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Meet Charles Burnett-Morrow of Grace Oasis in Buckner Terrace

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Burnett-Morrow.

Charles, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began ministry as a young man in the Assemblies of God as a children’s evangelist. My children’s ministry was that of a clown, called “JiG-Gil.” By the age of sixteen I was preaching evangelistically. At the age of nineteen I embarked upon my first church start on behalf of the Church Of God denomination, headquartered in Cleveland TN. I started two churches on behalf of the Church of God and then entered independent, non-denominational ministry in the late 1980’s. I first began my journey into LGBT Affirming ministry in 1993. After nearly a decade in New York City, I came to Dallas in December of 2001. We started the church here on Easter Sunday of 2002, which that year was the last Sunday in March. I had ministered in New York City for several years and then made a brief pass through Connecticut, my home state. I nearly died in 2000 having contracted a rare intestinal parasite while visiting Europe in 1998. By August of 2000, I had lost so much weight and become so sick that I moved back to my home state of Connecticut thinking that I was going to die. Doctors could not seem to figure out what was wrong and my condition just worsened by the day. My move to Connecticut proved a wonderful blessing as the doctors at Yale New Haven hospital were finally able to diagnose the parasite and began treatment. While being treated for the parasite, however, I contracted pneumonia. By late August of 2000, I was admitted to Yale with double pneumonia. Within an hour of being admitted, I was unconscious and the doctors had to intubate me. I spent nearly a month on life support and two months total in the hospital, but God gave me a mighty miracle and in answer to prayer, literally raised me up from what was supposed to be my death bed. My family had been told for a month that I had only 24 hours to live. This was repeated daily for a full month! I spent my 35th birthday on life support. I finally emerged from the hospital in early October 2000. We believe that God answers prayer! We also believe in miracles. I am the living embodiment of that truth!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The work that we do is anything but easy. Our ministry is very Christ-centered and Biblically oriented. Theologically we are relative “conservative.” By this I mean that we easily can be classified as an Evangelical church, although we are non-denominational. We believe that Jesus Christ is the singular way to God, not just “a way.” We also believe in the inspiration and authority of the Bible. Where we differ however, is on the interpretation of certain issues related to the human condition, particularly issues related to human sexuality. We do not believe, for instance, that homosexuality is a matter of choice or is innately evil. Having spent many years studying and examining these issues, we have come to understand that the traditional interpretation of certain passages from the Bible that are commonly construed to apply to the LGBT population at large are in fact not speaking to a homosexual orientation at all. There are any number of theologians and denominations which embrace a similar position, however, they are not generally associated with the Evangelical movement. So what makes church growth difficult for us is this; we are too conservative for many in the LGBT communities, and we are too “liberal” for many who are not LGBT. Our church is by no means a “Gay church,” but rather we are a church that is welcoming and inclusive of ALL people, including LGBT people. All sincere seekers of truth are welcome tin our church and are able to fully participate at every level. We teach that it is the responsibility of every believer to encourage and inspire one another, not to judge, criticize, or condemn. We genuinely seek to practice the kind of love one for another that Jesus Christ taught us to practice. That love is unconditional and inclusive. Our church will celebrate our 16th anniversary the first Sunday in April, 2018.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Grace Oasis – what should we know?
Grace Oasis – (aka, The ONE Church In Christ Jesus) is a loving, inclusive church with open hearts, minds and arms. We embrace all sincere seekers of truth. Anyone who desires to walk in relationship with Jesus Christ is welcome in our church. We are an LGBT inclusive and affirming church, so we include LGBT believers and they are completely able to participate fully in the life and ministry of the church. I have spent decades researching and examining issues that the church has long had deeply entrenched positions regarding. As is so often the case, I have found that tradition and truth do not intersect. The church of Rome long ago became obsessed with the issue of procreation, and for this reason any sexuality that did not result in offspring was demonized and denounced as evil. A careful study of Jewish beliefs and teachings in these areas reveals that the modern Fundamentalist Christian view of sexuality is not at all consistent with actual beliefs and practice in Biblical times. We put our full and complete confidence in the Bible as the Word of God. What we do not embrace are the traditional teachings, positions, and dogmas of the church. We have established a very large presence on the Internet and have a number of websites that we have created and manage, as well as maintain a presence on virtually every social media platform known to humanity. We have several video channels, including four on YouTube, as well as one on Vimeo and God Tube. All our services are broadcast live online, as well as recorded in HD and later posted to our video channels. One may watch our full services live at our regular service times (3pm CST Sundays and 7:30pm CST Wednesdays) or watch the messages/Bible studies on our various YouTube and other video channels. We encourage people who may be interested to investigate our ministry online before even coming by for a visit. We much prefer that people have a full and complete understanding of the nature and tenor of our ministry before ever even walking through our doors. Our church also operates a small Bible & Christian Bookstore, with a Coffee Shop ministry, next door to our sanctuary in the Jim Miller Shopping Center. At present, we are only open from 12:30pm-3pm on Sundays, before our Sunday church services. We hope to one day be able to expand the hours and open to the public during the week.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
It has not been at all easy over the past fifteen years to generate financial support for our work. Our members, of course, support the church with their tithes and offerings. We also have a handful of people outside of our local church who contribute financially to the church. Our church YouTube channel has over 620 subscribers, however, we do not do a great deal of fundraising, so precious few who watch our videos contribute in support of our work. One man from New York has been supporting my ministry for over 20 years, and continues to do so to this day. This most generous benefactor has enabled the work we do to continue through the years, even in the most difficult of times. This dear man desires to remain anonymous, but I would be remiss to not at least mention his contributions to our ministry as his gifts have been the lifeblood at times of the work we do.

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