By Jeff Brumley
An expert on church leadership says Mission Arlington was missional before missional was cool. But founder Tillie Burgin doesn’t care much for the term.
“It was always confusing to me, and we certainly never use it,” Burgin, 76, said of the Texas organization she launched in 1986 as an outreach of Arlington’s First Baptist Church. “It has no meaning to me.”
But the word comes to mind for others who see what Mission Arlington does seven days a week, year round – meeting the material, physical and spiritual needs of thousands of resident across the city.
“Mission Arlington demonstrates that ‘missional’ was a mindset long before it was a popular label,” said David Odom, executive director of Faith and Leadership, an online magazine of Duke University’s leadership education program. “This ministry is a picture of what ‘missional’ can look like after years of faithful work and strong leadership.”
The mission reported 402,000 “ministry touches” in 2012 ranging from city-wide Bible studies with 12,000 participants to summer camps, after-school and school-supply programs serving more than 13,000. It also provided more than $2.4 million in free health care and dentistry to some 15,000 patients.
More than 46,000 volunteers, many of them from about 1,600 visiting interdenominational groups, made it all possible, Tillie’s son and ministry partner Jim Burgin said.
And while the Mission Arlington’s revenues reached $4.3 million last year, Tillie Burgin, a former missionary to Korea, draws no salary from the ministry, according to Charity Navigator, a web site that tracks nonprofit financial reports. (She is, however, paid by the church, where she serves as associate pastor for missions).
ABPnews interviewed Burgin this week about how she and Mission Arlington, which now operates in hundreds of sites around the city, have accomplished so much. Here is some of what she had to say.
Did you have an action plan or a mission statement starting out in 1986?
No. I could not get away from the idea that if you can do missions in Korea, why can’t you do missions in Arlington? … My sense is that God intended me to do mission work in this city as he had me do in Korea for 10 years, and that was preaching the gospel, Bible studies and reaching the unchurched. But there was never a goal or a written survey done.
You have described the mission as an organism, not an organization. What do you mean by that?
It has a life of its own. It lives and moves and it breathes and it has all kinds of components.… God has used people from every walk of life to do the work he has called us to do.
You’ve also said John 3:16, and in particular the “whosever” part of it, is the theme of this ministry. Why?
The “whosoever” part means serve everybody. He (Christ) did not die for 10 percent of the population.
Why do you hold revivals around the city every year?
We’ve always had revivals – tent revivals. It’s just one of those things that happened. The first year we started with one property and within that year we had 12. … That is what you do to be more and more involved and get deeper and deeper into the communities.
Taking the ministry out of the church and into the community – was that an odd move for that time?
We did get some criticism because you just naturally think people need to come into the church building. But after folks in the community began to realize the need was great, people were being served and we were baptizing folks, that criticism ceased.
How important has change, and being open to change, been for your ministry?
It’s key because we believe the Holy Spirit will direct us according to his plan. I always say, although we have always done it this way, let’s pray to see if it’s still most effective.
What does the future hold for Mission Arlington?
We just try to take it one day at a time. We’re just open and trying to be good listeners…. We are in different regions now and we will be known at a deeper level.
What do you tell people who want to replicate the ministry in their towns?
We ask them if they would come.… We give them a step-by-step orientation and we encourage people to pray. We spent seven years in prayer before anything happened.
Do you have a favorite hymn?
I think “Just As I Am.”
How important is being Baptist in what you do?
I grew up in the Baptist church. They took care of me when I was a kid. I found love and I was taught the Word and I was taught to have a vision.… But man can’t take credit for this. He (God) gets credit for this. He birthed Mission Arlington.