interim pastor

Pastor Bill Miller-Zurell was born in Toledo, Ohio where he was adopted as an infant by parents who were both from North Carolina and, you guessed it, Lutheran. Pastor Bill has two grown sons and is married to the Rev. Mary Miller-Zurell, also a Lutheran pastor.

Pastor Bill’s first eight years were in Toledo, Charleston, West Virginia and Hebron, Ohio before his family moved to Aiken, South Carolina in 1962. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (’77). He entered seminary in 1992, receiving his Masters of Divinity at Lutheran Theological Lutheran Seminary (‘96) in Columbia, South Carolina. In the years between college and entering seminary, Pastor Bill enjoyed a career in production, process engineering and quality management for a large apparel textile manufacturer and a first tier automotive textile manufacturer in the Carolinas.

Having been raised in the church, Pastor Bill’s decision to become a pastor was a natural outgrowth of his faith and the positive experiences he had with the church, his pastors and mentors as a young man. Pastor Bill was called as Senior Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran in 2013. He previously served at New Hope in Columbia, MD, as Assistant to the Bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, and in his first call to Christ the King in Tequesta (North Palm Beach County), Florida.

Pastor Miller-Zurell’s favorite Bible passage is 2 Corinthians 5:17-18…

“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

We need not look any further for the basis of our mission in the world. Christ, having begun the work, has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Strengthening our relationships with God and with one another is the first, best mission of the church and it is something that all of us are equipped to do. For… “we will enthusiastically and courageously CELEBRATE our Risen Lord's presence with us, INVITE others to know the Lord as Savior of the world, EQUIP ourselves and others to be faithful disciples of Christ, and SERVE in the world together in the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Bill Miller-Zurell

Senior Pastor

547 6th Street NW | Hickory, NC 28601-3503 | Phone 828-322-2536 | FAX 828-322-3014