Popular music minister dies in choir room after Sunday service
Condolences are still pouring in for the family and friends of Gerald Burnett Sr., a popular educator and music minister who died in the choir room of Mountain View Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas, after a worship service on Sunday. He was 41.
Charlotte Beal, the church’s office manager, confirmed Burnett’s death in an interview with The Christian Post on Tuesday and said nothing was out of the ordinary as they gathered for worship on Sunday.
“It was a normal church service. The music minister directed us in the worship part of the service. Everything was normal,” the manager, who explained that she was still grieving the loss, said. “I’ve known the family since they were in school. We’ve been church family for 30 or more years. He is very well known among the Churches of Christ, schools.”
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In a livestream from Sunday’s service shared on YouTube, Burnett, who spent 15 years as a music teacher and choral director in Duncanville Independent School District and most recently served as DeSoto High School’s assistant choir director, chided some of the church’s members for rushing to leave church.
“Sometimes we just so caught up in a time frame and I really mean that. We get caught up in we gotta be out [of church] by [a certain time.] But when I really check myself, I ain’t got nowhere to be. And this is the Lord’s day. The whole day is the Lord’s day. It’s the Lord’s day,” he opined.
“We’ve gone down from three services to two services to one service and folks still rush up out of here. I mean, we’ve got to check our own selves. Real worship, I believe, is outside of trying to fit into that time frame y’all,” he said before lamenting that a worship song could have been sung once or twice more before the church stopped singing.
“That song needed to be extended right there and if we’re cutting off and snipping off, the authenticness of worship is lessened. It’s not as authentic anymore. We really have to do a self-examination. Those that gotta go, we don’t judge you if you gotta go. If you gotta go you gotta go. But those of us that rush out of here just to be out of here that’s between you and the Lord. But real worship sometimes is outside of the box,” he said.
He then explained to the church that he was striving to be a better version of himself in 2021.
Beal said an official cause of Burnett’s death has not been established yet.
J.K. Hamilton, lead pastor at the church, told WFAA that Burnett’s death was “surreal.”
“Gerald meant a lot to all of us,” Hamilton said. “He didn’t just do music. He was music. He loved the music.”
Anthony Walker, a minister at Highway 231 Church of Christ, agreed.
“If living out your calling was a person! It is not too often you will find someone who will passionately and purposefully live out the full potential of their calling. But that was Gerald Burnett Sr.,” Walker wrote in a statement on Facebook.
“He loved music, he lived music. He also had a way of bringing you into his melodious world and helped you to harmonize within it. I first met Gerald years ago when competing in youth conferences. We instantly clicked on music. Through the years we kept in touch and I admired his submission to God’s guidance and watched God use him in a mighty way for the Kingdom. He knew his craft, he knew his crafter, and he personified music and praise. He knew that Word too!” he explained.
“I cannot begin to imagine the pain of the Burnett family, his wife and son, and the Mountainview Church Family, but I hurt with them. We are only afforded a few transcendent people like Gerald in this world, and often for just a few moments,” Walker added.
Many churches in the denomination like Oakland Church of Christ also paid tribute to the music minister on social media.
“The Oakland Church of Christ join with so many across this country paying tribute to and celebrating the life of Bro. Gerald Burnett Sr. We extend our condolences to his immediate family, as well as his church family, Mountain View Church of Christ. Thank you for sharing him with us and the brotherhood,” the church said in a statement.
