On the threshold of change

Reflecting on his 30 years making doors for the University of Notre Dame – thresholds to places of worship or study – Verlin Miller says he found significant meaning in his work.

“I began to see my work as a spiritual practice,” he said. “Real people are going in and out of these doors all the time. And it’s kind of a reflection of God being present in those buildings.”

The carpenter, now retired, worked on about 300 doors at 40 different buildings on the South Bend, Indiana, campus throughout most of his career. Combined with other doors elsewhere that he worked on, Verlin has built about 500 of them.

His wife, Elaine Guengerich Miller, found fulfillment in working as a public health nurse and then later, after caring for their small children, as a psychiatric nurse for 29 years at Oaklawn Psychiatric Hospital in Goshen, Indiana.

In a modest house he designed, built and detailed in the outskirts of Bristol, Indiana, Verlin and Elaine spend their days involved with their congregation, reading, finding new hobbies, and planning their next visit to their children’s homes in Oregon, Illinois and Massachusetts.

Verlin often spends about three hours a day in his workshop – a small building adjacent to the house – making guitars and ukuleles for the grandchildren or furniture as gifts or on commission. When he worked as a full-time carpenter, he’d spend up to 12-hour days there, building sometimes 10-foot doors for churches.

BUILDING UP COMMUNITY

For Verlin and Elaine, staying true to themselves and to their faith has been the impetus with which they’ve moved through life. The two met at Fellowship of Hope Church in Elkhart, Indiana, where the congregation started an intentional Christian communal group. There, the Millers raised three sons and lived in extended households for over 15 years until the community’s common treasury closed down.

“We were trying to follow the Anabaptist vision right after we got out of college – that’s when this communal effort was starting up at Fellowship of Hope,” Elaine said. “The idea was that we shared all of our income and lived on minimal income, and that we gave the extra away.”

Verlin always wanted to work with his hands. After three years of seminary at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, which he attended after college to further learn about religion and his place in it, Verlin became interested in carpentry and making cabinets for a living. Following his seminary studies, Verlin looked for work in cabinetmaking, but quickly discovered that most opportunities were in manufacturing – an industry he wasn’t interested in.

While at Fellowship of Hope, Elaine cared for the children and managed the household while Verlin worked with fellow church members to buy and renovate old apartments, restoring them as extended housing for ministry and support. During this time, he was able to hone his skills in construction.

Verlin met a local carpenter – an independent contractor who built quality custom houses – and started working for him. Under a mentorship for about three years, Verlin sharpened his skills in carpentry.

When Fellowship of Hope’s common treasury closed down, Verlin’s parents gave them a two-acre lot and lent them money to start building their house. Elaine began working full time as a nurse, becoming the family’s main provider while Verlin split time building their home, working on his burgeoning independent contractor business and parenting.

“We found ourselves in our 40s without much income and nothing saved up, really,” Elaine said about that particular season in their life. But with hard work and faithful saving, the family stayed afloat and eventually connected with Everence Financial to start planning their retirement.

“We were grateful for the Everence advisors that helped us later in our lives a few years later, when we chose to get help, to get advice about how to invest or save our money,” Elaine said. “It’s not like we’re wealthy, but we’re thankful. And we still want to give away a substantial amount, as we’re able to.”

The couple gives to Mennonite Central Committee, Church Community Services and Faith Mission, among other charities.

A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

One of the first doors Verlin made was a replacement for the entrance at St. Paul Methodist Church in Elkhart – thanks to a tip from one of his lumber suppliers. It didn’t take long before contractors started looking for Verlin specifically to make doors of all sizes, both interior and exterior, including some for Notre Dame.

Then, he was invited to build the front doors for the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the iconic landmark church at the center of Notre Dame’s campus. Verlin entered a bid for the project and spent one summer building the 10-foot-tall doors.

“I probably made, you know, not very much,” Verlin admitted, since he entered a low bid. “But what it did was it got me into Notre Dame.”

Due to the campus’ unique architecture, no door replacement was the same. As a subcontractor himself, Verlin often collaborated with other crafters and contractors, many of whom shared his sense of spirituality, to help create patterns and other ornate details on the doors. The next 30 years he spent building and installing doors gave him a sense of purpose, and he began to see woodworking as a form of connection with God.

“I just became more and more convinced that one of the most spiritual practices is using your hands,” he said, adding that in working with wood, “You’re using God’s materials. Wood is a pretty unique material – each piece has its own unique characteristics, and you’re always learning.”