I’ve seen a few things about astronaut Butch Wilmore, who was stuck in space for nine months and recently returned to earth, and it appears he is a sincere and committed follower of Jesus. In this video, filmed while he was still in space, he talked about his faith:
And this post shares how church remained a priority for Butch even while he was in space:
During his unplanned nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore didn’t just help with spacewalks and science experiments—he also made it a point to attend church every week. From space.
In his first public comments since returning to Earth, Wilmore shared why worship was still a non-negotiable, even in orbit.
“The Word of God—I need it,” Wilmore said. “My pastors are the finest pastors on or off, in this case, the planet. And to tie in and to worship with my church family was vital. I mean, it’s part of what makes me go.”
He didn’t just stream one service at his home church. He tuned in to multiple services each week, including Grace Baptist Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where a friend of his serves as a pastor.
“I would watch their service as well every single week,” he said. “It was invigorating. It was part of what I need as a believer in Jesus Christ to continue that focus.”
Being physically cut off from his church community didn’t lessen the need for spiritual connection. If anything, it heightened it.
“It assisted me day in and day out because I need that fellowship, even though it’s fellowship from afar,” Wilmore said. “It’s not like being in fellowship up close, but still—I needed it.”
Space may be the final frontier, but apparently, not even that can keep a believer from church on Sunday.
Last year I had the pleasure of getting to know another astronaut, Shane Kimbrough, who also loves Jesus. (You can view Shane’s Instagram, where he shows some incredible photos and videos he’s taken in space, like this one.) We spoke together at a gathering for illumiNations, a collaboration between a dozen or so Bible translation agencies to help provide God’s Word in every language in our lifetime. Shane and I were asked to have a joint conversation with Bobby Gruenewald (founder of the YouVersion Bible app). The brother who set up our session together said to me, “Shane is a guy who’s been to the heavens, and you’re a guy who’s written about Heaven, so let’s put you together.” We had a great time talking about the New Earth, the view from space, and more:
Astronaut photos credit: Wikimedia Commons (NASA/Bill Stafford)
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