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David Francis Burgess

Job Title - Pastor of St. Philips Lutheran Church
Current Location - 42470 Malbeck Dr., Sterling Heights, MI 48314
Telephone - (586) 739-2804


David Burgess and his wife Carol reside in Sterling Heights, Michigan. He ministers in an all-black congregation in downtown Detroit.

Born on October 4, 1946 in Honolulu, Rev. Burgess is the third of ten children. He grew up in Hawaii his entire childhood, graduating from Radford High School in 1964. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 6 � years in the Army Security Agency with foreign assignments in Vietnam and Japan. Following his honorable discharge, Burgess returned home to Hawaii where he worked in the hotel industry while working on his undergraduate degree at the University of Hawaii, graduating in 1976.

Believing that he was being led by the Holy Spirit, Burgess enrolled at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He spent three years on campus and one year on vicarage in Inglewood, California and finally graduated from the seminary in 1981, the same year he was ordained into the ministry.

Rev. Burgess then served as the pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Milford, Nebraska from 1981 to 1986. He then accepted a call to Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan and served in that parish from 1986 to 1992. He has been the pastor of St. Philips Lutheran Church since 1994.

Dave and CarolAside from his ministry, Rev. Burgess has authored a book, Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, which has been in print since 1986. He is also known for the many annual tours he's led to his native Hawaii since 1988, cruises to Alaska on several occasions, along with other tours to the Southwestern USA and to Europe. David and Carol just returned from leading a group of 104 Lutherans on a "Path of Luther" tour through Germany that culminated with attending the world-famous Oberamergau Passion Play in Bavaria.

Dave and Carol have four children; Michelle Meyer (husband David) from Lincoln, Nebraska; David Haas (wife Jill) from Howell, Michigan; Erik Haas from Houston, Texas, and Matthew Burgess (wife Jacqueline) from Omaha, Nebraska. They also have eight grandchildren: Robert Burgess, Zachary Burgess, Kristina Rose, Kayla Rose, Mackenzie Meyer, Erisa Haas, Michelle Burgess and Eden Haas.

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