The Buzz newsletter | Updated Weekly
Update from Pastor Ron
Butler Church supports – and is supported by – local, regional, and global partners. This past Sunday we highlighted five agencies in a combined service where Pastor Juan Wall challenged us to think beyond the boundaries and barriers that too often divide people
– cultural, ethnic, gender, and social status markers that the Gospel calls us to embrace and celebrate. Our special offering goal for these agencies is $15,000. To date we have received $6,793. Anyone who did not yet have a chance to include their support can still do so by designating giving to “MB Agencies Support.”
Our church Council has called a special congregational meeting on Sunday morning, March 15
@ 10.15 am (between the two worship meeting times) to follow up on unfinished business from our December meeting as well as to bring an update on the transition / strategic planning process. Remember that any member or adherend is welcome to attend Council meetings and we invite your prayer for the Council as we meet this month on March 12 and 19. I’m deeply grateful for the goodwill and open discussion that has characterized this process to this point and I believe that our dependence on both God’s spirit and our collective wisdom will bring us healthy results!
Finally, as we move through the season of Lent toward Easter (April 5), this month we invite anyone interested in membership or baptism
to join our class on March 22 @ 12:30 pm. Please reach out to a pastor for further information or to be included in this opportunity for discipleship.
Food Distribution this Friday
March is marching in and spring has sprung all around us! A new month also means our regular breakfast ministry and food distribution is this Friday March 6! 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.
Time Change weekend
Daylight Savings time begins this Sunday, March 9. Remember to turn in an hour earlier than usual on Saturday night so you don't miss anything Sunday morning!
Church Business Meeting Coming Up
Reminder to please mark your calendar for a Church Business Meeting taking place on Sunday, March 15 @ 10:15 AM. The church council will be bringing an update on amendments to the Constitution, and regarding the 2026 church budget. Questions can be directed to the Council representative from your congregation. Thank you for your continued prayers for the Council and for our church transition and discernment process.
The Council is bringing 3 recommendations. You can read more detail on the Council Updates page, and find the business meeting info here.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Congrats to all celebrating a birthday, milestone, or anniversary this month! If your special date is coming up and you want to make sure we have it noted, let us know here. Special THANKS to Frances Echavarria who keeps the Butler Café celebrations going! We celebrated current birthdays this past Sunday while we were all together special combined service.
More news items....
Special Offering for MB Agencies
We are part of a church family that goes far beyond Fresno! Each February we have a special focus on these local and global partner agencies of our Mennonite Brethren family: the US MB churches, the Pacific District Conference of MB churches, Multiply, and Fresno Pacific University and Seminary.
Sunday March 1
in a combined service we held a special offering for the support of these agencies. Thank you for prayerfully considering what amount you feel led to give. You can also give online now to "MB Agencies Support."
Anniversary Celebrations!
Several of our staff members are celebrating a milestone anniversary year with Butler Church! This week the staff celebrated with lunch together at a local southeast Fresno restaurant to mark the anniversary month of
Shelly Spencer
(20 years!) and
Sarah Burton (15 years).
Pastor Elbio
(15 years) will also be having a work anniversary this fall, and
Nixon Khoutsavanh (15 years) at the end of the year!
If you'd like to drop a staff member a note, you can reach them via our Contact Us page.
Entering the season of Lent
This week we entered the season of Lent with a special Ash Wednesday service. Music, scripture, and responsive readings were an invitation to reflection, confession and repentance. Interactive stations focused on themes of sorrow, forgiveness, prayer, and formation. (To read about the stations, find the participant guide here.)
By leaning into spiritual practices, we can journey through this season in deeper ways, as we desire to know God more fully, and commit to live humbly and justly.
The season of Lent signifies Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem and beginning his journey to the cross, marked by a time in the wilderness and intense dependance on God. Traditionally, during Lent many people take up a spiritual practice like fasting. It can also be a time we intentionally say Yes to something as we let go of other habits and ways of being.
Job & Ministry Opportunity
Thrift on Blackstone
is hiring for two roles that support the daily work and mission of our thrift store. We are looking for a full-time Thrift Store Operations Manager to help guide store operations and support staff, and a part-time Volunteer Coordinator to welcome, train, and care for the volunteers who make this work possible.
Located on Blackstone just south of Herndon, Thrift on Blackstone
is a faith-based thrift store working in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee and FACE (Fresno Area Community Enterprises, Inc.). If this work sounds meaningful to you, or if you know someone who may be a good fit, we invite you to learn more and apply. (Contact the church office
for details.)
New Pastoral Opportunity
Our Butler member, Dr. Emebet Mekonnen, is taking part in a chaplaincy training program this year, which will also bring an added blessing to our church family!
Butler Church partnering with “Clinical Pastoral Education of California” in this training, through volunteer internship hours. For the next 4 months, Emebet will be present on campus at various times during weekly office hours. Not only will this opportunity provide an educational context for Emebet as a chaplain-in-training, but our church family will benefit from her investment of time in the form of listening sessions.
Our goal is to make Emebet's time and listening presence available to church members and community neighbors who need a prayerful, listening ear. Dr. Mekonnen will be report weekly to Pastor Ron and others in Butler Church leadership. We will provide more information as to the times / places for this ministry in the coming days. Look for more details in our Sunday gatherings and in upcoming editions of the Buzz. We welcome Emebet as a volunteer member of our staff for the next several months! – Pastor Ron
January 2026
Assistance Fund Donations
Through the Butler Church Benevolent Assistance Fund, we have been able to help with several time sensitive needs recently. Given the upcoming cuts in SNAP funding even more requests may be coming in soon. Please consider making an additional donation to the church benevolent fund, by designating for this in the offering or through giving online. We also work with partner agencies like MB Foundation and Everence to expand our capacity through matching grants.
If caring for needs of folks in our community in very practical ways is something close to your heart, please also talk with your pastor or contact the church office. We would like to build a social action response team that can respond to needs as they are made known. If you have a personal need, please also talk with a pastor.
Text Updates from Butler Church
If you find an occasional text reminder helpful,
be sure to “Opt In”
so our “Breeze-butler” text messages get through! To share your preferences for text or email updates, you can complete the Butler Subscriptions form. Thanks!
Note: If you have signed up, but are no longer receiving text updates - try texting START to 87447. Remember that "msg & data rates may apply." Details are in the Butler subscriptions form.
Spanish Translation Available!
Our Butler website is also available in Spanish! Click the upper left corner to switch between English and Spanish. (If you notice any translation errors, please let us know!)
¡Nuestro sitio web Butler ahora también está disponible en español! Haga clic en el ícono de arriba para cambiar entre inglés y español. (Si nota algún error de traducción, ¡avísenos!)
¡Nuestro sitio web Butler ahora también está disponible en español! Haga clic en el ícono de arriba para cambiar entre inglés y español. (Si nota algún error de traducción, ¡avísenos!)
Updated on: 3/5/2026
Looking for earlier Butler news stories? You can visit our news archive here.