2020 Lifetime Achievement Award
John Burgess was born August 9,1926, in the home of a sharecropper in Manghum, Louisiana His father, Joseph Burgess, fought in the first World War and suffered lung injuries due to chemical warfare. After suffering through WWI, he and his family of 5 suffered through the Great Depression, but because of his diligence and hard work, they survived. Later he became ill, and although he faced it with the same resolve, his damaged lungs weren’t up for this challenge.
Consequently, at the age of 11, John lost his father. After this tragic loss, young John and his two siblings followed their mother back to her homeland in Central Mississippi. With no other alternative, this widow and her three children turned to her family for help. However, her Mississippi family was suffering through the same depression, and with the added mouths to feed, there were times it seemed they would nearly starve to death.
These hard times permanently marked our father in many ways. The sufferings of the Great Depression created in him a drive to work hard and be successful in every aspect of life. The date of his birth placed him in the generation known as the Greatest Generation, but a proper upbringing and the intense fires of hardship molded him into the hardworking man and preacher who, at 93 years of age, still works and preaches the gospel! He has, long ago, earned membership in the Greatest Generation, both in word and in deed.
He left home after school and moved to Bastrop, Louisiana to work in the paper mill. As he was packing to leaving home, his mother put a Bible in his suitcase. His mother and his aunt, Sister Nettie Crout, agreed to fast and pray for his salvation. Of course, their prayers reached the throne of grace causing God to reach down and grip his heart with conviction. He started reading that Bible and stopped going out with his buddies. Very soon, he was attending revival services and seeking the Holy Ghost. One night, he went to church determined to leave with the Holy Ghost. He stayed in the altar, seeking God, until his white shirt turned brown from dust and sweat, but when he left, he was full of the Holy Ghost. During this time, he visited Brother Jimmy Miller’s church in Hodge, Louisiana and met Gloria Donaldson. They were soon married.
He and his wife moved back to Mississippi and started attending church with his mother in Polkville where Brother LaPraire was pastor. He and his relatives started a logging business that lead him to the woods to work, but God lead him to the woods to pray. In the fall of 1949, at an old stump in the piney woods of Scott County, Mississippi, God called him to preach the gospel.
Brother Burgess’ early years of ministry were spent evangelizing and helping Brother LaPraire start a church in Center Point, Louisiana. He also spent time pastoring several other churches. Evangelizing in those days was not for the faint of heart. Often, Sister Burgess had to take in sewing jobs to get enough money to make it to the next revival. There was one revival where the only thing they had to eat was black-eyed peas. During the hot summer nights of revival, his one suit would be soaked with sweat, but everyday Sister Burgess would clean the suit and have it read for church the next night. Back then, revival was 7 nights a week with very few rest nights along the way.
In 1955, he became pastor at Newellton, Louisiana They started in a house that was converted into a church out in the old Civil War quarters. Later some land was donated to the church, and he built a new building in town. While still pastoring in Newellton, he pastored two other churches, one in Waterproof and the other in Holly Ridge Oil Field.
In 1959, he went on to pastor in Tallulah, Louisiana. The first Sunday there was Easter, and the attendance was 19. Soon the church began revival, and 60 new souls were added to the church. Growth continued even after this revival.
After leaving Tallulah, they evangelized again, spending a lot of time in South Texas. In 1962, they took a church in Dequincy, Louisiana and it was there that their first son was born.
They moved to Forest, Mississippi, in 1965, to become pastor there. In 8 and 1/2 months, they saw over 30 people pray through to the Holy Ghost! As was their custom, they worked hard and paid off a lot of church debt.
In 1965, he became pastor in Berry’s Creek, Louisiana While they were there two wonderful things happened. The church had revival and their second son was born! During a remodeling project, they were getting ready to buy new pews. One man said, “Why do we need new pews? We don’t sit on the ones we have!”
In 1971 they moved to Sandy Lake, Louisiana and pastored there for a few years. Then in 1973 they moved back to resume their pastorate in Berry’s Creek.
In 1975 the Burgesses moved to Carthage, Mississippi, and there he became pastor. Soon, after taking the church, they outgrew their building and built a new sanctuary on the property. In 1979, the old building was converted into a Christian School, and for the last 41 years, Carthage Christian Academy has been a vital part of the church and community. It remains strong to this day.
Since 1949, Elder Burgess has been privileged to pastor 10 different churches and evangelize across the south while working hard on public jobs and operating businesses to make it all possible. Today, 71 years later, he is living proof that you can preach the same message of salvation and holiness, unchanged and still relevant for this present day!