Meyer lecture features Lutheran

Staff report

CANFIELD

A Lutheran pastor from Pennsylvania with expertise on the Apostle James will be guest speaker in the Rabbi Samuel Meyer Memorial Lecture series planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul Monastery, 9531 Akron-Canfield Road.

The free ecumenical event is open to the public.

The Rev. Jeffrey J. Butz, adjunct professor of religious studies at Penn State University’s Lehigh Valley/Berks campuses, will speak on “James the Brother of the Lord: A Key to Jewish- Christian Understanding.”

This is the 16th event in the series.

The Rev. Mr. Butz has been pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Nazareth, Pa., since 1996 and an adjunct professor at Penn State since 2002.

He has a master of divinity degree from Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa., and a master of sacred theology from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, where he wrote his thesis on “The Quest for James the Brother of Jesus.”

Mr. Butz also has a bachelor’s degree in earth science from Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pa.

His first career was as a high school science teacher.

He is the author of two books on James and Jewish Christianity.

“The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity” received critical acclaim as the best book on James written for a popular audience.

His most recent book, “The Secret Legacy of Jesus,” has been called “the new definitive work on Jewish Christianity.”

Mr. Butz has participated in archaeological digs at Tamar in the Negev desert and on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

He is a member of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College and the United Israel World Union.

He recently has written a screenplay on James for Hollywood producer Harvey Rochman, and is featured in a soon-to-be-released documentary on St. Paul, “A Polite Bribe,” directed by Robert Orlando.

He lives with his wife, Kathy, and two children in Whitehall, Pa.

He maintains a website devoted to St. James at www.thebrotherofjesus.com.

The Meyer Memorial Lecture Series is made possible by the Rabbi Samuel Meyer Memorial Trust. The trust was established in 1994 to honor the memory of the late Samuel Meyer, rabbi emeritus of Temple El Emeth in Liberty, who died in 1992.

Rabbi Meyer served as rabbi of Temple El Emeth and its predecessor congregations in Youngstown from 1971 until his retirement in 1990.

He had an interest in Jewish-Christian dialogues, and the lecture series takes place annually to foster continuing interfaith discussion in the Mahoning Valley.

Rabbi Meyer and the Rev. George Balasko of the Diocese of Youngstown co-founded the local Jewish-Christian Dialogue group some 36 years ago, and it continues to this day.