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Update from Pastor Ron

The summer months often mean a change of pace (slower) with time for holidays and reflection. I hope that each of us is finding some time for that important work of self- and community care. At the same time, the pace in the life of our church has not felt slower this summer! In fact, our Council, leadership teams, and staff have all leaned into the “transition season” work with energy and conviction for the entirety of 2026 to this point. Between the months of June and August we will have held 2 church business meetings, an all-church listening session, and listening sessions for each Butler congregation. Additionally, leadership teams are also meeting and, in some cases, collaborating across congregational lines. THANK YOU to everyone who has taken extra time to participate and to devote prayer to this ongoing process of discernment!...

[Read more in the July update on the Council Updates page]

Backpacks Giveaway this Saturday

This Saturday morning from 9:00-11:00 AM a backpack giveaway will be taking place here on the Butler Church campus for Southeast Fresno families, and students of Ayer, Greenburg, and Lane schools! This event is coordinated by our missionary, Nzash Lumeya, together with the Butler outreach team, and our Literacy Mentors who serve at Ayer.

To date, 300 backpacks have been donated, so we can serve that many students! Which means more volunteers would be a big help! We are building to a team of 20 to serve these families. Join us in praying for good connections, for return visitors this Sunday, and Nzash's specific prayer request is for at least one person to accept Jesus as their savior this Saturday!

For more information or to volunteer, contact Nzash (559-907-1445) and plan to come early. Thanks!

All Church Combined Service this Sunday

This Sunday will be our summer unified service of all our Butler congregations. Join us Sunday, August 2 @ 10:00 AM for worship in multiple languages, communion, and an encouraging bilingual message from our Family Matters series from Pastor Ron.

Come visit together during at special Butler Cafe at 9:30AM celebrating summer birthdays! During the service, we'll be praying for students and teachers as the new school year starts soon, and sharing about various ways to (re)connect and serve together on Sundays, through a ministry fair following the service. See you Sunday!

Ministry Fair this Sunday!

A new school year signifies an upcoming change in seasons and is also an excellent opportunity to prepare our Sunday morning ministries for the months ahead. Butler has many ways you can get involved in serving our church family and community on Sunday mornings. Would you consider serving once-a-month this fall?

Following our unified service, we will have multiple Sunday AM service opportunities available for you to request information about. We'll have sign-ups for Butler Cafe, Greeters, Children's Teachers & Helpers, Children's Check-in Host, Campus Host, Tech Team, and many more. The work of these teams are the 'building blocks' of community in our Sunday worship times together. Be praying about where your passion can join with the needs at Butler through an intersection of service.

Supplies for Children's Ministry

We are using these summer weeks to grow our children's ministry team and restock supplies! Thank you for those of you who have already purchased supply items to help restock our children's classrooms! (See the sticky note wish list board in the lobby of the sanctuary.)

If you haven't picked up a sticky note to donate there's still time to join in! There's a wide variety of classroom supplies to shop for (like glue, crayons, maybe even glitter!). This Sunday, choose a sticky note to take home this Sunday, purchase the item during the week, and then bring it with you the following Sunday. Thanks being part of preparing a productive and impactful year of ministry ahead for our children.

Council Updates

Next Transition Steps

The next step in our Discernment process is for the Church Council to hear directly from each of our 4 congregations, processing questions and receiving input. This past Sunday, congregational meetings of Faith Community and Common Ground took place, with very positive responses. Please continue to keep this process in prayer as the following meetings take place:

August 2 Asian Grace: @ 9:00am the Family Center prior to the combined service

August 9 Amor y Fe at the conclusion of the service in the Family Center @ 12:00pm

Next Food Distribution & Breakfast Ministry

Our monthly breakfast ministry and food distribution is next Friday August 7! Clients are served starting at 9:00 AM until food runs out around 10:30am. Additional volunteers are always welcome; if you can help out please contact us and let the church office know. Please continue to pray for opportunities to build connections with individuals we serve.

