Eric Butterworth

Through Sunday lectures and his radio program, Eric Butterworth inspired many thousands of people and touched others through his letters. Whether it was Maya Angelou or Oprah Winfrey, Norman Vincent Peale or Sir John Templeton, or a member of his congregation, Butterworth always had a kind word. 

His kindness prevailed even in racial conflict. In 1956 he received a letter from a congregant who expressed concern that white people were being “deprived of their highest good” because there were Black people in the congregation. Butterworth acknowledged her concerns and fears yet responded using spiritual principle. He reminded her that Jesus demonstrated new ways of expressing love, forgiveness, and peace. Butterworth invited the woman to change her perspective, to recognize that a “segregated Unity Center is a paradox” because “Unity, as the name implies, stands for oneness.”

Throughout Butterworth’s 50 years as minister and teacher, he reminded people that they have more power within them than they recognize, and they have the choice whether to use this power. “You are the master of your mind … or you can be … Today is the day … Now is the time.”

Norman Vincent Peale to Eric Butterworth Letter, August 1, 1968