Meet Stef Miles

My story

I've spent more than three decades following Jesus across a wide range of churches, traditions and ministries. I was raised in a Reformed church context and later spent many years serving as an on-staff evangelist, travelling, teaching and helping equip churches. It was a season full of meaningful experiences and a deep desire to see people encounter God.

Over time, however, deeper questions began to emerge. Some of the ways I had inherited and spoken about God no longer seemed to reflect the God I encountered in Jesus. I began to wonder whether the gospel I was proclaiming had become too narrow. It offered answers, but not always the kind of hope that transforms the way we see God, ourselves and one another.

That questioning became the beginning of a much deeper journey.

What has shaped me

As I returned again and again to the life of Jesus, I became captivated by a vision of God more beautiful than I had imagined. In him, I encountered a God revealed not through power, fear, or control, but through self-giving, nonviolent love. Jesus showed me what God is truly like: a God who moves towards humanity with mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation, even in the face of suffering and violence.

This journey awakened in me a deep love for theology. For many years, I’ve immersed myself in biblical scholarship, theology, philosophy, and the human sciences, reading widely across traditions and engaging deeply with contemporary theological conversations, all in the hope of understanding more fully the God revealed in Christ. I’m especially shaped by René Girard’s insights into mimetic desire and scapegoating, and by the apocalyptic reading of Paul, which has helped me see the gospel as God’s liberating action in Christ—freeing us from cycles and systems built on fear, shame, exclusion, and retribution.

Why I started the Network

The Nonviolent Gospel Network grew naturally out of that journey.

I wanted to create a space where people could explore these questions together, encourage one another, and discover what it means to follow Jesus in the way of forgiveness, peacemaking, nonviolence and love of enemy.

Not because we have arrived, but because we believe Jesus is still forming ordinary people into his likeness.

A little more about me

Outside the Network, I'm a husband and father of two. I also work as a carpenter in Southampton, crafting bespoke cabinets and fitted furniture. That work helps support the Network and keeps me grounded in the ordinary rhythms of everyday life.

Working with my hands has taught me something important about discipleship. Beautiful things are rarely made quickly. They are formed patiently, carefully and over time.

I think becoming like Jesus is much the same.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope our paths cross, whether through one of our gatherings, a workshop or simply through the resources you'll find on this site.