Community Christian Church — Our Ministers

Dr. Robert Lee Hill - Senior Minister

Visit 'View From the Hill' to see messages and sermons from Dr. Hill

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Texas , Dr. Robert Lee Hill has served since 1987 as Senior Minister of the Community Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, with the distinction of being called to the position as the youngest senior minister in the congregation's 119-year history.

Before being called to Community in 1985 as associate minister, Dr. Hill served as Special Projects Director and Co-Director of Project Return, Inc., a non-profit agency working with ex-prisoners and their families in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dr. Hill was a Conscientious Objector during the war in Vietnam and served for two years as a Youth and Family Worker at All Peoples Christian Center in south central Los Angeles. He was ordained at All Peoples Christian Church, in Los Angeles, California, on August 2, 1981.

Dr. Hill holds three degrees: a B.A. degree from Texas Christian University (1977), an M.Div. degree from Vanderbilt University Divinity School (1980), and a D.D. degree from Christian Theological Seminary (2000). He has spoken as a keynoter and guest preacher at assemblies, seminars, retreats, regional and national conferences, seminaries, and worship services across the United States, including ecumenical and interfaith venues, for Disciple, A.M.E., Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Nazarene, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Muslim, and Jewish congregants.

He serves the wider community in the greater Kansas City area as a board member for the Kansas City Hospice, the Second Chance Foundation, and the Institute for Spirituality in Health. Since 2005, he has served as the Co-Chair of the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity (MORE2). Since 1991, he has been, with Judy Hellman, the co-chair of the Greater Kansas City Martin Luther King Interfaith Worship Celebration. In the past, he has served as Chairperson of The Council of Mayors' Metropolitan Human Relations Commission (1992-1996), co-founder (with Dr. K. David Cole) of the noted "C.O.L.O.R.'s" program ("Christians Offering Love to Overcome Racism"), and Co-Chairperson of "Compassion Sabbath" for The Center for Practical Bioethics (formerly The Midwest Bioethics Center). Since 1993, Dr. Hill has been a co-host of the renowned Sunday morning radio call-in show, "Religion on the Line," on KCMO-Talk Radio 710AM.

Dr. Hill's awards and recognitions include: The Inaugural "Steve Jeffers Interfaith Leadership Award" from the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council (2008); "The Harold L. Holliday, Sr., Civil Rights Award" from the NAACP of Kansas City, Missouri (2008); "The Daniel L. Brenner Interfaith Award" from Harmony-National Conference for Community and Justice (2006). "North American Ministerial Fellowship" from The Fund for Theological Education; "The Evelyn Wasserstrom Award" from The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City. In 2001, he and Community Christian Church were among the first grant recipients of the Lilly Endowment's "National Clergy Renewal Program." In 2006, Community received a five-year grant from the Lilly Endowment to train newly graduated, newly ordained clergy in "best practices" through a newly created Transition Into Ministry "Clergy Residency Program."

Dr. Hill is the author and/or editor of eight books including: The Color of Sabbath (2007), Romans: An Introductory Study Guide (2007), Made Whole...Again...By Broken Bread (2004), Hard To Tell: A Congregation of Poems, 1990-2003 (2003), Empowering Congregations: Successful Strategies for 21st Century Leadership (with Denton L. Roberts, 2003).

He is married to Priscilla Reckling, and they live in the Brookside neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dr. Tom Haley - Associate Minister

Dr. Tom Haley is Associate Minister of Community Christian Church.  Dr. Haley is a graduate of Phillips University and Brite Divinity School, and he holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Dr. Haley served as senior minister of Lee's Summit Christian Church for 25 years prior to his retirement. After serving several churches as an interim pastor, he came to Community's staff as an associate minister in 2006.

Dr. Haley's loving compassion and hopeful caring at Community are matched by his concern for the wider reaches of the greater Kansas City area, which he expressed so fully in his long service on behalf of the United Way of Greater Kansas City.  In regard to the United Way, he served for 18 months as the Chair of that newly united organization. Dr. Haley is an expert certified teacher in Parent Effectiveness training, and he was the founder of the Martin Luther King Celebration in Lee's Summit. Dr. Haley and his wife Karen are the proud parents of three children and even prouder grandparents of 5 grandchildren.

Rev. Donna Muiller - Minister of Community Life

Donna is a life-long Disciple, nurtured in a small rural church in North Missouri. She participated in local youth activities, attended Chi Rho and Conference meetings and camps, and worked in summer Bible Schools.

She placed her membership with Community Christian Church in 1964, participated in a young people's church school class, and remained active in church life following her marriage to Jim Muiller in 1968.

Donna has held leadership positions in her church, has served as Moderator of the Congregation, as President of the Christian Women's Fellowship, and on many of the committees in the life of the congregation.

Donna graduated from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in 2004 with a Diploma in Theological Studies. She was approved for Licensed Ministry by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Greater Kansas City on January 1, 2001, and has served on Community's church staff since January 1, 2002. She is currently Minister of Community Life and Coordinator of the Clergy Residency Program.

Rev. Michelle Harris-Gloyer - Resident Associate Minister

Rev. Michelle Harris-Gloyer graduated in May 2009 from Pacific School of Religion with a Master of Divinity degree and emphasis in Art and Religion. Her commitments included Seminarians for Worker Justice and the Graduate Theological Union Community Dancers. Michelle graduated from Chapman University in 2001 with a BA in Organizational Leadership, with an emphasis on Social Services and a minor in Peace Studies. She was a member of the Disciples on Campus group and Amnesty International.

Michelle has served as the Co-Director of Young Adult Ministry in the Northern California-Nevada Region of our denomination and served the First Christian Church in Concord, CA as its Student Associate Minister. Rev. Harris-Gloyer has also been a community organizer in the fight against global HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. She is married to Matthew Harris-Gloyer, and they live in the mid-town area. Michelle is a native Californian and loves the arts, especially sacred dance, where she is professionally trained.