Obituary: Randolph Crump Miller

Religious Education, Fall 2002

Randolph Crump Miller, retired professor of divinity at Yale University, died of cancer on June 13, in Hamden, Connecticut.

Mr. Miller was the Horace Bushnell Professor Emeritus of Christian Nurture at the Yale Divinity School, where he taught for 29 years. Born in 1910 in Fresno, California, he was the son of the Reverend Ray Oakley Miller and Laura Belle Crump Miller. He earned his B.A. degree from Pomona College in 1931 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale in 1936. He studied at the Episcopal Theological School and was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1935.

After teaching at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and serving as vicar and rector of St. Albans Episcopal Church in Albany, California, Professor Miller joined the Yale faculty in 1952, where he remained until his retirement in 1981.

A jazz enthusiast and expert, Professor Miller spoke widely on the theology of jazz, as well as on topics in theology and Christian education.

From 1958-1978 he was editor of the interfaith journal, Religious Education, published by the Religious Education Association. His books include "What We Can Believe," "Biblical Theology and Christian Education," "Christian Nurture and the Church," "Your Child's Religion: A Practical Guide for Parents," "The American Spirit in Theology," "This We Can Believe," and several others. His 1950 book, "The Clue to Christian Education," was highly influential in the field of religious instruction.

Professor Miller was a member of the Episcopal Evangelical Fellowship and the Religious Education Association. He was a trustee of the periodicals The Churchman and the Anglican Theological Review, and served as a consultant in Christian education for the National Council of Protestant Episcopal Churches. He served as director of Christian education at Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven from 1961-1971.

Professor Miller is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, of Hamden, CT; daughters Barbara Miller and Phyllis Symonds, both of Weeki Wachee, FL; Carol Rand of Sharon, CT; Rives Carroll of Washington, DC; and Muriel Merenda of Terryville, CT; 17 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Nancy Stratford of San Diego, CA; and a brother, Richard Miller, of Los Angeles. He is predeceased by his son, Frank Fowlkes.

A memorial service was held on Monday, June 17, at noon in Trinity Church on the Green.

Reprinted with permission, Yale Office of Public Affairs