Council Updates

Church Business Meeting scheduled

Mark your calendar for the next Church Business Meeting on Aug 16 at 3pm. You can review the 3 current proposals on the Council Updates page. Thanks for your continued prayers for the Council as they meeting again this Thursday evening. A packet with detailed recommendations and and the revisions to the church constitution will be available this Sunday.

Update: The proposed revisions to the Constitution & ByLaws are available here.

Scripture Reading Plan Livestreams from Sunday

Scripture Reading Plan

Our summer Family Matters series continues through the week with our scripture reading plan. As you read Genesis and notice the often "messy" family dynamics, notice also where you see God at work - giving us hope in the midst of our own circumstances! There will be a variety of speakers for our Faith Community and Common Ground services; this Sunday (July 19) Pastor Connie will be speaking

Week 8 (July 26-Aug1)

Monday: Genesis 32:1-21

Tuesday: Genesis 32:22-31

Wednesday: Genesis 33:1-20

Thursday: Genesis 34:1-17

Friday: Genesis 34:18-31

More news items....

July Listening Session Overview Council Updates

Transition Update

Our All-Church listening session was last Sunday. It was great to have nearly 70 people participating, from across all four congregations! During the table discussion time, we considered the 3 proposals from Council intended to build greater unity as a church and continue the transition process after Pastor Ron's interim role is completed at the end of August. (See our Council Updates page for more details.)

The next step is congregational meetings to further process the 3 proposals:

Monthly unified worship services supported by all pastors and ministry leaders
Revision of the church constitution & move toward one church with interest groups
Transitional leadership with Pastor Connie as Interim 'Lead' Pastor

Each of these are steps toward our mission statement: To be a be a multicultural community that connects people with Jesus and one another in Southeast Fresno and around the world.

Stay tuned for information on the meeting date for each congregation. Council members will join these meetings to receive further input. Also, mark your calendar for our next Church Business Meeting, planned for August 16, which will include a proposal for revisions to the church constitution.

Children's Ministry Update

We are mid-summer at this point and are working to keep our Children’s Ministry afloat while we wait for our Children’s Director, Maria Galvan, to return. Since we are without a point-person, we have decided to use this summer as an opportunity to restock our classroom supplies and recruit volunteers to our teaching/helping team. Our hope is to get us situated for a major launch in September with fresh supplies, trained teachers, and excited children ready to learn about Jesus!

Read below for more on volunteering, donating supplies, and info for parents. For any questions about our summer kids changes, please contact Pastor Connie. Thanks!

Volunteers
Each morning during the 10:45 services our Children’s Ministry tries to make available two children’s classes – a “Littles Class” consisting of children 2-years – 5-years-old; and our “Elementary Class” for children in 1st-6th Grade. To keep our children and volunteers safe, we are required to have at least two volunteers while these classes are in session. The goal, then, is to have a minimum of four volunteers each Sunday, a total of 16 people. There’s an old saying: “Many hands make light work.” Would you consider teaching or helping during our second services once-a-month? If there is a Sunday when the doors are closed, it is because we are lacking volunteers. Please consider helping so we can keep our classrooms open. Contact Pastor Connie to sign-up or for more information.
Supplies
Our classrooms are sadly without many supplies. We have a “Classroom Restock” board in the main foyer. You are welcome to join us in restocking our classrooms! Take home a sticky note with a needed supply, purchase the supply, and then bring the supply back by August 2nd. You can also donate financially to the Butler Church general budget, indicating SUPPLY in the memo. Thank you!
Note for Parents
Hopefully by now you have noticed some changes to our check-in and check-out procedures. Our goal is to create a safe place for your child so please complete your parent card (if you have not done so already) and check your child(ren) in and out each Sunday. Currently our Children’s Welcome Table is in the foyer for Common Ground and at the back counter for Amor y Fe.

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Connie.

Birth Announcement!

Along with parents Jose and Soli, we joyfully welcome baby Eliana June Benavides! After Soli was on several weeks of bedrest, Eliana was born on June 26. All are doing well. Thank you for praying as they adjust to being a family of 3!

