CONWAY, SC — Local ministries across the grand strand are dealing with collateral confusion following the massive national wave of attention sparked by a recent streaming true-crime documentary.
Mercy Baptist Church, located at 2805 4th Avenue in Conway, South Carolina, issued a public statement clarifying that the congregation has no connection whatsoever to disgraced former Myrtle Beach pastor John-Paul “JP” Miller or his newly formed assembly, Mercy Church. The clarification comes after leadership and staff received a wave of misdirected phone calls, messages, and hostile online comments from individuals mixing up the church with Miller’s group, which operates under a similar name.
Pastor Lloyd Phipps addressed the confusion directly in a formal notice to the church family and community.
“Mercy Baptist Church, also known as Mercy Church, located at 2805 4th Avenue in Conway, South Carolina, is NOT affiliated with John-Paul ‘JP’ Miller, his former church, Solid Rock Church, or any ministry or organization associated with him,” the statement reads. “JP Miller is not a pastor, leader, staff member, or member of our congregation.”
The mix-up shows how completely unrelated local organizations can face unfair backlash just because they happen to have a similar name to someone caught up in a massive public scandal. Miller, the former head of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, has remained a fixture of local and national headlines following the April 2024 death of his 30-year-old wife, Mica Miller, at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina.
While authorities officially ruled Mica Miller’s death a suicide, the case generated prolonged public outrage, civil litigation, and federal criminal charges against JP Miller for alleged cyberstalking and making false statements to investigators. Those events were heavily re-examined in the recent Netflix true-crime docuseries Death of the Pastor’s Wife, prompting a fresh wave of public engagement that inadvertently spilled over onto unrelated regional churches.
Conway leadership emphasized that while they understand how naming similarities can cause confusion for people researching the case online, the independent congregation remains entirely separate from Miller in every shape or form.
“Our hearts remain with every person and family who has experienced tragedy, loss, or hurt,” Pastor Phipps stated. “We will continue doing what Mercy Church has always sought to do: love people, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and serve our community faithfully.”
Church administrators thanked community members who reached out to seek clarification and offered support to the ministry as it works to clear up the confusion.
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