Reginald Wayne Miller: The Collapse Of A Religious Empire

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As we continue spelunking the seedy past of South Carolina reverend Reginald Wayne Miller, the devil is in the details of an evangelical legacy repeatedly marred by controversy. Miller’s story has attracted renewed interest owing to the ongoing saga surrounding his son, John-Paul Miller, the founder and former pastor of the since-shuttered Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

John-Paul Miller is the estranged husband of the late Mica Francis Miller – a 30-year-old singer, worship leader and aspiring missionary whose suspicious death has confounded friends and family members and sparked international attention.

Mica’s body was discovered by police on Saturday April 27, 2024 in a swampy area of the Lumber River State Park near Orrum, N.C. Her body was found approximately forty meters away from where spent shell casings and her belongings were recovered. On April 28, 2024 – less than twelve hours after being notified of her death – her estranged husband delivered a sermon at Solid Rock which closed with a bizarre announcement of her passing. Miller told congregants not to discuss Mica’s death as they departed the church.

Mica died less than 48 hours after serving her husband with divorce papers, and subsequent court filings detailed allegations of abuse and harassment against Miller from multiple individuals – including his first wife. Recently released 911 calls and police dispatch logs have provided additional details related to these allegations.

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Those skeptical of the official findings point to several factors: A family of church founders embroiled in past scandals, concerns about a police force potentially swayed by influence and an apparent lack of accountability for the Millers related to previous allegations leveled against them.

The patriarch of this religious dysfunction? An enterprising elder preacher named Reginald “Reg” Wayne Miller.

Miller, 76, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been linked to multiple scandals. He was arrested in a bath house in 2006 on charges that have since been expunged. In 2015, he was convicted federally of visa fraud after underpaying foreign students who were supposed to be studying for the ministry at his Bible college.

In order to better understand the collapse of the religious empire Miller first launched in 1972, we dug deep into court filings related to Wayne Miller’s federal conviction, his reaction to the very public controversy and the domino effect of trouble resulting from (or hastened by) the case.

On August 29, 2014, a federal indictment charged Miller with two counts of fraud in foreign labor contracting, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1351; two counts of visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a); and two counts of willful failure to pay minimum wage, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 216.  As a result of these crimes, the government determined Miller profited to the tune of $244,411.63. As a consequence, he was facing up to 40 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Spoiler alert: the actual sentence handed down to Miller following his plea agreement (.pdf) was much lighter.

When Miller was arrested on the federal charges in 2014, eight victims were speaking with investigators. By the time restitution was ordered in 2015, the number of victims had more than doubled. Eighteen foreign Bible college students were identified as having been underpaid a total of $153,925. 

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RELATED | ‘WE’RE THE MILLERS’

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On September 3, 2014, Miller pled guilty to all six counts.  However, following the plea the government dropped two of the charges (.pdf) related to fraud in foreign labor contracting.

Miller was released having been credited for time served (he spent four months behind bars) and was assigned three years of supervised release. Restitution was ordered in the amount of $75,000 – which would have satisfied less than half of the amount owed to each student. Additionally, interest was waived so no further penalties would impact the Bible college founder who now claimed to be quite impoverished. To date, the restitution remains unsatisfied – and more than a decade later, students have yet to receive the court-ordered partial compensation for their labor.

When all was said and done, Miller’s federal conviction delivered very little in terms of punitive repercussions – and several issues raised in the indictment were left unaddressed. For example, students’ substandard living conditions at Cathedral Bible College remained an outstanding and escalating code enforcement situation involving the City of Myrtle Beach. Attempts by city officials to resolve the problems revived an old argument that could have prevented Miller from acquiring the dormitories that had fallen into disrepair.

In the 1990s – when Miller was in the midst of a years-long campaign to acquire property from the since-shuttered Myrtle Beach Air Force Base – his plans were suddenly stalled by questions about his operations. In order to proceed, members of the base redevelopment authority wanted more than the vague information Miller had provided them about the church’s financial status and its non-accredited educational programs. Specifically, they wanted to see audited financial statements that could prove the church’s ability to maintain and improve the property. At the time The (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Sun News reported Miller’s frustrated response – “he doesn’t have an accounting firm check his financial records because it costs too much money.” 