Special Announcement from Pastor Ron

Dear Butler Church Family,

I’m writing this week with a personal update: many of you will know that when I began my time as Interim Lead Pastor (Sept 01, 2025) the Council had asked me for a commitment of 9–12 months. That timeline is now almost at an end; my final Sunday here at Butler will be August 23, 2026. Serving you all, each of the 4 congregations, our church staff, and our Southeast Fresno neighbors for the past year has been deeply meaningful and a personal source of joy. Although the work of “transition” is not complete, I believe that the changes already approved and the current strength of our Council’s leadership bodes well for a flourishing future for Butler Church. Building consensus and moving together in a unified way takes time where we listen, learn, compromise, dream, and pray. In the future, things may not look exactly like they have in the past, but the Council and pastoral staff are committed to leading with the same priorities and values that have characterized Butler Church over many years of faithful ministry.

For Kathy and I, the Fall of 2026 will mark a major change in our lives – we have accepted an invitation to join the educational mission and training ministry in Germany of TCM International Institute. This means that we will be moving to Tübingen, Germany in September of this year. Our roles will be distinct but connected to a common mission: Kathy will join the TCM donor relations and development team while I take on the role of Director for the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins. This work will find Kathy representing TCM in a variety of settings (including the main training facility near Vienna, Austria). My role will primarily focus on teaching (research languages and biblical studies) and mentoring graduate students affiliated with the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen. As you can imagine, we’re experiencing a wide range of emotions as we leave Fresno after 12 years and leave the place where 4 of our 5 children currently reside! We leave grateful for our years in the Central Valley and especially for this most recent year here at Butler Church.

Some additional context: The mission of TCM (the only institution accredited by the US Higher Learning Commission that works exclusively outside the United States) is to “develop Christian leaders for significant service through higher learning.” Currently, TCM reaches students from all over Europe, parts of Asia, and most recently part of Africa. Students are served with opportunities to learn from entry-level micro-credentials to undergraduate course work and full graduate programs (see link for fuller description). Modular courses in biblical studies, Christian ministry, and leadership are taught on-site several countries while hybrid and fully online courses also reach students in under-served regions around the world.

Youth at Butler

Youth Ministry Update

Our youth leadership team is working on plans for some fun summer events, so stay tuned for more details! (Since summer brings a change in school, family, and work schedules, our regular Sunday youth group gatherings will be on a break for summer.) Youth and parents, be sure to follow as updates are posted online! butlerchurch.org/youth and on IG @butleryouth.4884

The first Fall youth gathering will be on Sunday August 9!

Graduation Congratulations

So many Butler graduates this year...13! Brooking Becker also earned her masters degree and single subject science teaching credential from Alder School of Education. She graduated May 31 and was recently offered a job teaching high school science! She will continue living in the Bay Area. Parents Jeff and Lisa are celebrating with her as well as with her sister, Katarina, who landed job post-graduation in the bay area as well. Congrats, Brooking!

Graduation Congratulations

We conclude these graduation months with one more Butler graduate! Isaac Chavez, of our missionary family Pablo & Maricela Chavez in Peru, completed his senior year at Reedley High School. He graduated on May 28th. Congrats, Isaac!

This summer, Isaac completed a 100-hour internship at Baskin Robbins, which he really enjoyed; he is hopeful that he can get hired there. He is also taking two online summer classes. In the fall he will start full-time at Reedley College - as part of the Pete P. Peters Honors program. He will turn 18 next week Thursday, and has his driver's license appointment scheduled just a few days later! Maricela writes: "Please pray for his adjustment as a college student and to living away from the family."

Graduation Congratulations
Sahn Saelee celebrated the graduation of two daughters this summer! Carrie Cha graduated May 22 from Fresno City College with a BS in Dental Hygiene. She is considering working at a military base where her brother is in the Air Force.

Akira Cha graduated from McLane High School on June 9. She plans to attend Fresno City College, focusing on Biology. Congrats, Carrie and Akira!

Graduation Congratulations
Rodney Komen graduated from Fresno Pacific University on May 9th with a bachelors degree in Nursing. Rodney writes, "My prayer is to work at Community regional medical center and to serve my patients." Congrats, Rodney!