You can't hear God unless you're listening: A Chat with Br. Thomas Buttrick
12/14/21 • 83 min
Brother Thomas Buttrick was born in Phoenix in 1981, to a family with secular Jewish roots on his mother’s side and Protestant New England– though unchurched and fairly disconnected– roots on his father’s side.
Thomas is one of three, having two older siblings, and, after his parents divorced when he was an infant, he, his mom and siblings moved out East, where he gained a stepfather and grew up in suburban New Jersey, loving the arts, music, and, as he says, arguing.
After high school, Thomas studied history at Brown University, where, through the Bible and an influential friend, he also got interested in the academic study of religion, as well as in its teachings and promises for the believer.
By his graduation, Thomas considered himself a Christian, though still unbaptized. After college, he traveled to Israel, becoming more religiously committed there and experimenting with his sense of belonging in different Christian groups and churches.
In 2007, he was baptized by a friend in a private ceremony, and, around that time, he also started working on organic farms out west and becoming interested in teaching.
After a confusing and illuminating journey, Thomas chose to join the Catholic Church in 2014. He continued teaching for some time, but longed for more structure and purpose in his life, as well as more space for prayer. He began visiting Mount Angel Abbey, a home and seminary for Benedictine Monks, and found in it a balanced-feeling existence, with, as he says, “good spaces for listening.”
Thomas joined the Abbey, going through the typical stages of monastic initiation, in 2017, and he received the religious name Thomas, in honor of St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus, who initially doubted his master's resurrection and was later convinced of it.
Thomas made the traditional vows of obedience, stability, and monastic conversion very recently on September 11, 2021
Art Direction and Design by Molly Keene
Music by Yakov Fleischmann
Brother Thomas Buttrick was born in Phoenix in 1981, to a family with secular Jewish roots on his mother’s side and Protestant New England– though unchurched and fairly disconnected– roots on his father’s side.
Thomas is one of three, having two older siblings, and, after his parents divorced when he was an infant, he, his mom and siblings moved out East, where he gained a stepfather and grew up in suburban New Jersey, loving the arts, music, and, as he says, arguing.
After high school, Thomas studied history at Brown University, where, through the Bible and an influential friend, he also got interested in the academic study of religion, as well as in its teachings and promises for the believer.
By his graduation, Thomas considered himself a Christian, though still unbaptized. After college, he traveled to Israel, becoming more religiously committed there and experimenting with his sense of belonging in different Christian groups and churches.
In 2007, he was baptized by a friend in a private ceremony, and, around that time, he also started working on organic farms out west and becoming interested in teaching.
After a confusing and illuminating journey, Thomas chose to join the Catholic Church in 2014. He continued teaching for some time, but longed for more structure and purpose in his life, as well as more space for prayer. He began visiting Mount Angel Abbey, a home and seminary for Benedictine Monks, and found in it a balanced-feeling existence, with, as he says, “good spaces for listening.”
Thomas joined the Abbey, going through the typical stages of monastic initiation, in 2017, and he received the religious name Thomas, in honor of St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus, who initially doubted his master's resurrection and was later convinced of it.
Thomas made the traditional vows of obedience, stability, and monastic conversion very recently on September 11, 2021
Art Direction and Design by Molly Keene
Music by Yakov Fleischmann
Previous Episode
Winding In and Out of Academia, Spirituality, Fitness and Family Ties with Grant McCandless
A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Grant McCandless taught ethics and philosophy in community college before enrolling at Harvard to study American religious history as well as nonprofit management. While there he became an advisor to Habitat for Humanity International on their new interfaith inclusion initiative and withdrew from Harvard to do strategic planning for the nonprofit at their headquarters. He earned an MBA at Emory University in Atlanta and is now a consultant to the housing industry in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Art Direction and Design by Molly Keene
Music by Yakov Fleischmann
Next Episode
Learning by Teaching, Giving God Compassion, and Choosing Joy: A Chat with Rabbi Sivan Rotholz
Rabbi Sivan Rotholz joined Central Synagogue full-time in 2024 after a year serving as a teacher with Central's Center for Exploring Judaism. Born in Haifa, Israel, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sivan earned her B.A. in Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz, her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law, her M.F.A. in poetry from Brooklyn College CUNY, and her Master's in Nonprofit Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A recovering attorney, before being called to the rabbinate, Sivan was a professor of gynocentric Torah (Torah that is centered on the stories and experiences of women) and creative writing. Called to serve others by making Judaism more joyous and accessible, Sivan began rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College in 2018 and has served as a student rabbi at Congregation Brith Sholem in Ogden, Utah; Brandeis Hillel; and for the JDC. A passionate Jewish educator, Sivan has taught at Brooklyn College; Tel Aviv University; Hebrew Union College; Columbia/Barnard & Brandeis Hillels; Temple Emanu-El (NYC); Temple Israel of the City of New York; Congregation Beth Israel (Portland); Camp Ramah; Wexner Institutes; Moishe House; At the Well; Pardes; the URJ; Melton; and Ritualwell. Her areas of expertise include adult education, creative midrash, work with conversion students, exploring Judaism, feminist Torah, and poetry. She always opts for discussion facilitation rather than frontal lecturing, believes in the power of hevrutah — studying in pairs or small groups — and learns most when teaching. Sivan is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship; the Froman Fellowship with the New Israel Fund; the year-long Hartman Institute Rabbinic Seminar; and Atra: The Center for Rabbinic Innovation. Sivan lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her two children, Aidan Avishai and Elsie Dani.
To read some of Sivan’s writing, visit her website at sivanrotholz.com.
Art Direction and Design by Molly Keene
Music by Yakov Fleischmann
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