Professional Ministry

Butler recently completed her tenure as intentional interim Senior Minister at  National City Christian Church.  Prior to that, Butler served for five years as the seventh Senior Minister and first woman at the helm of The Riverside Church in the City of New York. She holds degrees from Baylor University, the International Baptist Theological Seminary, and Wesley Theological Seminary. 

Butler’s professional ministry career began as the director of a homeless shelter for women in New Orleans, Louisiana. She later became Associate Pastor of Membership and Mission at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in the city of New Orleans. In 2003, Butler was called to the position of Senior Minister of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown, where she was also the first woman to lead that historic congregation.  Read more about Butler’s path to ministry here.

Planting the Seeds for Invested Faith

Though leading institutions of faith in this moment can be one of the most challenging leadership tasks around, Butler is optimistic about the impact faith communities have on the world. This optimism led her to plant the seeds for Invested Faith. 

In 2019, Butler came to believe that something new was needed in the religious landscape. “Anyone paying attention can see that church membership has been in decline for some time...and the church is pretty far behind when it comes to thinking outside the box,” said Butler.

A recent Gallup report noted that “Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.  

“As the narrative of the increasing and steady decline of institutional religion in America grows more real with each new news story, people of faith are responding by defaulting to a theology of scarcity.

“We need a narrative of hope that helps us to see the abundant resources that are ours to steward and God’s invitation to join in the work God is doing in the world - work that is not dead, but is bringing about healing and restoration of all things and a fullness of life often beyond the walls of the Church,

People of faith need an organization with a fund that marries social innovation with the resources of America’s religious institutions to close the gap between them and invest in the well-being of our neighbors, to rebuild communities, to do the work of the gospel in the world,” said Butler.

Butler’s idea was simple. Institutions at the end of their life cycles needed a hopeful way to send their witness forward. “Instead of closing up shop and selling property and assets to the nearest developer...or even making a one-time gift to a local nonprofit, what if we could dream up a fund that would live in perpetuity and offer on-going support for entrepreneurs who were reimagining new expressions of God’s work in the world?  Closing congregations and other institutions could then donate their assets to build a fund that would continue the faithful work of God in the world.”

Butler is excited about the possibilities for innovation and social entrepreneurship in the Invested Faith model. “The theology and practice around this idea is exciting; helping pastors, other leaders, and people of faith think creatively about how the work of God is happening among us.” 

Butler found a fiscal sponsor in Impact Assets and began looking for partners who shared her vision. Along with several committed individual donors, the Baugh Family Foundation gave a substantial gift to begin exploring this idea.  Butler now heads a small team of Invested Faith Advisors and is ready to begin making small grants to social entrepreneurs and to tell their stories in compelling ways that encourage institutions thinking about their legacies to join the effort to get unrestricted capital into the hands of people who are building businesses that change the world.

“Together we can bridge tradition and innovation to imagine a new way - and a new world!”

Contact Dr. Butler at amy@investedfaith.org.