Iowa pastor Dave Miller, president of last year’s Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference (SBPC), has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and will undergo surgery after the SBC’s June 12-13 annual meeting in Dallas.
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BP file photo Dave Miller, presiding at last year's Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference in Phoenix, will undergo surgery for kidney cancer June 26. |
Miller, elected SBPC president in 2016 in St. Louis, reshaped the 2017 Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix toward heightened participation by small-church leaders. He is senior pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, where he has served nearly 13 years.
Miller is a former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention and former president of the Baptist Convention of Iowa.
Miller underwent a biopsy May 1 at UnityPoint Health in Sioux City and underwent the removal of his gallbladder and spleen on May 3.
In a May 7 email, Miller said he will undergo robotic surgery June 26 to remove a tumor from his kidney. “[A]fter a brief recuperation I have every hope of returning to even better health than I had before my recent surgeries,” he wrote.
Active on Twitter and the SBC Voices blog site, Miller tweeted gratitude May 2 for the well-wishes he had received: “I am absolutely overwhelmed by the number of people who have promised their prayer support. I go under the scalpel well covered in prayer. [T]hank you all.”
He also relayed a bit of humor amid the ordeal:
May 1: “Had a Christian nurse, a mainline Christian nurse and a Syrian doctor. It was an interesting conversation.”
May 1: “Going home [after the biopsy]. Trying to convince Jenni the doctor ordered stop at Mr Stirfry but she ain’t buying it.”
May 3: “The hospital turned down my request to live-tweet the surgery today. Some nonsense about general anesthesia making that a bad choice.”
May 4: “Based on the pain I am experiencing, I have made the decision to never have my spleen and gallbladder removed again.”
As Pastor’s Conference president, Miller organized an event featuring 12 pastors from churches with fewer than 500 in average attendance preaching through the New Testament book of Philippians. The Pastors’ Conference received funding to provide $1,000 scholarships to 61 pastors from smaller churches for travel expenses to attend the conference and the SBC annual meeting.