MEET A FELLOW: PATTI BUTLER
Meet Micah Fellow Patti Butler — Ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church who is currently serving two congregations in Central Arkansas.
MFP: What community are you looking to support and advocate for at the completion of the 2021 Micah Fellows Program cohort?
PB: Through my work as a pastor, I have found that one of the most underserved/underrepresented groups is Grandparents raising grandchildren.
Often the grandparent is on a very limited income from Social Security or Disability and receives no support from the biological parents or other sources.
I would like to create an advocacy group for grandparents raising their grandchildren to seek financial and other tangible support from public sources, as well as, to be represented during legislative sessions, etc.
MFP: What is your purpose and/or goal in the Micah Fellows program?
PB: I have long identified Micah 6:8 as my favorite scripture. I believed that as a pastor I am called to love mercy and act justly, and of course, I walk humbly with God.
However, through this immersion experience into Micah 6:8, I have come to realize that walking humbly with God should be the beginning of the verse.
If I am not praying, reading scripture, and being accountable and vulnerable with other sojourners, acting justly and loving mercy become just another ’thing’ on my to-do list.
When I am walking humbly with God first, I am compelled and, as the scripture says, required to do the others. I am filled with joy in serving God, not serving out of a sense of obligation.
MFP: Fill in the blank: I am a Micah Fellow because ____________.
PB: … everyone in the kin-dom of God matters. Everyone belongs to the beloved community.
———
PB: The experience and passion of those who are both the leaders of the fellowship and the fellows is outstanding.
I am learning so much walking alongside those who share in the same desire to create the Beloved Community.
