Disgraced pastor John-Paul Miller has abandoned his embattled strip-mall church amid angry demonstrations—only to be turned away from the makeshift fried chicken restaurant where he attempted to relocate his services.
Miller once preached to thousands at a megachurch. Now, he leads Mercy Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where no more than 50 people reportedly gather in a cheaply refurbished former nail salon in a run-down shopping plaza.
Persistent protests outside the property ultimately drove the 47-year-old pastor to move his congregation to a nearby fast-food restaurant, hoping to deliver his sermon without interruption.
Miller has faced intense scrutiny since his wife, Mica, 30, was found dead on April 27, 2024, just days after she filed for divorce.
Much of his congregation disappeared after he was accused of driving Mica to suicide and abusing her during their marriage. Miller denied the allegations and has not been charged in connection with her death.
He has, however, faced federal charges alleging that he cyberstalked his wife. Miller pleaded not guilty.
Demonstrations outside Mercy Church intensified following the release of the Netflix documentary Death of the Pastor’s Wife.
Disgraced pastor John-Paul Miller, 47, and his new wife Suzie Skinner, 51, left their besieged strip-mall church amid angry protests and went instead to a chicken restaurant
Southern Chicken in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, where Miller and his congregation gathered on Sunday after failing to appear at their church in Myrtle Beach, five miles away
Despite extensive security arrangements, including armed guards, Miller was absent from Mercy Church on Sunday, September 27.
Protest organizers waited outside for several hours before receiving word that Miller and dozens of congregants had gone to Southern Chicken in Surfside Beach, about five miles away.
The protesters moved to a traffic island between US 17 and a nearby side street, directly opposite the restaurant, and continued their chants and heckling. Miller, his followers and his new wife, Suzie Skinner, 51, were soon removed from the premises.
Southern Chicken confirmed that Miller and his congregation had been asked to leave, although the restaurant did not say whether the demonstrations prompted the decision.
‘We did not support him. We had him escorted out,’ worker Chantell Dowell wrote online. She declined to provide further details when contacted by Our News Outlet.
Customers with reservations reportedly called the restaurant that day to ask whether Miller was there, with some saying they would make alternative arrangements if he was.
Miller and his congregation were quickly removed from their temporary church venue. The couple is pictured leaving the restaurant
Miller’s late wife, Mica, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Lumbee River State Park in North Carolina after calling 911 to tell her family where to find her
Mica’s friend Sam Rickman, pictured left, was among those protesting outside Miller’s new church. He also went to the chicken restaurant after learning Miller was attempting to preach there
Miller also contacted police about the protesters at the restaurant, alleging that they had followed him from the church and were stalking and harassing him.
Sam Rickman, one of the protest leaders and a close friend of Mica, had previously belonged to Miller’s Solid Rock Church before her death. He ridiculed the pastor as the demonstrations followed Miller to his temporary preaching venue.
‘If you have nothing to hide, why are you hiding?’ he told Our News Outlet.
‘He probably thinks that maybe this Sunday they’ll be done, maybe they finally got it out of their system. But bro, we’re planning on being there until you go to prison.’
‘We have a friend who’s gone, and we have a lot of questions that haven’t been answered yet,’ he added.
Mica was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Lumbee River State Park in North Carolina, after calling 911 to tell her family where to find her.
Mercy Church has for months been hounded by protesters who scream at Miller from 90ft away (pictured on September 6)
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A Netflix documentary revealed how Mica Miller, 30, took her own life days after serving her husband John-Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers
Miller is increasingly becoming a pariah in Myrtle Beach and surrounding towns since the charges and documentary, with many businesses refusing to serve him.
He and Suzie were last week kicked out of Travinia Italian Kitchen in Myrtle Beach after customers and staff complained that the sight of the pair offended them.
General manager Ashley Thomas told Our News Outlet that Miller dared staff to call police on him and only left after Suzie dragged him out.
A scathing one-star review appeared on Travinia’s TripAdvisor page from a ‘John M’ later that evening that staff believe was left by Miller.
Thomas explained that after the documentary was released multiple tables would get up and leave when he arrived.
‘They would say things like, “I can’t believe you’re letting him eat here,” or “I’m not sitting here having dinner and staring at that guy,”‘ Thomas said.
Miller is now reduced to ministering to around 50 people from Mercy Church, a former nail salon on a rundown strip mall, wedged between a dog groomer and a Colombian barbershop in South Carolina
Miller is now preaching to a few dozen faithful sparsely filling the tiny former nail salon
‘Nobody wants to wait on him, and I’m not gonna force anyone to. So we just decided it would just probably be for the best that he does not come in here.’
Miller and Suzie were spotted at a Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league baseball game on September 2, dressed casually and trying to blend in.
But when they tried to enjoy a post-game drink at nearby Uncle Tito’s bar in Murrells Inlet – about 10 miles from Miller’s home – they were jeered by other patrons.
One local said ‘everyone in the bar started yelling… and (the Millers) put their heads down and got the hell outta there real quick.’
Suzie is accused of having a long-running affair with Miller before Mica’s death. Her own late husband drowned in a swimming pool in 2021 – allegedly after discovering her betrayal.
Mercy Church is Miller’s attempt at a rebrand after the fallout from Mica’s death doomed its previous incarnation, Solid Rock Church, which had hundreds of followers.
The tale of Mica’s death has been told in a chilling new documentary on Netflix
Miller married Suzie Skinner, 51, on the sands of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on June 1, 2025, barely a year after Mica’s death after they were accused of having an affair while she was alive
Miller’s humble new venue, measuring just 1,120sq ft and so narrow it could only fit rows of seven chairs, was acquired for $155,000 in cash.
Miller is accused of a shocking alleged campaign of harassment against Mica in the leadup to her death.
He faces up to five years in prison for federal cyberstalking charges and two years for making false statements to investigators, plus a fine of up to $250,000.
He pleaded not guilty and will go on trial in January.
Mica filed for divorce from Miller in October 2023, before they reconciled in February 2024, then again on April 15, 2024, just before her death.
Miller is also fighting separate civil claims, accused in a lawsuit last July of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1998 while working at his father’s church in Myrtle Beach when he was 19.
Days later, a second woman, known as ‘Jane Doe #2’, sued him and his father for sexual abuse between 1999 and 2001 starting when she was 14.
Miller has denied both claims.
