THE REV. JEFFREY J. BUTZ, S.T.M.
Pastor Jeff at his installation with Zion's Pastor Emeritus, the Rev. Willis Heckler and his wife Sylvia
The Rev.
Jeffrey Butz is a native of the Lehigh Valley, having been raised in Whitehall
and later in Allentown where he graduated from Louis E. Dieruff High School. He
graduated from Kutztown University in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in
Secondary Education (cum laude) with
a concentration in Earth and Space Science. His first career was as a 9th
grade Earth & Space Science teacher at Southern Wilson Junior High in
Sinking Spring. He later worked as a manager for various Radio Shack stores in
the Lehigh Valley and for John Wanamaker’s Department Store.
In his late 20s, Jeff had a sudden and unexpected conversion experience, in which a miraculous event happened in his life that brought him back to Christianity after having been a self-avowed atheist since his college years. His experience of the risen Christ has shaped all of his subsequent life, and in his early 30s he began sensing God’s call to ministry. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Moravian Theological Seminary (magna cum laude) in 1994. He did his seminary internship at Grace Lutheran Church and the Good Shepherd Home in Allentown and did his clinical pastoral training at Lehigh Valley Hospital where he served as a chaplain in the Emergency Trauma Unit.
His first pastoral call was to Grace Lutheran Church in Belfast, where he served as pastor from 1996 to 2014. During his first years at Grace Church, he continued his theological education and received a Master of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.M.) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 2002. He concentrated in New Testament studies and wrote his thesis on Jesus’ brother, James. Right after receiving this degree he was hired as an adjunct professor by Penn State University to teach World Religions classes at their Allentown and Reading campuses. He continues to teach part-time at Penn State and has also taught adult education classes at Northampton County Community College. Teaching is Pastor Jeff’s greatest love in ministry and he has taught and developed numerous Bible Studies and Adult Forums.
In his late 20s, Jeff had a sudden and unexpected conversion experience, in which a miraculous event happened in his life that brought him back to Christianity after having been a self-avowed atheist since his college years. His experience of the risen Christ has shaped all of his subsequent life, and in his early 30s he began sensing God’s call to ministry. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Moravian Theological Seminary (magna cum laude) in 1994. He did his seminary internship at Grace Lutheran Church and the Good Shepherd Home in Allentown and did his clinical pastoral training at Lehigh Valley Hospital where he served as a chaplain in the Emergency Trauma Unit.
His first pastoral call was to Grace Lutheran Church in Belfast, where he served as pastor from 1996 to 2014. During his first years at Grace Church, he continued his theological education and received a Master of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.M.) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 2002. He concentrated in New Testament studies and wrote his thesis on Jesus’ brother, James. Right after receiving this degree he was hired as an adjunct professor by Penn State University to teach World Religions classes at their Allentown and Reading campuses. He continues to teach part-time at Penn State and has also taught adult education classes at Northampton County Community College. Teaching is Pastor Jeff’s greatest love in ministry and he has taught and developed numerous Bible Studies and Adult Forums.
Pastor Jeff on an archaeological dig at Mt. Zion in Jerusalem
Pastor
Jeff devotes his continuing education time to advancing his academic studies in
the field of early Christianity. He has participated in archaeological digs in
Israel and has written two books on the early church. His first book, The Brother of Jesus, has received
critical claim as the best book on Jesus’ brother James, and his second book, The Secret Legacy of Jesus, has been
called “the new definitive work on Jewish Christianity.” He has come to be
recognized as a world-class expert on the family of Jesus and has been invited
to speak at numerous institutions as well as on radio and is a featured scholar
in the recently-released documentary, Apostle
Paul.
Pastor Jeff’s wife, Kathy, works as an administrative assistant to the Director of Nursing at Maximum Care/Lehigh Valley Visiting Nurses in Whitehall. They have two grown children, Rachel and David. Jeff and Kathy devote most of their spare time to renovating an old Victorian home they bought in Whitehall several years ago, where they live with their two Border Collies, Max and Barney. They both enjoy music—Kathy plays piano and flute and is a classically trained soprano, and Jeff plays drums and guitar. The whole family has been involved for many years in a local theater group—C.A.S.T. (Catasauqua Area Showcase Theatre) where Kathy and Rachel annually appear onstage and Jeff plays drums in the pit orchestra. Pastor Jeff is also an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan.
Pastor Jeff’s wife, Kathy, works as an administrative assistant to the Director of Nursing at Maximum Care/Lehigh Valley Visiting Nurses in Whitehall. They have two grown children, Rachel and David. Jeff and Kathy devote most of their spare time to renovating an old Victorian home they bought in Whitehall several years ago, where they live with their two Border Collies, Max and Barney. They both enjoy music—Kathy plays piano and flute and is a classically trained soprano, and Jeff plays drums and guitar. The whole family has been involved for many years in a local theater group—C.A.S.T. (Catasauqua Area Showcase Theatre) where Kathy and Rachel annually appear onstage and Jeff plays drums in the pit orchestra. Pastor Jeff is also an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan.