Jim Butler. Served as full-time Senior Pastor of three churches – Laveen Baptist, The Community Church of Buckeye, and Mission Bell United Methodist. At The Church at Litchfield Park in Arizona, he served as full-time Executive Pastor, before returning to work in the insurance world. Presently Jim is affiliated with the International Council of Community Churches, which began during the Civil Rights Movement to help white churches and black churches find common fellowship uniting together.
Education: Master of Business Administration, Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry, with degrees from Grand Canyon University and Southwestern Baptist Seminary, with further studies at The School of Theology at Claremont. Jim published a book of sermons of United Methodist Clergy, “Voices in the Desert Southwest Conference.”
Jim semi-retired from his work-a-day job as an insurance adjuster, holding insurance adjusting licenses across the United States, settling high-dollar insurance claims from the windy high-rises of New York to the warm beaches of Hawaii. Jim earned a Master of Business Administration and holds the certifications of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Senior Claim Law Associate (SCLA). He has published in Claims Journal: “Adopt a ‘Need to Know” Approach to Avoid Nuclear Verdicts.” Jim was the senior inventor of U.S. Patent “Systems and Methods for Insurance Claims Settlements.” Most recently Pastor Jim wrote a children’s trilogy, “Slinkk & Stinkk: The Kitties of Sky Village,“ a story about special cats who befriend a nonverbal autistic boy who is the hero of the book.
Jim and his wife, Carol, now live in Sky Village, situated between Tightwad and Racket, Missouri. After visiting some 20 churches between Arizona and Missouri, Jim created ChristiansNeedtoKnow LLC as a storyboard to share his work as author – story teller – observer.