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.
