North Alabama’s Jerry Butler marks 50 years in ministry

For Jerry Butler, being dubbed the “chain saw pastor” of Marshall Baptist Association is an expression of the two ways he demonstrates his love of helping others: being a pastor and responding to disasters. “The best thing that reflects me is helping people,” said Butler, pastor of South Sauty Baptist Church, Langston. “That’s the best thing about ministry.”
   
Marshall Association Director of Missions Randall Stoner said Butler’s love for others is obvious. “Not only does he preach it but he lives it,” Stoner said, noting that Butler travels the country instructing people in the chain saw aspect of Southern Baptist disaster relief. “We’re glad to have him in the association.”
   
Ordained in 1956, Butler has served several churches in north and central Alabama. He also gained degrees from Samford University in Birmingham and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
   
He first worked with Alabama Baptist disaster relief crews in 1981 and is now the disaster relief state coordinator of cleanup/recovery, mud-out and chain saw crews, sending them out when needed. He also asseses needs at disaster sites. 
   
“He’s passionate about it,” said Tommy Puckett, director of disaster relief for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “I am so thankful to him and his leadership … he’s one of the main reasons Alabama Baptists are in the top in Southern Baptist disaster relief work.”
   
Butler credits the support of his church for making his disaster relief involvement possible. God led him to the part-time pastorate at South Sauty Baptist in 1999. 
   
The church also supports its pastor personally, holding a celebration July 30 to mark Butler’s 50 years in ministry, as well as 50 years of marriage to his wife, Janet. Friends from past churches were invited to the service and lunch. Other guests included Stoner and Wendell Darnell, Marshall Association head of disaster relief.
   
Butler noted the future holds no signs of slowing down. Three days before the anniversary celebration, he was coordinating crews to work in St. Louis after a tornado and planning to travel yet again to train more chain saw-wielding workers in Louisiana.