Meet Beverly & Dani

Pastor Beverly Butler

Beginning July 1, Trinity will officially have a new Pastor of Spiritual Care!

Pastor Beverly Butler will be working 15 hours each week at Trinity to provide bereavement support (including funerals) and working with Parish Nurse, Becky Elsbernd, with the care team. Pastor Beverly has a unique background as she grew up in Panama City, Panama. Both parents were United Methodist missionaries, so she is very much in the family business! The youngest of three (she also has a brother and sister), she said her mom grew up on a farm here in North Iowa…the same farm Pastor Beverly now calls home! As a young girl, Pastor Beverly remembers visiting her grandma’s farm and dreaming of raising sheep as her grandma did. In 2011 she began fulfilling that dream, and soon found out that she was not really “raising” her sheep—they had become her family. The sheep that remain are all 13 years old. A 19-year-old llama is also in the mix, and Rosa “very much guards the sheep!”

To listen to Pastor Beverly talk about her animals, her story about growing up and living in different places, and her desire to be in this role at Trinity, a sense of “the right person at the right time” came to my mind. She is an extremely easy person to talk to, and although I wanted to find out more about HER, at times she had such a caring way of turning the conversation around…so much so that I can honestly say she is one of the best listeners around.

For a quick glimpse at her life story, she graduated from Balboa High School, in what was then the Canal Zone, went to college in Alabama (her dad’s home state), and after college helped her parents in their churches in southeastern Iowa where they had moved in 1982. She then felt God’s call to ministry and attended the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Pastor Beverly is an ordained United Methodist pastor and has served churches in Iowa, Upstate New York, and Northeast Pennsylvania, as well as serving as a chaplain for independent living apts. and skilled nursing facility in Norwich, NY, and also for Pathfinder Village, a residential community for children and adults with Down Syndrome in Edmeston, NY.

Pastor Beverly’s most current experience includes a “Preaching Only” pastor at the United Methodist churches in Plymouth, Rock Falls, Nora Springs, and Rudd, while also serving at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center as part-time Chaplain. She will keep her Chaplain post at the hospital while also serving in her new role at Trinity.

Of course, she’s not a brand new face at Trinity as she’s been involved here since 2016 in Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry, and has also participated in the Monday morning activities (Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina) at Trinity for a number of years.  She “loves the way Trinity is so welcoming of people coming to activities.” She added, “It felt so good that the activities are available for everyone!”

One thing she loves about Trinity is that “it’s a community!” Pastor Beverly looks forward to “meeting people and supporting them in their spiritual journey…their LIFE journey!” She loves to visit with people and get to know them. She stressed, “I’m not new to Trinity–I’m new to being on staff!”

Welcome, Pastor Beverly! We are glad to have you here!†

---

Youth Director Dani Vogel

My name is Dani Vogel, and I am super excited to join the staff at Trinity Lutheran Church as the new Youth Director. I grew up in Spring Valley, MN, and graduated from Wartburg College, and am happy to return to northern Iowa. When I’m not at church, or out and about supporting students at their events, you can find me reading, cheering on the Cubs and the Vikings, or on a never ending quest for the perfect cold brew coffee. I’m excited to be part of the ministry team at Trinity, and love all things Marvel, Ted Lasso, and have recently been welcomed by the Swiftie community as a football fan. I love blending faith and pop culture into Bible studies and different activities for the church, and look forward to seeing you all soon.  – Dani
Dani will begin her ministry with us on July 1.