Since 2008 he has led several entire services in his church, including giving these sermons:
The school he teaches at, Bishop Garrigan High School, is affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux City. Through the school Mr. Burrow has also become active with the Roman Catholic Church. Though he is not a member, he has helped to prepare school liturgies and he has read scripture and prayers at mass. He finds the Catholic liturgy especially reverent and meaningful; and he has attended mass while traveling in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, Alaska, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, DC, and in Wellington, New Zealand and Tokyo, Japan. He has also attended a variety of Protestant church services away from home in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.
It is probably his Methodist background that makes Mr. Burrow love hymns and religious music. He especially enjoys the resounding old British hymns with their precise words and hearty melodies. These are, of course, the very songs upon which much of the Methodist tradition is based. Mr. Burrow also likes newer offerings, such as the Catholic hymns by the St. Louis Jesuits. In keeping with his liberal religious beliefs, gospel is his least favorite style of religious music, but occasionally he can even enjoy hymns of that genre. Mr. Burrow especially enjoys religious music while driving. He keeps an old Methodist hymnal and a Catholic missalette in his car. On long trips, singing hymns aloud helps to pass the time.
Mr. Burrow enjoys writing prayers, both for his own devotion and for public presentation. Many times he has written prayers of the faithful for school masses, and he has also prepared numerous daily devotions. In December, 1997, he presented the main message at BGHS' Christmas prayer service, relating his experiences when his father died at Christmas fourteen years earlier.
Mr. Burrow is offended by those who believe there is only one route to heaven--theirs. He is willing to respect their views, and it bothers him when they are not willing to respect his. It bothers and saddens him when large numbers of people support or oppose political candidates based on one or two supposedly "Christian" issues. Some people, for instance feel a politician's views on abortion are the only views that matter. Mr. Burrow believes in protecting life, but he believes life after birth is at least as precious as life in the womb. To him candidates who oppose war, support gun control, disavow capital punishment, protect the environment, and work to end poverty are more actively "pro-life" than those who care only about ending abortion.
In 2010 the Pew Forum's poll on religious knowledge was much in the news. Reporters made much of the fact that atheists and agnostics appeared to have more religious knowledge than Protestants or Catholics. After discovering there was an online version, Mr. Burrow took the quiz. He was proud to score 100% on this, even though there was one question that came down to an intelligent guess. (The results of his quiz are here.) Mr. Burrow believes it is important to know about other religions so we can fully understand what is important about our own. He also strongly believes that God speaks to different people in different ways, and there is no single "right" way to heaven.
As the Book of James says, "faith without works is dead". Mr. Burrow believes that being a good person and helping other people are far more important than just "believing" or attending church. Service has been important to him throughout his life, and it is probably the number one reason he chose teaching as a career. He contributes to many charities and helps other people directly whenever he can.
First Congregational United Church of Christ -- Algona, Iowa
David Burrow played Judas in a church production
of The Last Supper Tableau
Links to other sites on the Web
NEXT PAGE (Other David Burrows)
First Congregational UCC - Algona, Iowa
United Methodist Church
United Church of Christ
United States Council of Catholic Bishops
The Bible Gateway
The Cyber Hymnal
Complete Pew Forum
Religious Knowledge Survey (.pdf/Acrobat)
HOME
© 2025 davidmburrow@yahoo.com