A Man of Letters: Tim Botts

by Greg Asimakoupoulos

If you called Timothy R. Botts a man of letters, you’d be right. He is known far and wide in the evangelical world by his expressive renderings of scripture and hymn texts. His frameable prints, calendars, and greeting cards grace many a Covenanter’s home.

Tim grew up in an Evangelical United Brethren home outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His artistic ability was recognized by one of his elementary school teachers. That encouragement and the affirmation of family and friends resulted in Tim’s pursuit of a degree in art from Carnegie Mellon University. When Tim and his wife Nancy served as short-term missionaries in Japan, he discovered the art of calligraphy and fell in love with it. It was a love affair that has lasted nearly as long as his five-decades-long marriage.

When Tim accepted a position as art director at Tyndale House Publishers in Carol Stream, Illinois, a position he held for over thirty years, he became acquainted with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Dr. Lon Allison, an ordained Covenant pastor who served as the director of the Billy Graham Museum on the campus of Wheaton College, recognized Tim’s unique ability and invited him to exhibit his original calligraphy.

Although I had been familiar with Tim’s work for many years, I met him for the first time after moving to the Chicago area to serve the Naperville Evangelical Covenant Church. Our friendship grew based on a common interest in communicating our faith creatively. I commissioned Tim to inscribe a decorative house blessing. Together, we collaborated on an original Christmas card that both our families sent out.

After my baptismal hymn “The Fruit of Love” was included in the Covenant hymnal in 1996, Tim contemplated my lyrics. The result of what he rendered brought to life the verses. Here’s his own explanation of the artwork:

Greg’s lyrics suggest what happens in infant baptism or infant dedication. In the act of presenting a child to the Lord we see the process of passing on the legacy of faith. The background motif features two larger hands and one smaller hand that picture the parents and the child. In baptism or dedication, the parents vow to deposit in their son or daughter’s heart the seeds of faith through what is taught and what is modeled. The gold leaf dots connecting the large hands with the small hand speak of what is being passed on.

While serving as chaplain with Covenant Living Communities and Services, I discovered that Tim’s father was a resident at Windsor Park Manor, a Covenant Living campus in Carol Stream, Illinois. As a gift to the residents, Tim played the grand piano in the lobby of the Town Center once a month. His artistry with two hands on the keys mirrors his creative ability with one hand holding a pen. His familiarity with the hymns of our heritage was appreciated by those who grew up with a Scandinavian orientation. Even though his father passed away some years ago, Tim continues to share his musical gift.

Knowing Tim’s affiliation with the Covenant Church’s retirement ministry, I invited him to come to Seattle. During my ten years as chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores, he visited our campus twice. Both times he led a calligraphy workshop for residents that was open to the public. In addition, he gave an illustrated sermon by creating a large-scale scripture rendering while at the same time explaining his approach to the art. The six-foot-by-five-foot calligraphic expressions were hung in the multipurpose room.

While visiting our campus, Tim discovered that one of our residents had two of his Covenant hymn texts framed and hung at the entrance to her apartment. I asked him to explain why he chose to illustrate “Day by Day” and “Children of the Heavenly Father” the way he did. This is how he replied:

Day by Day: The use of layers in calligraphic artwork is a relatively recent approach to arranging words. In the background I repeated the words “Day by Day” over and over, almost like a calendar grid, to represent the faithfulness of the Lord’s sustaining presence in our lives. In order for the rest of the lyrics to be easily read, I used multiple contrasts of lowercase vs capitals, straight lines vs writing on an arc, and variegated color vs white. This is all punctuated by the ancient Christian symbol of the anchor representing our hope in Christ—rendered in gold leaf which never tarnishes.

Children of the Heavenly Father: The roof line of the house in this piece was inspired by Scandinavian architecture from the Victorian period. It frames these words of refuge which are written in a style reminiscent of text traditionally written with rosemaling. Notice the stars, rendered in gold leaf, are seven-pointed because our perfect Savior has a perfect plan for each of our lives.

When Lon Allison was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, he was serving on staff at Wheaton Bible Church where Tim and his wife Nancy are longtime members. I emailed Tim and asked if he could create a rendering of my poem “I Prayed for You Today” to be shared with Lon and his family. The result was a tangible expression of our love and prayerful concern. When Lon passed away, the church asked Tim to create an original artwork for the memorial service bulletin cover.

Through his years of exposure to our movement, Tim Botts has learned the art of celebrating the values of Mission Friends. As a friend of mine, he remains committed to his mission of bringing the Word of God to life in expressive detail. When someone asks “Where is it written?” I hope you can point them to a verse that has been illustrated by this gifted calligrapher.