Michael A. Milton, PhD

Michael A. Milton (PhD, Univ. of Wales; MPA, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Higher Education Teaching Certificate, Harvard University; Master of Divinity, Knox Seminary) is retired Army (Chaplain) Colonel with over thirty two years service, a Presbyterian minister, an educator, composer, and writer of over thirty books in both academia and Christian living. Orphaned as a child, placed in the arms of his father's sister—a widow with no children and in her late sixties— Mike Milton was reared in a rural poverty-stricken area of the nation. Part of a founding family in Virginia and North Carolina (from Richard Milton, 1621), the nephew of John Milton, the poet, the Miltons placed a nominee for president of the new United States in 1789 (who, happily, lost to a better man!). The family includes a governor of Georgia, a senator, a founder of a parish in Louisiana, and the "father of the Border Patrol" (Col. Jeff Milton). The family lost almost all properties in Reconstruction. Mike Milton listened to the voice of Aunt Eva who reared him to leave, follow God and serve others. Starting in Naval Intelligence as a top secret cryptology linguist, Dr. Milton left the Navy to pursue business. After rising to management in two Fortune 50 organizations, he left it for seminary. With his wife, Mae, and son, John Michael, Milton founded three churches, an academy that is now the largest Christian school in Kansas City, and served as senior pastor to the historic First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga. Colonel Milton is recipient of the Legion of Merit amongst other military medals. In 2018 Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina nominated Dr. Michael A. Milton to receive the Governor of North Carolina's highest award for public service, the Order of the Longleaf Pine. The Governor awarded the honor soon after, making Milton an ambassador for the State of North Carolina. He has appeared in national television broadcasts, been a guest on numerous syndicated radio talk shows, been quoted by senior government officials, including presidential candidates, and has contributed to the public discussion of Faith and Public Life. A graduate of the prestigious School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Wales, Milton combines a pastoral manner, intellect, a depth of experience in leadership, to emerge as one of the nation's frequently consulted "Public Theologians." Endorsed by a range of recognized voices such as Michael Reagan, David Limbaugh, Franklin Graham, and experts such as a Chair of Family Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill, the founder and publisher of World Magazine, Joel Belz, said, "Mike Milton things like a scholar, and writes like a pastor. And that is a gift we need."