With hindsight she calls “2020,” First Church accompanist Sara Davis offers 20 years of insights, observations, and wit from the bench in tribute to the career and ministry of Mark Burrows.

About 20 years ago this month, longtime First Church member Sara Davis began her stint here as accompanist for what would turn out to be the longest working relationship with Mark Burrows of all other staffers. Sitting at the piano for Generations Choir, Adoramus, Youth Choir, children’s musicals, and Children’s Choir year after year after year for two decades, Sara did much more than provide accompaniment for vocal performances. She watched a gifted young teacher and musician blossom and grow into the legendary figure-in-Converse we all now know as “Mister Mark.”

“I knew there was going to be something special about this job,” Sara remembers, “when on the first day someone mentioned that there would be a Youth Choir tour that coming summer, and that there were adults lined up to go as chaperones.” She laughs. “As it turns out, these trips would produce some of the most memorable moments of all of our lives — all at the hands of this unsuspecting young genius that had somehow found his way into our midst.”

Sara says she knew even then — and it has been proven time and again with each new challenge Mark tackled in his 24-and-a-half year tenure — that “Mark thinks BIG. His vision is large and extended, and I think that is such a gift — and part of his genius.”

During Mark’s tenure, from the keyboard view Sara observed his Youth Choir responsibilities growing larger and larger, then expanding to include the entire First Church Music and Worship Arts program including adult choirs, concerts, and other special fine arts programming — as well as youth and children’s music programs.

“He was challenged by all this,” Sara remembers, “sometimes to what I was afraid might be a breaking point, but he always recovered, and then came back stronger and with a new idea. He’s spent plenty of times between “a rock and hard spot,” but he weathered them all, learned from them, and moved on to whatever came next.”

When the Youth Choir’s summer tour concluded in June of 2013, Mark Burrows passed his choir baton to devote all his time to the Children’s Ministry.  As the accompanist for Youth Choir since 2000, this marked a passage for Sara as well.  “Over that summer, I recalled a myriad of Mark’s endeavors during that expanse of time,” she remembers.  “I had been involved with some and knew peripherally of others.  As such, I felt then and feel now qualified to share a few more things about him — and from him — that have not only enriched our church but increased FUMC Fort Worth’s presence and outreach significantly.”

A Multifaceted Legacy

Whether you’re a longtime church member or brand new at FUMC, whether your family has been involved in the children’s and youth ministries or if you just worship in the Sanctuary at 11:00 am, you are bound to know of the magic of Mark Burrows.

From his first days at FUMC, when he led a Youth Choir of 12, to his swan song, overseeing a department of hundreds, Mark answered a call to minister to children. “His heart was and is devoted to the very best for children of all ages,” Sara explains. “They sense this and want to be where he is – he’s a virtual pied piper!  The opportunities and experiences Mark has envisioned and brought to life here at our church have been the farthest thing from “babysitting,” instead reaching deeply into the realm of assisting children, teenagers — and entire families — in their faith journeys.

Sara notes that as Mark steps away from his many roles at FUMC, his hair may indeed be grayer than it was when he arrived (this list explains why!), yet he remains a youthful and energetic creative force to be reckoned with — and he still sports his colorful sneakers (11 pairs of Converse) that both define his style and leave lasting footprints on the hearts of countless church members, the Fort Worth community, and beyond.

“Clearly my call is working with children; it’s where I am supposed to be,” Mark told Sara around this time.  The “where” then became director of children’s ministry, succeeding Cynthia McElrath upon her retirement in 2011.

Working backward through time, and although she says that this is in no way a comprehensive accounting of all he has done in his time here at First Church, Sara offers some major highlights of Mark’s impact:

