Finding Acceptance
“If your freedom was about to be stolen… you were about to be betrayed and taken as a prisoner. If you knew people would soon force upon you this most terrible injustice, and you had precious few private breaths remaining, and you chose to use those breaths to voice a prayer, for what would you pray?”
He stood in the pulpit, his Southern accent projecting loudly across the church as he began his sermon. His jet-black hair was gently combed, paired with a brown blazer and a red tie with small white polka dots. His look was not complete without a smile on his face, grinning from ear to ear as he sprinkled in comedic one-liners throughout the sermon.
The congregation listened closely as they sat in the creaky, wooden pews and on the vintage green cushions, ones that matched the wall-to-wall green carpet covering the floor. A group of 10 choir members sat behind him as he spoke, creating a bold and seemingly royal backdrop from their purple choral robes and large gold crosses. The 11 a.m. light shined through the stained-glass windows, illuminating the room with a warm yellow glow as the sun slowly rose. He spoke about God, unity and humility.
As a senior pastor at the University Baptist Church (UBC) in Chapel Hill, Paul Burgess brings a mix of humor, passion and advocacy to his ministry. After struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression, Paul created the Franklin All Nighter, an all-night run fundraiser that has raised over $80,000 for mental health since its beginning in 2022. Paul uses his platform to foster an open, authentic and welcoming space to everyone in his congregation and is working towards dissolving the stigma of mental health in religious communities.
“It’s such a gift helping people or saying things that I wish I had heard people say to me when I was in those exact same shoes all those years ago,” Paul said.
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Commonly referred to as a Jason Bateman look-alike, Paul was raised in Smithfield, North Carolina. His spunky and charismatic personality differentiates him from a stereotypical pastor, as his humorous nature charms everyone he interacts with. He is 53 years old.
His wife, Eliza Burgess, grew up in the same neighborhood, school and church as Paul. She said Paul has always been a friend to all.
“You never were going to hear that Paul was unkind or clicky,” she said. “He was a leader in our youth group, school and student government and was a go-getter. He still is like that.”
After 16 years of marriage, she said he is still one of the funniest people in the world and finds ways to weave humor into his sermons. Paul said he has always felt called towards church ministry.
“I can remember standing up behind the pulpit as a teenager and just feeling a transcendent peace,” he said. “Like there was just a sense of rightness to being there. It just felt natural.”
Paul did not consider ministry as a career until he served as a youth minister in Broadway, North Carolina during the summer after his sophomore year at UNC-Chapel Hill. He studied Spanish and interpersonal communications at UNC-CH before earning his master’s degree in 2011 and his Doctor of Ministry in 2019 at Campbell University Divinity School.
Since 2013, he has pastored three churches and said he sees himself staying at the University Baptist Church for the rest of his ministry.
Paul said he was unable to be his genuine self at his previous church because his progressivism did not align with the congregation's conservative views. He said it was important to him to be welcoming and affirming to all people, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, which was a topic of controversy at his previous Church.
He began working there in 2017 and the lack of support caused him to undergo the worst depression of his life at the start of 2020. He said he came out of that depression learning to prioritize places where he could be true to himself.
“I have to pursue spaces and opportunities where I can be my fullest and authentic self,” he said. “And sure enough, UBC was that opportunity. It’s the first time I've felt in my ministry that I want to settle in.”
Paul’s authentic self consists of comedy, laughter and play. Hollie Motley, minister of administration and communication at the Church, described it as intentional fun with meaning. She said he finds ways to add physical skits to his sermons.
Last Christmas, Paul spent the entire day as the Grinch. Craig McCoy, minister of music and worship at the Church, said Paul walked into the middle of the Church in a full size, fuzzy green Grinch costume handmade from a shag carpet and a Santa jacket. His makeup took an hour, and his face was covered with a green latex mask. He talked like the Grinch for the whole sermon.
“Paul was dressed in a full suit, down to the feet, the hands, the whole nine yards,” Craig said. “Most people don’t do that. He probably lost 20 pounds of sweat from just being in the costume.”
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Paul suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, which forces him to dedicate all his attention to one specific task at a time.
“There is this internal unrest that occurs until I can finish a certain thing,” he said. “My OCD is just reminding me over and over, ‘This is undone. This is undone.’ I can’t mentally or emotionally breathe until the task is finished.”
Eliza said his OCD involves him thinking compulsive thoughts rather than experiencing repetitive behaviors. She said he thinks about whether people think negatively of him and constantly needs reassurance and approval. She said he has gotten better by learning to accept things he cannot control.
“It’s the obsessions or the repetitive intrusive thoughts like, ‘I need to control my behavior’ and ‘How can I present myself so that everyone will be happy,’ which is impossible,” she said. “It's really hard to turn that off.”
Paul’s personal experience with mental health caused him to create the Franklin All Nighter, an all-night run that raises money and awareness for mental health. The idea was born in 2021 when Paul ran throughout the night in Johnston County, North Carolina, raising $7,000 for mental health. He created the inaugural Franklin All Nighter in 2022 to get more people involved.
This year, the Franklin All Nighter took place at sundown on Saturday, Oct. 26. As the sun began to set, 227 people gathered around the Church with high energy and anticipation. Bright light from the countless headlamps and glowing vests could be seen miles away as people prepared to start the .98 mile loop around Franklin Street.
To kick off the event, Paul dressed up as the rollerblade version of Ken from the “Barbie” movie. In his electric yellow jumpsuit, golden fanny pack and bubble gum pink visor, he sang a parody of the hit song “I’m Just Ken” from the movie. Last year, he dressed up as a runny nose and wore a giant nose costume.
“This thing must have been four feet big, it fit over the top of his whole body, and was just a nose,” Craig said. “He ran and walked around with that on.”
The event raised roughly $24,000, slowly approaching the Church’s goal of $30,000. In 2022, 72 people signed up and the event raised $34,000, while in 2023, 98 people signed up and raised $25,000. Over the past three years, the event has raised over $80,000 for student mental health services at UNC-CH and for the unsheltered in Orange County, North Carolina.
Hollie said mental health is a topic the Church has ignored many times throughout history and that the Franklin All Nighter informs the community that the Church cares about people who are dealing with mental health struggles.
She said Christian rhetoric can make it seem as if individuals should rely on their faith to complete all healing.
“Christians usually have wanted to say that God and faith can solve your problems, which is a very simple way of putting it,” she said. “Thinking about mental health is a more realistic way of considering faith and thinking about how God walks alongside us in those struggles.”
Paul said the religious stigma, combined with the pressure of being male and feeling he needed to be “tough” made it important for him to speak out.
“When you speak about something that has been in the darkness, it gives so many more people permission to step out of that darkness themselves,” Paul said.
He said it brings tears to his eyes when he reflects on his mental and emotional state from a few years ago compared to where he is now.
“I was without hope,” he said. “I could not see any light. And now, I feel so transformed and invigorated. I’m coming up on three years at UBC and feel excited about my calling. I’ve been able to feel happiness that I haven't felt in a long, long time, if ever.”