Tribute to Tom Burgess

God’s servant; everyone’s friend

above - Tom gave his last sermon - now he’s receiving his reward in heaven

Would someone do me a favor and please repost this on Facebook, where Tom had over 1000 friends’? Please feel free to edit.

for those of you who would rather listen than read, (like a lot of millenial multi-taskers) here is an audio version - but you’ll miss a couple pictures and links.

I was banished, canceled from FB last year, during the election campaign. I’ve always been polite and respectful on FB, but I suppose I was blackballed by some (rogue?) Meta employees for saying something nice about President Trump. We know now that FB was trying to influence the election. Some of you free subscribers to my substack publishing platform “My Two Cents” are also on FB.

I would have posted this sooner but have been very sick for almost 3 weeks.

Tom ministered at Crossroads for 42 years. He always practiced what he preached, but this really came out after he retired from the preaching ministry. Besides always visiting any brother or sister who was in hospital, he started officially becoming a hospital chaplain. It was touching when the other chaplains on call at the Adventist Hospital all came to honor and praise him publicly. Many times he was called out in the middle of the night.

above - fellow chaplains came to honor Tom memory

As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he also became a chaplain on call for the police. This kind of call also usually came in the middle of the night. It was usually something tragic – like a shooting or a terrible car accident – and Tom came to be with the trauma survivors, family and friends, to comfort them, just be with them, and be there for spiritual help and prayers when asked. Sometimes these would be all-nighters.

Only the Lord knows where he got his energy and tirelessness, or how he endured several serious physical problems and accompanying pain.

When beloved Lafe Culver asked me to take over the maintenance at Crossroads Church in Portland, so he could concentrate fully on the Seniors’ ministry, I began to spend about 20 hours a week on the campus.

I’ve always been kind of a loner, but Tom never wanted to go to lunch alone. He loved everyone. So when he was free for lunch, he invited me to join him, maybe about 3 times a week. He was a wonderful listener and could be trusted completely with a confidence.

We had a standing joke which he went along with. I’ve always been, openly and unashamedly, frugal – kind of like Jack Benny, for those of you who are old enough. Tom would always ask – where would you like to go? And I would say Taco Time, or Taco Bell, or McD’s. And he would always meet me there. He got a kick out of teasing me about my alledged tightness with money.

After Tom and the other elders ordained me to join the eldership, he knew privately that I might be ‘frugal’, but I wasn’t ‘cheap’ when it came to giving. Bev and I have been very supportive of the church and John Gabriel India Mission and several other missions, above and beyond the tithe.

Tom had hundreds of friends, all over the US and Kerala India. I only had a few friends, but somehow Tom always made me feel like I was one of his best friends. He could make you feel special because he would give you his full attention, look you in the eye, and listen very carefully to whatever you were saying.

I learned a very valuable lesson from Tom. When I was nominated for the eldership, there was one objection. Crossroads had a very good policy to give the congregation a couple weeks to study the requirements in 1 Timothy chapter 3, to pray about the nomination and to voice any objections. Any objection had to be investigated before ordaining anyone.

The way Tom handled it is the classic lesson on how to resolve any dispute between brethren.

He brought us together face to face in the privacy of his office. I never knew it till then, but a lady had been so offended by me that she told the elders that she would not vote for me. Tom, as mediator, asked her to tell me directly. This was scriptural, but I’ve rarely seen it practiced in today’s churches.

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church” Matthew 18:15-17

What had happened was in my maintenance work, I had been repairing the lower outside door threshold to the gym. I had just mixed some quick-setting cement to reset the threshold. When the lady tried to enter the building that way, I said “Use the other door”. I was concentrating so hard on my work that I must have been unintentionally rude and gruff. I could understand why she was offended. When she pointed it out, I sincerely gave her an apology and asked her forgiveness. She accepted the apology. Problem solved; fellowship restored, scripture followed, lessons learned.

Much more could be said, but I’ll close by saying that I miss Tom and can hardly wait to meet him again in paradise.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:15