Illuminate Church

Jessica Miller is the dynamic lead pastor of Illuminate Church in Ionia, Michigan, a thriving community that has flourished through God’s transformative movement, answered prayers, and unwavering obedience to His calling.

Married to Sam, Jessica’s family is filled with love and laughter, including five children, eight grandchildren, and a shared passion for the outdoors. Raised in a church in Ionia, Jessica faced deep hurt in a place meant to bring healing and peace. For years, she carried that pain, seeking solace in worldly ways, until God led her to a new path of redemption and purpose. 

“Jesus redeemed me. Jesus was and is the answer,” Miller said, expressing her love for Jesus and how we can offer our big, scary, overwhelming, and monumental burdens at His feet.

Her redemption came through dark days, allowing her to accept the love that God has graciously provided. She first felt called to walk with Christ in a moment she describes as her “woman at the well” memory, longing for the life experience she could have with Him. This moment catalyzed a more profound calling that the Lord placed on her heart, leading her to fulfill her call to ministry.

Jessica began studying at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), where she discovered a passion for leadership and bringing people to the Lord. She recognized that she couldn’t pour from an empty cup and focused on soul care and individual healing through Christ as she committed everything to God.

Being a woman in ministry has been difficult in some areas, but

“There was this woman that came up to me, and she said, ‘I think you could do that,’ pointing at the stage where a pastor was preaching. She may not have known it then, but just before she spoke those words to me, I had a vision of myself preaching on the stage. It was an affirmation from the Lord that I still carry with me.”

Miller also expressed that she felt affirmations from God at other times.

“At one point, a woman came up to me and lightly grabbed my face and said, ‘Don’t let anyone ever tell you (that you) aren’t called.’ I felt in these moments that my call to ministry was both a gift and a responsibility.”

Jessica also expressed that during times of hardship, she continued to give her struggles to the Lord, and He continued to provide. “God speaks to me, and I know. Trusting God and taking action, even in difficult seasons, is how people can come to know Him.”

She concluded by expressing how important it was to her that she initiated the Church planting process and how she felt drawn back to the same community that had hurt her in the past: Ionia. She stated, “In a broken world, I can only pray that people come to know Jesus and give their lives to Him.” This sentiment has resonated within the community, particularly as several individuals feel called to be baptized. Jessica found herself pondering what community meant to her.

She concluded, “My testimony started in this community, and through Christ, I was brought back to it. I always tried to leave Ionia, but by trusting the Lord, I was placed here for a reason.”

Miller believes that she was placed in Ionia, a city of under 15,000 people, to help people know Jesus and fill their cups with Him so they can pour into others.

When asked where the church is going, she stated, “We have more people in Discipleship than our congregation on a Sunday.” She expressed gratitude to the Great Lakes Region (GLR), the Exponential event, and the Greenhouse Network

. Her experience with the GLR provided clarity in times of haze and answers to questions in times of doubt. She highlighted that they mentioned the castle vs. Kingdom aspect of church planting at Exponential.

While Jessica had experiences that she believed defined her in her early teens, she discovered that she has been called to much more through Christ and the nurturing He provides. When she felt the call for Illuminate Church, she recognized that comparison from the enemy could steal her joy, but she also understood that she had the protection of God as a safeguard.

Jessica finally mentioned that she prays for those in the community to feel the love of Christ through her and those who have started their walk with Him:

“I watched a man during a baptism get up and smile so big. He started dancing in our church after he got baptized, and I can only pray more people feel the hand of God in their lives and how they can be redeemed through Him.”