Cape pastor withdraws from Canada retreat over sex-misconduct conviction

Concerns over a local pastor's past sexual-misconduct conviction caused him to withdraw from a Bible-study retreat in Canada he was scheduled to lead this summer.

Frank Burgess, 58, was one of three church leaders accused in 2002 of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman with the mental capacity of a 5-year-old who was a member of Marble Hill Bible Chapel, where Burgess was a part-time preacher.

Initially charged with felonies for first-degree sexual assault and deviant sexual assault, Burgess eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct as part of a plea deal and served a 60-day sentence in St. Francois County, Missouri.

Burgess, who is pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, denied assaulting the woman when reached by phone Wednesday. He said he took the plea deal to end the lengthy court proceedings in 2005.

"I stood before that judge, and I lied right to his face," Burgess said. "And told him I had sexual relationships with that girl in order that I might put this thing behind me in a plea agreement."

He said he only withdrew from the retreat after it became clear his presence likely would cause problems for the event's organizers.

The retreat, called Upward Bound, is for young adults and is scheduled to be held Aug. 13 to 25 in Waterloo, Ontario. Burgess is listed on the webpage as a featured speaker.

He has been involved with the event "for years and years" without incident, he said, adding the organizers were aware of his conviction when they invited him.

It is unclear the degree to which Burgess' coworkers and roughly 70 congregants are aware of his conviction.

"There's going to be people that you can ask, and they're going to say, 'Oh, yeah, we're aware of that, and we know what happened, and Brother Frank's our pastor, and we love him,'" he said. "And there's going to be others that say, 'I joined last year, and I didn't know that.' That's not something I put on a resume every time someone joins and [say], 'Oh I'm so glad you've decided to make this your church home; by the way, I have this criminal background.'"

Burgess said it likely would cause considerable distress if all his congregants learned of his criminal record.

"There's going to be so many folks there that's going to be heartbroken, who love us and love the ministry, and it's just going to tear them apart," he said.

Burgess said he began attending Fellowship Baptist Church about 2009.

"After being there about a year, they asked me if I would take some Wednesday-night Bible studies and stuff, which I agreed, and shared a few things," he recalled. "It was the deacons who came to me and said, 'Would you fill in for us until we found the pastor?' and I said, 'I would be honored.'

"Before they asked me to become their pastor, I actually sat and met with ... a handful of the men, and every one of them questioned me about the situation and asked the questions, and we had a very open and honest discussion," Burgess said.

Elmer Schearf, who was a member of the church when Burgess arrived and since has become a deacon, said Tuesday when reached by telephone he knew nothing of Burgess' conviction.

John Vernon, director of missions at the Cape Girardeau Baptist Association, said he was aware of Burgess' conviction, but "only aware by hearsay."

"I would say it's a widely known fact it was in all the newspapers, from what I understood," he said of the conviction. "Marble Hill and Cape is pretty well connected, and our sphere of churches as a association, they tend to know, kind of, what's going on between each other, so it's not unique to me because of my position. We have a weekly pastor's meeting, and things like that would be talked about amongst the pastors for sure."

Vernon, who has served in his role for about four years, said he never has spoken with Burgess about his criminal history.

"Because at that point, when I came, he was already the established pastor of that church, and when I heard the particular thing that had come up, it just wasn't something that was relevant to me, so I did not pursue it," Vernon said.

He also said he does not believe a conviction such as Burgess' should preclude a person from serving as pastor.

"It does not necessarily," he said, "especially 15 years after the fact. That's one of the beautiful things about the Gospel is something called grace, and if there is repentance, there can be a path to restoration."

Burgess said if everyone in his congregation were made aware of his conviction, the church members might vote to replace him in the turmoil he said likely would ensue.

He said if the congregation voted to remove him, he would honor that decision, but he reiterated his previous claims of innocence.

"I don't feel like there should be any reason why anybody would not want to come and be a part of Fellowship Baptist Church based on my history," he said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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