Dear Friends of The Leadership Institute,

We are writing to announce the passing this past weekend of Dr. Chuck Miller, one of the pillars of our ministry. He was one of the four founding faculty of The Leadership Institute. The creation of, and what the Institute has become, is unimaginable without him. A giant has left us after a brief battle with an aggressive cancer diagnosed recently.

On behalf of our Board, Staff and Faculty we want to express our deep gratitude to God for Chuck and the indelible influence he had on leaders worldwide. We also ask you pray for his wife of 62 years, Cathy and their daughter, Christy and sons, Scott and Dean and their families.

The memorial service details are at the bottom of this post.

We (Paul and Troy) were able to meet with Chuck the afternoon before he passed. Here are each of our descriptions of that meeting....

Paul's description to his three children: ?

Dear children, I was able to see my dear friend and mentor Chuck Miller for the last time from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon just after arriving home from the Journey! He died this morning at?6:15 a.m. at home in the arms of of his beloved wife Cathy! He is now in the arms of Jesus whom he loved and served with singleness of heart.?

His first words to me when I arrived yesterday were GOD IS SO GOOD with his hands upraised. We were able to express our love for each other, pray, laugh, talk about our partnership in ministry and in the Journey. He was so excited to hear Kristoffer that you began the Journey this week in Generation 27.?

I was able to express my gratitude to Chuck for all he had poured into my life and ministry. His mind was sharp and he talked about his memorial service and how he wanted the Hallelujah Chorus sung at its conclusion so that God would receive great glory.?

I shared with him these words from Psalm 84:10 "A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere" which is part of the chapter he led us all into at the Discipleship ministry Seminar in 1976 where I first met Him. We said goodbye and I said I looked forward to seeing him again in the presence of the Lord. With that I kissed him with my final goodbye.?

I want you to know that Chuck loved each of you, prayed for you and would often ask for updates on your lives.?

Mother and I wept with gratitude, sadness and joy. She said that this humble giant deserved to die well. And he did. ?- ?Love Dad and Mother too?

Troy's description of his last time with Chuck:

The time that I was able to spend with Chuck for those two hours on Friday?afternoon were a divine gift. Of course, the first thing Chuck noticed and commented on was my Chicago Cubs hat, which brought back many fun memories of conversations about the Lord's baseball team we've had over the years. We talked about how the Cubs just might win it again this next season and Chuck assured me, like he did every single time we talked that, "This was their year!"

In an earlier note to Chuck a few days prior, I had poured out my heart assuring and promising him I would do my very best to live out the principles of lifestyle-based disciple-making he had taught me so well. I mentioned to him in this note that every single time we talked over the years, whether it be for a few minutes, or even a few hours, we had always spent time in the Word together or somehow had commented about our mutual admiration for our shared friend, Jesus, and that this had formed the foundation of not only my ministry, but my life. I thanked him in this note that each and every time we talked he asked about my lovely wife, Stacey, and always ended our calls or meetings with, "Say hi to your sweetie."

Then, much like the blessings we see in the pages of the Old Testament, Chuck charged me with protecting the Journey, telling me to always keep it relational and organic, and prayed a blessing over me and this ministry. To say this was an unexpected honor is an understatement. I had come to express my love and affection for Chuck and pray for him; Chuck had obviously contemplatively planned in advance to take our time together a different direction. Chuck was just being Chuck! It was such a humbling gift and one I intend to dedicate my life to fulfilling.

I was able to then say a few words of how much I loved Chuck, thanked him for everything he had done in my life and say goodbye with a kiss to his forehead. As I started to release my hand from Chuck's warm grip and take a step away, Chuck's grip tightened around my fingers and he pulled me closer to him and he prayed for my wife Stacey, my sons Ryan and Roscoe, and my daughter Olivia by name, beseeching God to have each of them truly grasp how much He loves them.

And then, with a twinkle in his eye, he said, "Say hi to your sweetie for me."

Gratefully in Christ,