Chuck Burkeen has been a beloved part of the Oregon Conference ministry family for most of his life. “My wife and I were baptized into the church when I was 25 years old,” said Chuck. “I felt the call to be a pastor when I was playing in a rock band. I’d been studying with an Adventist at the time. I was working on the railroad during the day and playing in my band at night. One of my coworkers had grown up in the Adventist church, and we began studying together there on the railroad tracks. I was playing in my band one day and it just hit me - ‘You shouldn’t be doing this. You should be a pastor.’” A few months later, Chuck and his wife began attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church, and later that year they were baptized.
Chuck said that even as early as his baptism, he knew God was calling him to ministry. Miracle after miracle made a way for Chuck to attend Walla Walla University. In 1987, the church was facing a period of financial hardship due, in part, the closing of Harris Pine Mills, which had caused tithe to drop. Chuck said that receiving a call to pastoral ministry in the midst of that uncertainty was a miracle in itself, but he found himself coming back home to pastor in the Oregon Conference.
Chuck has spent his entire ministry serving in the Oregon Conference - from pastoring local churches including Grants Pass, Sutherland, Glide, Gateway, McMinnville, Springfield, and others to serving at the conference office as the Ministerial Director. Chuck has had the opportunity to see firsthand many of the changes in the Oregon Conference over the years - including changes in his own family. “The Springfield Church was wonderful,” said Chuck, “They had a healthy team of leaders and were involved in evangelism. My mother and my cousin attended an evangelistic series there, which was surprising because they had kind of always held us at arms’ length before because we were part of that ‘strange’ Adventist church! But after coming to those meetings they both joined the church in Springfield and got active and involved. It was just kind of icing on the cake to be able to attend church with my mom!”
Chuck said that the church has changed in other ways, too. “We didn’t really know it, but we came into the church during a traumatic time for the Adventist Church in North America. They were right in the depth of the issues with Desmond Ford and the financial issues with Davenport - but the church that we joined in Cottage Grove was just so loving. I think they sheltered us from some of that. But when I started the theology program at Walla Walla and got into some of the theological issues the church was dealing with, I started seeing people picking sides. Some people got really militant and others were just throwing their hands up and leaving,” said Chuck, “But I came to the conclusion early on that I didn’t want to go into either of those camps. I wanted to be able to minister to both sides, because I saw that both sides were hurting. Often the militant people became that way because they were afraid, and many of the people leaving were leaving because people were hurting them. So I wanted to be able to work with both of those groups.”
“It’s always been hard for some people to embrace change,” said Chuck, “I remember the first few times I would be on the church platform and I’d pull out my guitar, I’d see three or four families get up and walk out. And they were my friends! We had good relationships, but they couldn’t get their mind around the idea of a guitar being played in church. It took the church a long time to get used to things like that. So I think the biggest change I’ve seen is that even people that maybe haven’t embraced change at least aren’t being driven out by it in the same way.”
When it comes to ministry and the advice that Chuck would give, he said this, “To pastors, I would say lean into the things that recharge your batteries. Maybe your passion is preaching - lean into that. Whatever it is, lean into the things that energize you. That makes all the difference when you have to do things that don’t.” Chuck had advice for church members, too. “We have so many wonderful young pastors coming into the ministry. They’re enthusiastic, they’re passionate, they’re talented, and they have vision! Those going into church planting or starting in congregations that share that passion are thriving. But many times those assigned to more traditional churches have challenges. Often, members aren’t intending to burn them out - but don’t understand that many of these young pastors have ideas that we need to embrace. So I would implore the membership to listen to some of those visions. Yes, they may be challenging and you may not have the energy to live up to the dreams that the pastor may have in mind, but if you at least allow them some freedom and give them the reins to try new things and even to fail, we can preserve a lot more of these relationships with our young pastors, and you’ll find out in the long run that you’ve grown together. They’ll learn to love you, and you’ll learn to love them, too.”
Finally, Chuck wanted to share a message to young people: “Young people, we need you! Because I’m retiring now, and there’s a whole lot of the church entering retirement now. I’m really encouraged for the future of this church. We have young pastors coming in and even some of our older pastors who really have their finger to the pulse of society. They understand what it takes to better communicate with their generations and this next generation coming into leadership. If we let them explore those better ways of connecting, I feel really good about our future.”
“I have to say how much I have appreciated the leadership in the Oregon Conference,” said Chuck, “And that’s not just our administrators at the conference office, but every leader across the conference. I’ve seen the burdens our leaders here have carried, and I’ve seen them take those to the Lord and rely on Him to get through. Despite all of the changes and opinions and different administrations, the conference is still here and it’s still going well. I’ve learned something from each one whether during the good times or the challenging ones, so I just praise the Lord for all of these people I’ve been blessed to work with over the years.”
We are so grateful for the leadership and love Chuck Burkeen has provided to countless people here in the Oregon Conference all these years, and wish him the very best as he enters retirement.
