Veronice Miles

The Rev. Dr. Veronice Miles is a preacher, teacher, scholar, mentor, and artist committed to a life of ministry in the church and in the academy. She serves as the Mary Elizabeth McGehee Joyce Professor of Preaching at the Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Answering the call to ordained ministry in 1994, she was licensed by the First Missionary Baptist Church, making her the first woman to be licensed without contestation in a Missionary Baptist Church, in Gainesville, Florida. She was ordained in 1999 at the Greater Bethany Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Miles has taught preaching for more than 16 years and has preached extensively. She has also contributed to various academic and church related journals, commentaries, and books. Her publication, Embodied Hope: A Homiletical Theology Reflection (CASCADE Books), explores the human capacity to live with Hope and the power and potential of preaching to amplify Hope’s resonance in our lives. Preaching, she believes, neither ignores nor concedes defeat to the despairing realities of life. Rather, preaching emboldens individuals and communities of faith to live with Hope and respond in the affirmative to God’s “yes” for creation and for our lives. With these thoughts as foci, her research highlights the formative and transformative potential of preaching, including the role of preaching in redressing persistently threatening challenges that pervade U.S. culture.

As a life longer learner, Dr. Miles has earned several degrees, including the Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Education and Homiletics from Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion in Atlanta, GA, and a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University with certificates in Religious Education and Black Church Studies. She also earned the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Education in Counseling, and Education Specialist in Student Personnel Services, all from the University of Florida.

Grounded in the belief that God still anoints women and men “to bring good news to the poor… to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19), Dr. Miles endeavors to embody these practices in her life and ministry.