A Former Monastic, An Actor, A Pastor

(image by John L. White P/D)

Several years back, when I was a student at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO, I was fortunate enough to be able to work in the seminary's admissions office. As a full-time student, and a full-time father and husband, being able to have a job where I could walk straight out of class and into a setting where I was immediately applying practical ministry skills was an incredibly valuable part of my preparation for being a shepherd of God's people.

And the opportunities to shepherd were numerous and varied, like the guy who was investigating seminary because his boss at Taco Bell said he couldn't really do anything else worthwhile, so he might as well be a pastor. (We decided that seminary probably wasn't the most appropriate path for him, by the way.)

And then there was the evening a guy named Jim Butz walked in and asked to talk to someone about applying to seminary. There were several things that stood out about Jim. For one, he had spent some time living in a monastic community. A real live monk. You don't meet many monks in real life, so when you do you kind of want to take advantage of the opportunity.

Another thing that stood out about Jim was his passion for life and his respect for the image of God in people. This conviction of a persons intrinsic value manifested itself early in Jim's marriage when he met a homeless guy downtown in Forest Park and invited him to come home and sleep on the couch until the guy could get back on his feet. Did I mention that Jim and his bride had barely been married a year at this point? This was no ordinary guy (or ordinary bride for that matter).

Jim was also an actor. A real live, honest to goodness, Shakespeare-in-the-park kind of actor. It was actually after one of his performances of Shakespeare in the Park where Jim met his homeless roommate. Just met him and brought him home.

I have remembered my conversations with Jim often. It was one of many opportunities God has taken to introduce me to individuals who pursue art, craft and beauty to the glory of a creative God.

I was excited recently to discover this April 2010 article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about Jim and the relationship between his craft and his faith. Imagine, a man living out in his God-given, creative spirit what it means to be both an artist and a pastor.

I, for one, pray for many more "Jims" to be called by a God who creates and ordains beauty; a beauty which sings of His own great Glory.