Miller prevailed regardless – but over time, the ongoing maintenance of the dormitories became an issue that threatened the very existence of the buildings.

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As Miller was preparing for his federal sentencing, the city of Myrtle Beach filed an action against Cathedral Bible College as the owner of the dilapidated property. The city’s complaint (.pdf) was filed following an inspection of the property located at 3520 Pampas Drive on August 6, 2015.

Per the city inspector, the property was found to be in violation of eight city codes involving safety and suitability – and the college was ordered to appear at a hearing on August 19, 2015 to determine the future of the buildings. Unless the violations were remedied prior to the hearing, the city would use this opportunity to determine whether or not the property was redeemable.  If repairs could be made on a reasonable budget, the owner would be ordered to make the necessary improvements.  If not, the building would be declared unfit and the owner – the college – would be ordered to tear it down. 

The matter was dismissed on September 29, 2015 – but revisited on April 14, 2016 following another inspection which determined the property was in violation of seven municipal codes.

When the matter was dismissed for a second time on July 22, 2016, the property was in the process of being transferred to new ownership. Three days later, according to the deed (.pdf) on record in Horry County, the dormitory property purchased by the Bible college for $1 in March of 2000 was sold to Taylor Made for $500,000.

The buildings were subsequently determined to be uninhabitable… and demolished.

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A NEW VISION…

After Miller emerged relatively unscathed from his trouble with the feds, he decided to rethink his business plan and relaunch his vision – this time rebranding his empire as All Nations Bible College and Seminary. 

“All Nations has trained students from over 53 nations,” Miller said in a webpage announcement of the relaunch. “For about 20 years of our over 40 years of existence, we helped foreign students to get visas to come to the USA. After many experiences of seeing how students would come and then would not want to return to help their country, we no longer desire to support foreign students in a visa application.”

“When a person forgets their country and wants to remain in the USA, not for the purpose of full time ministry, but for the purpose of ‘making money’, they may be out of the will of the Lord,” Miller continued. “If that money is supporting others in their country, then maybe they are supposed to be here. Otherwise, they simply used the Bible College as a means to an end for themselves.” 

Miller announced the transformation of the college into a tuition-free endeavor with correspondence replacing classroom instruction. It would be funded by donations.

“Reginald Wayne Miller, as the founder of Cathedral Bible College, and his students are sentenced by the Holy Spirit to serve, not through Forced Labor, but by being arrested by God’s love,” the All Nations website proclaimed.

Miller’s sentence remains uncompleted as evidenced by a federal lien on record in Horry County. While it is not clear whether any payments have been made toward the balance of the debt, the government detailed other options for recovery in the restitution agreement dated October 23, 2015 and signed by U.S. district court judge Robert Bryan Harwell.

“The United States may sell or otherwise dispose of any substitute assets in accordance with law as required to satisfy the above imposed money judgment,” the agreement (.pdf) noted.

Yet, Miller may have come up with a fairly convincing ruse to keep such consequences at bay.

In a letter to the judge requesting an early termination of his supervised release on August 8, 2017, Miller remarked on his poor health and need to travel. As long as he was under supervision, Miller’s passport was surrendered – and he was not free to leave the country.

“Last year when my attorney requested the early release he shared with you my medical records that showed at the time that I had only a 50 percent chance of living for 2 years,” Miller wrote in the letter (.pdf). “Due to all the people who depend on my help in many countries, including my orphanage in India that has suffered from my inability to go and give them the attention and support they need, I very much wanted to get back to the Mission Field as soon as I could.”

As the church and Bible college founder embarked upon his final year of supervised release, he provided his new residential address to the federal court as required according to the terms of his sentencing. On September 21, 2017, Miller advised the court he was living at PirateLand Campground on Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach – allegedly a very sick and very poor man. 

After the conclusion of his supervision, Miller left the country to start a new life – this time in Pakistan.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher and author. Her 2007 book ‘Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal’ was the first to cover forever chemicals and their impact on communities – a story later told in the movie ‘Dark Waters.’ Her investigative work has been featured in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world. Lyons also appears in ‘Citizen Sleuth’ – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.

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