I'm Steve Stutz. I've spent nearly thirty years doing the work that doesn't show up on organizational charts — sitting with people in the hardest moments of their lives, helping congregations find their footing when the ground shifts, and teaching anyone willing to slow down long enough that the Christian tradition has more to say than they thought.
I am an ordained Lutheran pastor, a Doctor of Ministry with a specialization in Christian contemplative spirituality, and a certified spiritual director trained in both the Episcopal and Lutheran traditions. For fifteen years I served on the faculty of the FIND School for Spiritual Direction in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, forming spiritual directors across denominational lines. I have taught graduate students, clergy, and laypeople — in seminaries, on retreat, in Uganda, and in recovery groups on Thursday nights.
My work sits at the intersection of three things I can't stop thinking about: the depth of the Christian tradition, the real questions people actually bring to faith, and the gap between them. My preaching and teaching draw from Scripture, the Lutheran confessions, the wisdom of the early church, and thinkers who have no obvious business being in a sermon — Seneca, Thomas Aquinas, the desert fathers, the occasional novelist. The goal is never to be interesting. The goal is to make the ancient thing land in a real life.
I have guided congregations through closure, conflict, transition, and rediscovery. I know what a church in trouble looks like from the inside, and I know the difference between a community that needs a strategic plan and one that needs to grieve before it can move forward.
I am based in La Porte, Texas, where I have deep roots in the south Houston community since 2002. I am available for spiritual direction, pastoral consultation, preaching, and congregational accompaniment. I am a Retired U.S. Army Major, a life-professed friar in the Anglican Order of Preachers, and the kind of pastor who will tell you the truth even when it's inconvenient.
If you're navigating something hard — personally, spiritually, or as a congregation — I'd be glad to talk.
I am an ordained Lutheran pastor, a Doctor of Ministry with a specialization in Christian contemplative spirituality, and a certified spiritual director trained in both the Episcopal and Lutheran traditions. For fifteen years I served on the faculty of the FIND School for Spiritual Direction in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, forming spiritual directors across denominational lines. I have taught graduate students, clergy, and laypeople — in seminaries, on retreat, in Uganda, and in recovery groups on Thursday nights.
My work sits at the intersection of three things I can't stop thinking about: the depth of the Christian tradition, the real questions people actually bring to faith, and the gap between them. My preaching and teaching draw from Scripture, the Lutheran confessions, the wisdom of the early church, and thinkers who have no obvious business being in a sermon — Seneca, Thomas Aquinas, the desert fathers, the occasional novelist. The goal is never to be interesting. The goal is to make the ancient thing land in a real life.
I have guided congregations through closure, conflict, transition, and rediscovery. I know what a church in trouble looks like from the inside, and I know the difference between a community that needs a strategic plan and one that needs to grieve before it can move forward.
I am based in La Porte, Texas, where I have deep roots in the south Houston community since 2002. I am available for spiritual direction, pastoral consultation, preaching, and congregational accompaniment. I am a Retired U.S. Army Major, a life-professed friar in the Anglican Order of Preachers, and the kind of pastor who will tell you the truth even when it's inconvenient.
If you're navigating something hard — personally, spiritually, or as a congregation — I'd be glad to talk.
And one more thing...
The Marginal Note
Theology for people who are still paying attention.
After nearly thirty years of parish ministry, I've noticed that the most important conversations happen after the meeting ends. When the room clears and someone finally says the thing that didn't fit on the agenda.
That's what The Marginal Note is for. A free monthly newsletter about the things the church mostly refuses to talk about plainly — transition, spiritual disturbance, formation, and the conversations that happen at the edges of official church life.
No devotionals. No institutional announcements. Just honest theology, written for people who are still paying attention.
It's free. It will stay free. Subscribe at https://revstevestutzdmin.substack.com
Theology for people who are still paying attention.
After nearly thirty years of parish ministry, I've noticed that the most important conversations happen after the meeting ends. When the room clears and someone finally says the thing that didn't fit on the agenda.
That's what The Marginal Note is for. A free monthly newsletter about the things the church mostly refuses to talk about plainly — transition, spiritual disturbance, formation, and the conversations that happen at the edges of official church life.
No devotionals. No institutional announcements. Just honest theology, written for people who are still paying attention.
It's free. It will stay free. Subscribe at https://revstevestutzdmin.substack.com
