Lisa Butler: Faith, Work, and Seeing the Sacred in the Everyday
Lisa Butler has built a career that has taken her from architecture to pastoral ministry to corporate real estate. To an outsider, those may look like three separate paths. To Lisa, they are one calling expressed in different ways.
Lisa studied at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and went on to work for several design firms in Richmond. She was deeply involved in her church, serving as a deacon and teaching Sunday school. In her early thirties, she began to sense a call to ministry that she could not set aside. She knew in her heart that if God was calling her and she chose not to respond, she would always regret it.
She didn’t yet know what that call would look like, but she knew she needed to prepare, so she began saving. Then the small firm she worked for ran into financial trouble, and paychecks fell weeks behind. Because she had planned ahead, Lisa was still able to meet every obligation. That season became a turning point. She realized she had been placing her trust in her job, yet even when her paycheck didn’t come, her needs were met. God had been preparing her and providing for her all along.
So Lisa, who is a careful planner by nature, took a step she hadn’t fully planned. She applied to Union Theological Seminary (now Union Presbyterian Seminary), expecting to have months to weigh the decision. Six weeks later, she was admitted. She began part time while working full time, serving as a deacon, and studying Hebrew, and she soon realized that pace wasn’t sustainable. At that same moment, a part-time staff role opened at Commonwealth Chapel, and her employer, a fellow believer, allowed her to attend classes during the day. She took the leap.
Lisa describes that season as walking down a long, dark hallway, never quite sure she would be in the right place when the lights came on. But God guided every step, and one by one, the pieces fell into place. She earned her Master of Divinity, was ordained as an Assemblies of God pastor, and served in ministry for seven years.
When she transitioned back into the workplace, God’s faithfulness was evident once again. Lisa accepted a design role on the Capital One campus as a way into corporate real estate. When that contract ended, a conversation with a departing stakeholder opened the door to a position at JLL, the global real estate services firm, in 2016. Today she works on the technology and security side of real estate, helping large organizations keep their buildings secure and their people connected.
Lisa sees a common thread in it all. A designer listens, understands what people need, and creates an environment where they can thrive. A pastor takes a vision and brings people together, each with unique gifts, to make it a reality. Whether she is designing a space, leading a congregation, or managing a project, she is using the same transferable skills to come alongside people and help them succeed.
She is candid that the journey hasn’t always made sense in the moment. “There are times when our feelings and the truth don’t line up,” she says. “In those moments, I choose to stand on what I know is true: in God’s economy, nothing is wasted.”
That conviction is why Needle’s Eye is so meaningful to her. Lisa first became involved in her mid-twenties, before Young Professionals existed, and has been part of the community through many seasons since. Today she serves on the board. “There is no divide between the sacred and the secular,” she says. “You don’t have to be a missionary or a pastor to serve the Lord.”
Needle’s Eye is a family affair for the Butlers. Lisa’s husband, Jeff, a Presbyterian pastor in Hopewell, is an active member of our Second Half community, where he connects with other men who are pursuing purpose and faith in the later seasons of life and work.
Lisa believes Needle’s Eye is uniquely positioned to bring business experience and ministry wisdom together under one roof. During the ministry’s leadership transition, she was convinced the next leader needed both backgrounds, and she reached out to Lee to share that conviction. He was already sensing the same thing.
What excites her most about this season is the growth. At Needle’s Eye events, she now sees many people she has never met, a sign that the ministry is not simply gathering the same familiar faces but multiplying and reaching new people. She also values the renewed focus on the business community and the real stories of professionals living out their faith at work.
Her encouragement to Richmond professionals is rooted in decades of experience. “The relationships you build in Christian community endure,” she says. “Years later, you can reconnect and pick up right where you left off. That is the beauty of Christian fellowship.”
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Lisa!
