Millie Dienert

{{short description|American Christian speaker}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}	

{{Infobox person
| name   = Millie Dienert
| image     = Mildred Dienert.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1917|09|03}}
| birth_place = [[Blue Bell, Pennsylvania]], US
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2015|08|24|1917|09|03}}
| death_place = 
| education ={{hlist|[[University of Pennsylvania]]|[[Philadelphia School of the Bible]]}}
| spouse         =  {{marriage|Alfred Dienert|1938|1993}}
| children = 3
| known_for  =  {{hlist|Christian women's speaker|Business executive}}
}}

'''Mildred Dienert''' ({{nee}} '''Elsner'''; September 3, 1917&nbsp;– August 24, 2015) was an American popular Christian women's speaker and Bible teacher in the 1960s to 1990s, associated with the [[Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]].<ref name=BGEA>{{cite web|title=Women of the Ministry: Mildred 'Millie' Dienert|publisher= [[Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]] |url=https://static.billygraham.org/sites/billygrahamlibrary.org/uploads/prod/2019/03/Women-of-the-Ministry_Middle-School.pdf|page=4|access-date=March 9, 2021}}</ref>

==Early years and education==
Dienert was born in [[Blue Bell, Pennsylvania]], the daughter of Miriam and Theodore Elsner. Her father was a traveling [[Evangelism|evangelist]] and as a child she felt neglected and blamed God for her parents' absence.<ref name=HOU /> In 1931, however, the family settled in Philadelphia when her father began a nondenominational church there, later called the Philadelphia Gospel Tabernacle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Calvary Memorial Church &mdash; Our History|url=https://calvarymemorialchurch.org/images/Info/cmc%2075th%20r5.pdf|publisher=Calvary Memorial Church|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|access-date=March 10, 2021}}. The Philadelphia Gospel Tabernacle founded by Theodore Elsner is now Calvary Memorial Church.</ref> When the 17-year old Millie Elsner survived an automobile accident that killed all of the other occupants in her car, the teen experienced increased devotion and a resolve to dedicate her life to Christ.<ref name=BGEA /> She subsequently attended the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and the [[Philadelphia School of the Bible]].<ref name=HOU />

==Association with Billy Graham==
Mildred Elsner married Fred Dienert, who was a partner in Walter Bennett Communications. The Pennsylvania-based agency represented ministries broadcasting on radio and television, such as [[G. E. Lowman]], [[Billy Graham]], and others.<ref>{{cite news|title=Walter F. Bennett, head of an advertising agency|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/12/05/Walter-F-Bennett-head-of-an-advertising-agency-instrumental/4917344840400/|date=December 5, 1980|publisher=[[United Press International]]|access-date=March 11, 2021}}</ref> By the mid-1960s, her husband was the [[television producer]] for the Billy Graham Crusades and she helped Graham by organizing prayer groups in advance of his crusades.<ref name=rice /> So successful were her efforts for the 1966 London Crusade that Graham asked her to continue this role thereafter and Dienert's prayer groups became a regular part of the advance preparations for Graham's worldwide crusades.<ref name=BGEA /> Eventually, Dienert became known as the "first lady of prayer".<ref name=HOU>{{cite news|first=Kristin E.|last=Holmes|title=She's Billy Graham's 'first lady of prayer'|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=November 10, 2001|url=https://www.chron.com/life/houston-belief/article/She-s-Billy-Graham-s-first-lady-of-prayer-2066164.php|access-date=March 9, 2021}}</ref> In writing his 1996 book, ''With God on Our Side'',<ref>''With God on Our Side'', {{oclc|34742166}}.</ref> author William C. Martin included in his research the role of Dienert in Billy Graham's crusades. His research material is now preserved at [[Rice University]]'s [[Woodson Research Center]].<ref name=rice>{{cite web|title=4/30/87 - Columbia, South Carolina- Millie Diener, wife of Fred Dienert, who oversaw Billy Graham broadcasting for decades. She organized prayer efforts for crusades|publisher=[[Woodson Research Center]]|url=http://archives.library.rice.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/195984|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref>

