Daniel L. Buttry was born in Oak Park, Illinois to an Air Force chaplain and his wife. Buttry grew up as a pastor’s child and experienced many moves as a result of his father’s service. These were formative years for Buttry as he states that “The constant travelling and uprooting of our life-style exposed me to many different kinds of people and many different cultures. It also forced me to learn how to be secure in changing situations.” While a freshman student at Wheaton College, Buttry gave himself to Jesus Christ and was rebaptized. In college, the writing of the Anabaptists, C.S. Lewis, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were formative he “began to see that one’s spiritual commitment affects all of one’s life.”

After graduating from Wheaton, Buttry went to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary where he led a group of young adults in worship at a Baptist church in Ipswich, MA while studying. This experience forced Buttry to face a calling to be a pastor. Throughout seminary, he came to see the city as a vital point for many elements of society: for both good and for evil. These realizations as well as his call to the pastorate led Buttry to the urban pastorate. After graduating from Gordon-Conwell, he did just that as Boston’s Dorchester Temple Baptist Church called him to be the pastor of the congregation.

After serving at the church from 1978-1987, Buttry became the manager of the American Baptist Church’s Peace Program. Buttry states that his peacemaking journey began when he was asked, “You’ve said Jesus Christ is your Lord. What does Jesus say?” This question stuck with Buttry and he read the gospels in a new light. The question “What does Jesus say?” became the key to discipleship and the ultimate question to every problem that we face. As part of the peace program, Buttry experienced the issues of world hunger, famines, and violence. He then realized that structural sin is something that we must face in order to address the plight of the oppressed. This led Buttry to address the issue of nonviolence in the churches that he was working with and for across the globe, especially in the Burmese conflicts in the 80s and 90s.

Buttry’s passion for the church and conflict resolution and peacemaking has not tapered. He continues to do work as the global consultant for peace and justice for International Ministries, whose goal is “to help people to pursue peace, justice and reconciliation through ministries of conflict transformation and education, as well as by standing with and serving the victims of conflict.” Buttry continues to train church and local leaders the skills of conflict transformation through education and Bible study and works with local congregations to resolve conflicts that arise among them.

Buttry is the author of several books including We Are the Socks, Blessed Are the Peacemakers, Interfaith Heroes, and Interfaith Heroes 2.