Rusty Butler is the Reverend at Arvada United Methodist Church. He’s been a pastor for 22 years, and on this week’s show we talk about how he “got the call” to leave his job as a statistician and go into ministry full time. It’s not as glamorous or as mystic a story as pop culture would have you believe typically happens when someone “gets the call.”

We also spend some time talking about cultural issues surrounding the church in general. Using text from its very website, Arvada UMC is “unapologetically theologically progressive,” which means they “strongly believe in understanding, welcoming, and honoring all people regardless of race, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, mental and physical ability, creed, age, or economic status.” While not seemingly a political statement, using the broader understanding of where Christianity often falls in terms of cultural conversation, it becomes inherently political.

Rusty and I talk about these issues at length, and spend a significant portion of this week’s episode diving into issues such as LGBT acceptance, the long term of trend of diminishing church attendance and the factors that contribute to that, and where the church goes from here.

Additionally, as is my custom, I dig into the ins out and outs of the actual job of Reverend – the staggering amount of writing involved, the mundane behind the scenes work at a church, how people on, say, the golf course react to Rusty when they find out he’s a pastor and a ton more.

I love this episode for so many reasons, and I think you’ll find it enlightening and entertaining as well.

Available for download on iTunes, streaming on Stitcher, and always at the Jon of All Trades homepage. Like the Arvada United Methodist Church, the Jon of All Trades Podcast has “room at the table for all.”

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