• Mister Mark’s Children’s Moment began in 2007 in the 11:00 service. To date, United Methodist Publishing House has published two books of Mark’s Children’s Moment sermons.
• The Academy model for Sunday school began in 2011 and has attracted many families to FUMCFW. From nine options, a child can choose which class to attend for one semester of this well-thought-out program that combines educational variety with community building. With consistent growth, enrollment for Spring 2020 will be 350-plus children.
• The children’s wing was expanded and remodeled to accommodate new growth in 2011 and 2016, allowing more room for classrooms, curriculum, music, its own child-sized labyrinth, and more.
• Children First, the family-participatory worship service of the first Sunday of every month, allowed Mark to show aspects of worship through the eyes of a child.  Children First began in 2008 with 70 people in Leonard Memorial Chapel and continued until 2017 with an average attendance of 450 in the sanctuary. Mark also conducted numerous workshops across the nation for other churches seeking to adopt the Children First model.
• Christmas Eve Family Service, combining parts of the Children First model with FUMCFW’s traditional Christmas Eve candlelight service, began in 2006 as a themed puppet show and shadow images that. expanded to its own service for the growing Children First congregation and so overpacked the Sanctuary that a second identical service was added in 2017 with each service averaging more than 1,000 people!
• Lenten services planned for the whole family began in 2011 and were held annually on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday in the chapel and Wesley Hall. These services likewise grew to fill (and sometimes overfill) these spaces and attracted national media attention and several feature articles.
• Our FUMCFW puppet ministry, one of Mark’s fondest dreams for the Children’s Ministry, took root and soared to unexpected heights and now features several beautiful marionettes.
• “To my amazement, Mark has also designed AND SEWN 14 puppets so far, all made from found objects and recycled materials,” Sara interjects.  “You can see them all in Room 219!”
• Large events outreach to children and families welcomed First Church children and friends and others from the greater Fort Worth community to experience firsthand the magic of FUMCFW’s Children’s Ministry programs.

Hosting these annual events became yearly mile markers, for our Children’s Ministry staff, FUMCFW children and families, and to the Fort Worth community — and managed to remain true to their original intent and purpose, even as they expanded and grew. Some of these include:

• Third-grade Bible retreat at Lyle Lodge
• Halloween carnival – in 10 years, grew from 300 to 600 people
• Easter egg hunt – over 700 people in 2019
• Vacation Bible School – since 2016, more than 600 attendees with capped registration due to space limitations
• Summer Jam – fine arts camp at church, averaging 75 attendees
• Polar Express – huge family Christmas event in Wesley Hall
• Christmas Cheer – four buses of families going to retirement and nursing centers to sing carols for residents, followed by a party in Wesley Hall
• Three children’s choirs are now part of Academy Sunday school, with more than 100 children weekly; the choirs produced a CD in  2019

“Now,” Sara adds, “before we get carried away, you should also know that Mark didn’t do all this alone — but he does have a knack for finding the right people.” Mark’s time in the children’s department has included a bevy of support staff and volunteers.  Nikki McInnis, who had worked with Cynthia McElrath Fisher, bridged the transition and remained in her role an additional three years with Mark.  Amanda Herron was part of that team as well. Upon their departure, the decision was made to separate coordinator and event planner roles within the department.  Janice Cooper came on board as coordinator, with Elizabeth Marshall in charge of large events.  Mark describes the event planner position as small and part-time with BIG things to plan.  Events average one per month.  Heather Teems succeeded Elizabeth Marshall, and Mary Katri currently serves in that role. In addition, Rev. Nancy Froman has helped along the way with Children’s Spiritual Formation guidance and Holly Clifford with art.

In 2016, when Mark took over the choirs of Academy Sunday School, he brought on Chris Rathburn, an alumnus of Mark’s Youth Choir program.  Mark and Chris formed a second choir that Chris conducted.  In 2018, Julie Dean, another Youth Choir Alum, was hired to direct a third choir.

“Mark’s committed staff and volunteers have helped turn his visions into realities,” Sara adds.  “Mark’s creative gifts, passion, energy, and hard work have provided experiences to prepare our youth and children to be God’s people in the world.  Thank you, Mister Mark.”

Going Back to the Very Beginning

Hired in 1995 as Youth Choir director, Mark inherited a group of 12. He soon started a Writer’s Circle where interested choir members met prior to rehearsal, composing an original musical, both libretto and music.

This was taken on tour in 1996 with 29 members. For each of the next five years, Youth Choir members, with Mark’s guidance and support, wrote a musical for tour, with peak choir membership exceeding 100.

“Mark’s Youth Choir tours have included 19 states and England,” Sara remembers, “where we sang in York Cathedral.  Stateside, we have been heard in such spots as the top of Sears Tower in Chicago, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, in the Illinois Monument on the Vicksburg battlefield, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s church in Atlanta, in the Memphis studio where Elvis Presley did many recordings, and the back of a wagon—large!—in Kansas, to mention a few.”

Sara says that these tours were both a culmination and a wonderful reward for each Youth Choir year.  “Superbly planned, fun, and successful, they were a time of community building among both youth and chaperones,” she notes. “In dozens of venues our youth were respectful, polite, kind, and impressively represented themselves as well as our church.”

Originally on the tours as a parent volunteer (mom of Chris and Ashley), Janis Rathburn played a critical role in the success of these events and later served as Mark’s assistant, as well as a good friend to all in the choir. “Thanks for everything, Miss Jenny!” Sara exclaims, applauding the tireless work of her longtime friend.

