quest to find Christ in Christian Scripture.

Its my fervent hope that the "revised orthodoxy" proposed within this Ecumenical Christian Creed helps in some small way to restore God's Grace and Mercy, God's Unconditional Love, to the central place it belongs within popular Christian culture and doctrine. I hope it motivates people of nonChristian traditions and cultures to seek out the Spirit's Mercy and Grace, the Universe's Justice and Love, within the context of their own sacred texts and doctrines as well.

Ancient Hebrew scripture speaks of humanity's origins in two people - Adam and Eve. Science seems to support the idea of a single origin for the human race as well. Whether you believe that the world was created in 7 days or billions of years, whether you believe in Adam and Eve or not, the truth revealed in Hebrew Scripture is that we are all one family, we are all brothers and sisters, all of humanity, and we need to love and support and respect each other. This is the Spirit's message that is common to all great cultures and traditions, and its written into our human heart as well, if we choose to listen.