I know what it means to be strong. I also know strength is not the same as wholeness.

I am Diane A. Butts, a pastor, spiritual life coach, teacher, writer, and community servant. My work is rooted in faith, justice, compassion, and the belief that women deserve more than a life organized around endurance. 


I come from strong Southern people and was shaped by the grit, honesty, and community of Paterson, New Jersey. I learned early how to keep moving, how to care for others, and how to find God in places where life did not arrive neatly wrapped.

Divine Joy grew from lived faith, hard-won wisdom, and a refusal to let survival have the final word.

Across decades of service as a social worker, leadership coach, pastor, wife, mother, grandmother, mentor, and community servant, I have walked beside people through grief, transition, trauma, faith questions, leadership pressure, and the quiet ache of losing themselves while taking care of everybody else. 


Divine Joy is the gathering place for what those years taught me: healing is sacred work; rest is not laziness; boundaries can be holy; joy is not denial; and God is still in the repair business.

What I Believe

We are treasure in earthen vessels. We are sacred and resilient, but we are not unbreakable.

God’s love does not demand that women disappear inside service, strength, or sacrifice.

Rest, healing, truth-telling, boundaries, community, and joy are spiritual practices.

Transformation does not erase our stories. It helps us carry them without being crushed by them.

Joy is not shallow happiness. It is a life force that draws us closer to God and helps us live fully.

Experience Shaped by Service

Pastor • Spiritual Life Coach • Writer • Teacher • Radio Host • Community Servant • Founder of Divine Joy


Diane brings together pastoral care, social work, leadership coaching, teaching, writing, and lived wisdom. Her work serves women, faith communities, leaders, organizations, and groups seeking honest, compassionate pathways toward healing and growth.