Miller Newton

Virgil Miller Newton III
Father Cassian in 2009
Born	1938 Tampa, FL
Other names	Father Cassian
Education	BA, MDiv and PhD
Alma mater	University of South Florida, Princeton University and Union Graduate School
Spouse(s)	Ruth Ann
Children	Joanna, Miller and Mark
Parent(s)	Louisa and Virgil Miller Newton, Jr.

Virgil Miller Newton (also known as Father Cassian Newton) is a current Chairman and Director of Christ at the Sea Foundation in Madeira Beach, Florida; a priest in the Antiochian Orthodox Church (but is no longer listed on the AOC website); and the former Director of several rehabilitation centers for youth with drug problems, behavior problems, eating disorders and other compulsive behavior. His rehabilitative methods have been criticized.

Many former patients have sued for abuse.

Virgil Miller Newton III (born 1938, Tampa Bay, Florida) was the son of Louisa and Virgil Miller Newton Junior. His father was managing editor of the Tampa Tribune and well known for his fight against secrecy in the government, authoring papers such as “Federal Thought Control a Challenge to American Liberties and Freedom.” His mother taught Sunday School at their local church, Hyde Park Methodist.

During his sophomore year he felt “called to preach the word of God.” The Florida Methodist Conference licensed him to preach during his senior year at Sewanee Military Academy. In the summer of 1956, before heading to college he filled in as a student supply pastor in This hometown of Tampa and St Petersburg, FL. From 1956-1957, Newton was appointed state Master Counselor for the Florida chapter of The Order of DeMolay.

In the fall of 1956, he began attending Princeton University . After taking a course in religion, Newton in 1957 was contracted to be the lay pastor for the Emlystown circuit in New Jersey, which consisted of 3 churches. Shortly after returning from a ministers conference at Ashbury College, his car lost control and crashed into an oncoming truck, killing a classmate. Newton who had been sleeping in the back seat at the time suffered minor injuries. He stayed in New Jersey over the 1957 summer break to continue his preaching circuit. Newton returned to Florida and recuperated for a year before resuming his studies at the University of Florida, where he obtained a degree in history. During this time, he married and had three children with wife Ruth Ann(née Klink): Joanna (born 1959), Miller (born 1960), and Mark (born 1964). He returned to Princeton University and earned his master's degree.