HOWARD E. BUTT, JR.
President, H. E. Butt Foundation
Vice Chairman, H. E. Butt Grocery Company

Howard E. Butt, Jr.—business leader, spiritual reformer, bridge-builder, communicator, innovator, and author—is one of America's earliest and most consistent advocates of servant leadership at home, at work, and at large.

Mr. Butt is the voice of “The High Calling of Our Daily Work®,” 60-second radio spots that air primetime on over 2,000 stations in all fifty states.  Enthusiasm for the spots inspired TheHighCalling.org, which expands on Mr. Butt's messagesCan engaging blend of faith, business, and motivation.  And TheHighCalling.org website offers a growing library of free articles, interviews, and radio messages to encourage Christians in their daily work.

For more than 50 years, Mr. Butt has built bridges and reconciled diverse groups in the secular and religious worlds.  A speaker at one of the early prayer breakfasts for President Eisenhower, Mr. Butt was appointed by President Kennedy to the first Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.  He later organized the North American Congress of the Laity, whose honorary chairman was President Ford.

In the 1950s, Howard Butt teamed with Billy Graham to create Layman's Leadership Institutes, a phenomenon that sparked a host of spiritual programs for business professionals.  Ten years earlier, as a student, he was general chairman of the Baylor Youth Revival that exploded into Southern Baptist history.  Mr. Butt was an early board member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and a founding board member of Christianity Today.

Today Mr. Butt is president of the H. E. Butt Foundation, one of the early private foundations in Texas, established in 1933. The Foundation's 1,900+-acre camp northwest of San Antonio welcomes approximately 22,000 persons annually for two or more nights without charging for the facilities.

As president of the H. E. Butt Foundation, Laity Renewal Foundation, and Laity Lodge Foundation, Mr. Butt oversees the administration of Laity Lodge, a nationally known Christian retreat center in Texas; Laity Lodge Youth Camp, private camping for children ages 7-16; and the Forum, gatherings of strategic leaders who meet to explore the interrelations of business management, theology, and behavioral science. Mr. Butt also serves as vice chairman of the H. E. Butt Grocery Company, one of the nation's largest independent supermarket chains

Frederick Buechner said of Laity Lodge, "It is a bit like the land of Oz—some come looking for courage, some a new heart, some a new mind, and many seeking the goal Dorothy had—finding home." As a novelist, Buechner captures the emotional appeal of Laity Lodge. The intellectual appeal is perhaps best summed up by Professor Dale Bruner, who wrote:

"Billy Graham goes wider than anyone else in Christendom. Does anyone go deeper than Howard Butt's Laity Lodge? I don't think so; I really don't think so."

Howard Butt is the author of Renewing America's Soul; Renewing the Spirit, Healing the Soul; At The Edge of Hope: Christian Laity in Paradox (with Elliott Wright); The Velvet Covered Brick: Christian Leadership in an Age of Rebellion, which spurred national interest in servant leadership, and Who Can You Trust? Overcoming Betrayal and Fear.

He and his wife, Barbara Dan Butt, reside in San Antonio, Texas. They have three children and eight grandchildren.