Charles Burney to be installed as Shiloh Baptist Church’s new pastor

ALBANY — For the past seven months, Charles Burney has made the weekly trek to historic Shiloh Baptist Church to preach to its congregation. Sunday at 2:30, Burney will assume the position permanently when he is installed as the church’s new pastor.

Burney is replacing the late Rev. H.C. Boyd, who became synonymous with both Shiloh and the Albany Movement during his 57 years as the church’s pastor. Boyd is remembered for his bold stance during the civil rights movement, opening the doors to Shiloh to movement members despite threats from the white community. He famously continued a sermon during tense moments of the local movement despite receiving a bomb threat.

Boyd passed away in June of last year.

Burney inherits the Shiloh pulpit in a time of flux for both the church and the nation at large, but he said he feels he is up to the challenge.

“There is trouble all over the world and in our country,” Burney, a native of St. Petersburg, Fla., said. “We certainly see this as a time of destiny with the exiting of one president, Barack Obama, and the entrance of the new President Trump. We feel there is an realignment of leadership which will help be positioned for whatever the Lord has in store for us.”

Burney, 54, said he has been preaching for the past 30 years in St. Petersburg and other cities as well. He said he is aware of Shiloh’s history and Boyd’s impact, as well as the subject of filling shoes.

“We are stepping into a church with a great history, that certainly was led by a great leader,” Burney said. “When you talk about filling shoes, I believe that Dr. Boyd came here for a reason, and he was a man for his season and time. Now I believe there is a purpose for my being here as well. The leadership in our nation has changed, and so is the leadership in our pulpits. As far as the shoes of Pastor Boyd, I also have some pretty big shoes that I wear and things that I’ve done that are very closely related to what Pastor Boyd has done.”

As for proclaiming a church vision, Burney said he is still waiting for that answer.

“The real question is what is God’s vision for our church?” he said. “I think that just like any surgeon would do, you first want to understand the history of a place, and once you understand that history, then you look at if the right prescription is in place. If that’s not right, you want to understand the needs of the membership and the community as well as the city at large and begin there.

“God has reminded his leaders that you have to wait on the vision and trust him that it will surely come. One of the things I understand about God is whenever he gives a vision, he always provides provisions in order to make the vision necessary.”

Burney has been involved in education for the past 15 years, teaching history and economics at the Gus Stavros Institute in St. Petersburg.

“As I settle in, I plan on doing a tour of the schools in Dougherty County,” he said. “I plan on being a very active pastor in the community. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but I also don’t want to beat a dead horse with a stick. If there are things that are not working, we want to take a look at those things and figure out why. Then see what resources we have at our disposal.”

Burney is married to Dianna Burney, an associate professor of psychology at Florida A&M University. The couple have one child, Charles Burney III.