“The last night of tour was always a tribute to graduating seniors, many of them having been in choir for six years,” Sara relates, adding that on these nights, Mark wrote each a personal letter, and the choir sang for the first time a song written for and dedicated to the seniors.

“Once eyes were dry again, seniors provided their own skit, as did the chaperones,” Sara adds, then elaborates that these official skits were then followed with another Youth Choir tradition — the annual “No Talent Show” that gave these hardworking teenagers a chance to be kids and really let their hair down. “For a bunch of kids with so much talent and poise and decorum when it was called for, this was a spectacularly silly exhibit that left everyone giggled out, exhausted, and ready for the long — and quiet — bus ride back to Fort Worth.”

This was not the final opportunity for these young people to sing with the Youth Choir group, though, as Mark launched an annual Alumni Weekend occurring in late Spring. Each year everyone who had ever participated in Youth choir with Mark was sent an invitation to come for a Saturday rehearsal, and then the alums sang together again as part of the choir on Sunday in the Sanctuary.

In 1997, Mark broadened his reach to Generations Choir, offering choral experience eligibility from fifth grade to grandparents. “This idea really caught on, and numbers doubled quickly,” Sara notes. “From Generations he drew a smaller group to be called Adoramus vocal ensemble, and auditioned group of singers that still serves today.”

Mark then became Director of Fine Arts, taught music in the FUMC Fort Worth preschool, and led the Junior Choir. He arranged opportunities for displays of visual art and works by artists in our membership were purchased for the Choir Suite.

In 2003, Generations Choir morphed into the Chancel Choir, adopting the name, Choral Union.  Additionally, Youth Choir showed that it was ready to become the church’s full-service choir one Sunday a month. Each of these choirs produced a CD, and the Youth Choir made four CDs during Mark’s tenure,

Outside the Bachs was an anthem competition initiated by Mark and Choral Union in 2004.  There was a premier of the five finalists’ compositions, along with remuneration. This venture was repeated in 2006 and 2008, with one concert being recorded for another CD. “The response was impressive,” Sara adds, “with participants from far and wide — both national and international.”

Cynthia McElrath (now Fisher), then our church’s director of children’s ministry, introduced Mark at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville in 2000.  Immediately, his creativity and writing prowess in both music and curriculum were recognized. “First working for them as a consultant and then as a writer for over 100 units, Mark’s involvement made possible our church’s receiving that material at no cost,” Sara adds.

United Methodist Publishing House also published the two books of Mark’s Children’s Moment sermons, a Bible Black Belt book, and one about Mark’s groundbreaking Children First worship model for families and children.  This work attracted the attention and admiration of renowned worship design consultant Marcia McFee, who then invited Mark to a number of her conferences as co-presenter.

Mark’s first picture book, Little Things Aren’t Little When You’re Little, was released in 2013, followed in 2015 by I’ll Take My Chances, both by the award-winning Pelican Publishing.

The list goes on, Sara continues, in the forms of high numbers of published compositions, music instruction books, musicals dispersed nationally via multiple publishers, a song on a Dora the Explorer album, another in a Warner Brothers song collection, and songs currently on satellite radio. Three “Mister Mark” popular public performances, put on CD, have won numerous awards. “And,” she adds with more than a touch of pride, “for any projects outside our church, Mark’s biomaterial always states his relationship with FUMC Fort Worth.”

From her piano-bench vantage point, Sara sums up her 20 years of front row seats to “The Graying of Mark Burrows” well: “He was and is always well-prepared and prompt, armed with high expectations and high energy to complete any task,” she says. “Mark’s output of melodic line, poetry, and ideas seems non-stop — and tireless!”

And to match that enormous creative machine that is Mark Burrows (he once fashioned a pipe organ out of balloons and PVC and who knows what else to help the kids understand and appreciate the church’s new pipe organ), Sara notes that it is his huge and tender heart that always takes the lead. “Whenever one of his own has a concern or a joy, his ministry takes him there,” she adds.

Mark’s passion and energy also go home with him for the first ladies in his family life, Sara says.  “He is devoted to wife, Nina, and daughters, Emma and Gracie, who share him A LOT with the church and the world.

“I believe for one to affect one large program positively is noteworthy and satisfying,” Sara concludes.  “To move to a second with talents and potential to repeat is an impressive gift, for the individual, and for the institution. So, from me, dear Mark, thank you for then, for now, and for what’s to come!”