The Buzz newsletter | Updated Weekly
Worship Night with Brian Doerksen
This Saturday evening is a worship night with a world-renown worship leader and song-writer, here at Butler! Brian Doerksen has written familiar songs like: "Refiner's Fire," "Come, Now is the Time to Worship," and "Faithful One." Set aside time to hear stories of God's faithfulness and be refreshed in worship. Invite your friends and worship with us - Saturday, February 28 at 6:00 pm.
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
will be a combined service and we will give a special offering for the support of these agencies. Thank you for prayerfully considering what amount you feel led to give. Please plan to bring your offering on March 1st! You can also give online now to "MB Agencies Support."
Church Business Meeting Scheduled
Reminder to please mark your calendar for a Church Business Meeting taking place on Sunday, March 15. 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.
UPDATE:
The meeting time has been updated to 10:15AM Sunday morning in the Family Center
(during Butler Cafe time).
In Memory
A longtime Butler member, Toom Polsena, passed away last week following a long battle with cancer. A memorial service hosted by Asian Grace will take place this Saturday morning, February 28, in the sanctuary. Thank you for your prayers for Toom's family and for our Asian Grace brothers and sisters with this additional loss.
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.
More news items....
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.
Update from Pastor Ron
This week our church family joins with millions of Jesus’ followers around the world to mark the beginning of the Lenten season in the Christian calendar. Lent is a journey
– a journey with Jesus into the suffering that comes with doing God’s work in a world where systems of oppression are designed to favor the powerful few. Jesus came for the overlooked, underserved, and downtrodden – and we are invited to join that work. Each Sunday between now and Easter we will reflect on Jesus’ actions to “release the oppressed” brought great joy but also deep cost.
This is the enduring message of the cross; self-giving love conquers fear and oppression!
The month of February has also seen our church family move forward the important conversations that will enable us to act confidently in this season of transition.
On Sunday, 01. February, 60 people (representing all 4 Butler congregations) gathered for a 2-hour workshop to hear and share our thoughts about the church’s mission and future. Our Council is working hard to process and refine all that feedback into actionable items that will bring change to the church’s constitution, our operational structures, and our ministry models. With an added monthly meeting dedicated to these transition matters, Butler members can expect frequent updates (in writing, on our Council Updates page, and in gatherings) as well as opportunities to continue participating. Remember: any Butler member / attender is welcome to attend Council meetings in an observational capacity! Our goal is to clearly communicate purpose (mission) and future vitality (vision).
Finally, please mark March 1st on your calendar; this will be a special all-church “Agency Sunday” service where we highlight various MB partners, Fresno Pacific University & Seminary, and hear from MB Pastor Juan Wall. I’m looking forward to this celebration of our wider partners and communities!
Black History Month
Nearly 50 years ago, February was designated as Black History month. It has become an annual cultural tradition where we get to focus on the people and events that often go overlooked and under-appreciated. However, author and speaker Jemar Tisby reminds us not to view Black history as isolated points on a timeline but as part of a coherent and continuous story. So, as you notice specific things or people being celebrated, take that opportunity to dig a little deeper! Or ask someone you know what history is especially significant to them and learn more from there. There are 5 suggestions in the attached article on how to begin!
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: 2/26/2026
Looking for earlier Butler news stories? You can visit our news archive here.