Innovators in tech and business are commonplace. But an innovator in ministry?
Dr. Chris Burton was recognized as such by the publication Presbyterian Outlook and it takes just a short conversation with him to reveal why.
“I think of my work through a hip-hop lens,” says Burton, who has been the director of the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary for three years.
“So much of what I do is about sampling and remixing,” he continues. “I think being an innovator in ministry is about building intergenerational coalitions. I believe I have a responsibility to bring groups together, which sometimes is as simple as saying, ‘Okay, what works in your context?”
One of the tools Burton uses in building coalitions is podcasts. He has developed five audio series in the past and has just launched a sixth: The Theology of Hip-Hop. “I think a podcast accomplishes several things,” says Burton. “First, it’s informative. Then, for a lot of people, podcasts are where they’re able to feel a sense of companionship and camaraderie.”
The Leadership Institute has provided opportunities for continuing education and development for seminary alumni for decades, but it has expanded its scope under Burton’s leadership.
“There are a lot of people in Richmond not doing church-adjacent work but who are doing work focused on public service,” Burton says. “We have an opportunity to be a space where those people can collaborate and enhance their efforts.”
Burton extends his community building mission even further through his consulting business, Di Baddest Chaplain. It started when he lived in Brooklyn and a church asked him to facilitate a conversation about Ava DuVernay’s film “13th,” an examination of racial injustice in the US prison system.
“At that point, the business was focused on articulating what anti-racism means,” says Burton, a message he subsequently brought to churches, schools and other organizations around the country. “In the years since, it’s really helped me think about ways I can help churches be better at community.”
Burton is being recognized as one of Richmond’s “Top 40 Under 40” on the heels of being accepted into the Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program, an initiative building a network of civically active leaders.
“Anytime someone takes the time to say, ‘I see what you’re doing, keep going,’ it’s humbling,” he says. “It’s all been very surreal and, as I was saying to my wife, I guess 2025 is the best year of my career.”
