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Pastor still on 'really remarkable journey'

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published February 10, 2007

CLEARWATER - When God called the Rev. Mary Rebecca Burton to the ministry, it wasn't a burning bush moment.

There were no trumpets or commanding voices.

It was more of a gentle nudge.

Friends would pause in mid-conversation, veer completely off the subject and ask the career executive if she had ever considered being a pastor.

"Those things came at odd, unusual and unexpected times," said Burton, the first female pastor in the 116-year history of Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church.

After about three years of nudging, she enrolled at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., and in 2005 earned a doctorate in ministry.

In December, Burton, 53, was hired at Peace Memorial to replace the Rev. Dr. Lawrence McBride Sigmon, who left in 2004 as the church's permanent minister.

"I did not think I would be doing parish ministry, much less leading a church," said Burton. "It has been a really remarkable journey for me."

Born in Miami, Burton was raised by her grandparents. She attended high school in Ocala, where her family had moved to a 500-acre farm.

Four years later, she graduated from Western Carolina University with a degree in political science and English.

Later, Burton received a master's in political science from Appalachian State University, where she also taught American government classes and worked as an admissions officer.

In 1976, she moved to Washington, D.C., and launched a 14-year career in nonprofit organizations. She worked at the United Way in Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Connecticut, and at the Boys and Girls Clubs.

In the early 1990s, she worked at a case management agency for HIV patients, a job that proved difficult emotionally.

"I was writing about five condolence notes a week," Burton said. "That was at the time I was considering (switching vocations)."

It was then that she met John, now her husband of 12 years.

The couple settled in the Chamblee area of metro Atlanta, where they loved to entertain friends and family and built up "a lot of cultural capital," Burton said.

Both enjoy making blackberry jelly, gardening, playing golf, listening to Garrison Keillor on public radio and hiking in the mountains.

John Burton is a computer program analyst who recently was hired at the Veterans Office of Regional Administration at Bay Pines.

The Burtons bought a house in the Morningside area of Clearwater and a retired show dog, a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Dixie, and eased into the community.

One challenge Burton faces is the location of Peace Memorial. The pink 405-member church is on Fort Harrison Avenue, nestled among Church of Scientology-owned structures.

But it doesn't bother her.

"In any community you're going to be surrounded by different world views," she said. "We live in a pluralistic world. The question is, are we going to be a good neighbor? Our world view is that Christ is the Lord, and we live that out in different ways."

The congregation seems to have embraced Burton.

"We're excited to have her," said Ken McElroy, a church elder and the clerk of session. "She brings to the table knowledge, skills and ability. She has the ability to encourage people to do the things that need to be done. She's soft but firm."

A relaxed and gracious woman, she joked with the staff and interrupted lunch to talk to a reporter last week.

Workmen were busy rewiring the church, which hasn't had that kind of attention since 1923, and landscapers are preparing a new memorial garden where people can have their ashes scattered.

Today, she and church leaders will conduct a visioning session and develop an action plan to improve or expand its ministries.

"I have been overwhelmed by how warm, compassionate and caring this congregation is," Burton said. "We will take that energy and project it forth."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 9, 2007, 20:22:09]