==As a speaker==
Dienert was a popular Bible teacher and speaker at church meetings and conferences around the U.S.<ref name=TPA>{{cite news|title=Millie Dienert &mdash; Traveling Messenger|newspaper=[[Tampa Tribune]]|date=February 19, 1972|page=57|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72742749/tampa-tribune-21972/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref><ref name=okie /> When Dienert addressed a Conference, said the ''[[Petoskey News-Review]]'', she could speak without notes for an hour and "hold a thousand women in rapt silence".<ref>{{cite news|title=Crusade Speaker Featured At Boyne Mountain Retreat|newspaper=[[Petoskey News-Review]]|date=September 30, 1982|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72743146/petoskey-news-review-93082/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> Dienert rejected the [[prosperity gospel]] teaching that blessings and well-being are always God's will for the believer, saying, "I have a problem with people making Christian life look so beautiful and great that you have to be one".<ref name=HOU /> Instead, she spoke of life's trials and sorrows that can beset the Christian, often citing her own disappointments, such as her son Ted's divorce from Billy Graham's daughter and then his death at age&nbsp;52 on her 80th birthday. Recalling her sadness when her husband died after 55&nbsp;years of marriage, she said, "When you walk lonely and broken-hearted, keeping your right perspective on God is a challenge".<ref name=HOU />

Dienert was the first woman to preside over a [[White House]] Prayer Breakfast, during the [[Nixon Administration]].<ref name=TPA /> She later chaired the prayer committee at the [[First International Congress on World Evangelization]] held in 1974 in [[Lausanne]], [[Switzerland]].<ref name=okie>{{cite news|title=Churchwoman to give talk|newspaper=[[The Oklahoman]]|url=https://www.oklahoman.com/article/2553590/churchwoman-to-give-talk|date=October 26, 1996|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref> During the [[United States Bicentennial|U.S. Bicentennial in 1976]], she served on the Advisory Group for the [[National Day of Prayer]], along with others such as [[Harold Lindsell]] of ''Christianity Today''.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Day of Prayer: History|publisher=National Day of Prayer Task Force|url=https://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/history|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref>

==Writings and honors==
Dienert was named Churchwoman of the Year in 1990 by [[Religious Heritage of America]].<ref name=okie /> In 2002, she contributed to the book, ''Billy Graham: A Tribute from Friends'',<ref>''Billy Graham: A Tribute from Friends'', {{isbn|978-0446529099}}.</ref> a compendium of tributes about the famous evangelist from celebrities and personal anecdotes from his friends. Although the ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' review was generally dismissive of the book, calling it "tedious", the review praised Dienert's humorous reminiscence and "vivid account" of Graham's influence on her life.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nonfiction Book Review: 'Billy Graham: A Tribute from Friends'|publisher=[[Publishers Weekly]]|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-52909-9| year=2002|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref> She also wrote the introduction to the 1980 book, ''The prayer that teaches to pray''.<ref>''The prayer that teaches to pray'', {{oclc|7293695}}.</ref>

==Personal life and later years==
The couple had three children, Ted, Marilyn, and [[Darlene (given name)|Darlene]], whose name appealed to the Dienerts after hearing the daughter of a Bennett agency client, G. E. Lowman, so named.<ref name=HOU /><ref>{{cite web|title=Pioneer radio evangelist G. E. Lowman (1897-1965)|url=http://www.GELowman.info|publisher=Atlas Communications|access-date=March 12, 2021}}</ref> When her husband died in 1993, Dienert succeeded him as president of Walter Bennett, although she was {{nowrap|76 years old}} at the time.<ref name=HOU /><ref>{{cite web|title=Walter Bennett Communications of Pennsylvania|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_pa/2544450|publisher=opencorporates.com|access-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref> She died on August 24, 2015, at the age of 97.<ref name=BGEA />

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dienert, Millie}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:American Christian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Christians from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American women in business]]
[[Category:Women evangelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]