Pastor John-Paul Miller asked church not to discuss wife Micca’s death as he announced it at service & blamed ‘suicide’

A PASTOR whose wife recently died was seen on video making jokes in his church just minutes before he announced her untimely death and asked his congregation to leave.

John-Paul Miller said his wife, 30-year-old Mica Miller, died by suicide, but loved ones are questioning a recently surfaced video and calling for a full investigation into what happened.

Police from the Robeson County Sheriff's Office said they found Mica's body late last month at Lumber River State Park in North Carolina.

The park is two hours east of Charlotte and an hour and a half from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the couple lived at the time of her death.

On Sunday, the pastor shared the tragic news with his congregation at the end of his sermon at the Solid Rock at Market Common church in Myrtle Beach.

John-Paul appears to be sharing a typical message in the first minute of a video shared online of last weekend's gathering.

He even makes a joke about his appearance and character, triggering scattered laughter from his congregation.

The pastor relates himself to the "tall, charming... humble" pastors who preached to the congregation's ancestors over the centuries.

But at the end of the sermon, he takes a more serious turn.

"We're not doing an altar call today, instead, I am going to have you stand up and I'm going to make an announcement," John-Paul says in a dramatic tone shift.

"After the announcement, I'm going to ask that you leave church quietly and don't talk about the announcement here in the building," he directs congregates.

He pauses to ask listeners to keep attending services while he takes a sabbatical for an unknown period of time.

"My request to you is that you will continue to come to church... I'm taking a little break... it may be a few days, a few weeks, I don't know," he says.

She was probably the greatest wife anyone could ask for.

Pastor John-Paul Miller

Then he makes the shocking announcement as his voice begins to crack.

"I got a call late last night that my wife just passed away. It was self-induced, and it was up in North Carolina," he says.

"Y'all knew that she wasn't well mentally and that she needed her medicine that was hard to get to her, and so I'm sure there will be more details to come."

The short clip ends as John-Paul walks off stage and hands the mic to another pastor to lead the final prayer.

A HARD ROAD

Mica had thoughts of harming herself in the past, her husband told ABC affiliate WPDE shortly after he announced her death.

"She had struggled with suicide before," he told the local outlet.

"Each time we would help her through it and take her to the doctor, and we got through it and everything was fine."

"She even gave a few testimonies here at church that we have on video. She battled suicide but God took care of her and got her through it," he added.

Mica had once been a worship leader at Solid Rock, but she had been absent from service in recent weeks, friends and family said in social media posts.

HEARTBREAKING POST

Mica shared song lyrics and snippets of her thoughts and mental state in posts online leading up to her death.

"When terrible, terrible, terrible things happen to you," she wrote in a mysterious post on April 9, alongside a photo of herself smiling — her "resting peace face," she called it.

She added that her followers knew what she was talking about, but didn't go into any details.

Police said they don't believe there's an ongoing threat to the public at this time but gave scant other details about the investigation or her cause of death.

When the U.S. Sun reached out to the Robeson sheriff's office for comment, officers only confirmed that they were still investigating Mica's death.

Some friends and family members have called for an in-depth investigation into her death following the lack of public information surrounding what happened.

A COMMUNITY MOURNS

"She was probably the greatest wife anyone could ask for," John-Paul told WPDE.

He told his congregation during the announcement of her death that they could attend her funeral which would be held Sunday at Solid Rock.

"Mica was energetic, affirming, adventurous, faithful, loving, giving, forgiving, talented, joyous, creative, assertive, bold, determined, authoritative, passionate, hardworking, a risk taker, and so much more," her obituary read.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.