Lee H. Butler, Jr.

Born in Central Pennsylvania, Dr. Lee H. Butler, Jr. arrives in Oklahoma following the leading of God's Spirit. His identity has been formed by being a lifelong Baptist, a student athlete from junior high school through college, and a first generation beneficiary of the Post-Civil and Human Rights struggle in the United States.

Dr. Butler received his PhD in 1994 from Drew University in Psychology and Religion and a MPhil in 1992. He also holds a MTh from Princeton Theological Seminary in Pastoral Theology, a MDiv from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary) with a concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling, an a BA from Bucknell University in Religion.

He comes to Phillips from Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) where he was the Distinguished Service Professor of Theology and Psychology. He was the first African American to achieve the rank of tenured full professor at CTS. He was also the founding director of the Center for the Study of Black Faith and Life at CTS. Through the work of the Center, he established the C. Shelby Rooks Lectureship as a tribute to the first African American to become president of a predominantly European American seminary and hosted the first Womanists-Womanist Collaborators Conference in theological education at CTS.

He is an active publishing scholar and member of multiple professional organizations. He is a past president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Pastoral Theology, the Institute for Signifying Scriptures, Society for Process Consulting and the Association of Black Psychologists. He was licensed to preach the Gospel in 1977 and became an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches/USA in 1988. He has an ecumenical spirit and is active in his local congregation as preacher and teacher.