About

About Lee

“We know that real life is “eucharist,” a movement of love and adoration toward God, the movement in which alone the meaning and the value of all that exists can be revealed and fulfilled.” – Alexander Schmemann

Rev. Lee A. Burrows is an ordained priest in the Anglican tradition. He serves under Reach North America, Inc., in the Missio Christus Presbytery (Reach). Reach is a missionary society that focuses on taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to where the people are, and, in accordance with the Celtic tradition, Reach brings Eucharist/Holy Communion to the people. The ministry of Reach has grown out of the decline in church attendance, especially after Covid. Lee’s ministry is an expression of this in the Lakeland/Winter Haven, Florida area. The ministry of Reach is broad, so it allows Lee to work with existing churches doing pulpit supply and leading Bible studies, etc.; Lee also does funerals and weddings, pastoral counseling, hospital visitation, etc. Lee has a set schedule of biweekly, Thursday night Bible studies in home settings, which are open to all and conclude with the Eucharist.

Lee received his ministry training at Reformed Theological Seminary—Orland, where he received his Master of Divinity in 2011. The term “reformed” refers to a branch of Protestant theology which came out of the Reformation. Within the reformed tradition, Lee follows the “biblical theology” approach which focuses on the history of salvation as it moves from Genesis to Revelation. Lee is a proponent of the idea that a 21^st century audience cannot understand what Scripture means unless it understands what it meant to the original audience. Consequently, Lee is very interesting in archaeology, especially in its ability to open our understanding to the cultures in which the Bible was written.

Lee is a bi-vocational minister, meaning he also works as a CPA with a small practice that allows him the flexibility to engage in his present teaching and preaching ministry.

Why Anglican?

Lee’s response: “While I was in seminary, I asked myself two basic questions: why did Jesus use the metaphor of food in Holy Communion? Secondly, why did some Christian groups come along in the 16^th century, after approximately 1,500 years of church history, and stop baptizing their babies?”

“I realized that it was human-centric rather than God-centric to think that the ordinance of Holy Communion was merely a reflection on my own sin and the price that Jesus paid for me—though it is that. I came to realize that Holy Communion is a means of grace through which God works in us. The metaphor for food furthers this idea for just as man needs food to live, so man needs spiritual food for the spiritual journey of this life is too much for us (I Kings 19:7). Finally, the study of Biblical Theology shows us the emphasis that the Bible places on sacred meals—see Exodus 24 for a classic example of this—and Eucharist follows this pattern.

My short answer on baptism is that I am heavily influenced by Acts 2:38-39, where St. Peter is speaking to the Hebrews gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Furthermore, in line with biblical theology, baptism serves as a public rite that says to the rest of the church, the world and the Devil that the baptized person belongs to God Almighty.

Obviously, the Hebrew believers connected baptism and circumcision, so they began baptizing their babies. I came to realize, through the study of church history, two things: the early church began baptizing their babies, and the large majority of reformers were in favor of infant baptism. It was a minority of reformers who rejected the idea of infant baptism. Was some new theology discovered after 1,500 years of church history and only a small percentage of the reformers were astute enough to discover it? Or, was it an over-reaction to abusive actions in the church?

About Lee

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