A native of Martinsville, Virginia, I graduated from Martinsville High School in 1967 and entered the Virginia Military Institute, where I received a B.A. in English in 1971.  Soon afterwards, I entered Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1976. 

​Following graduation, I was ordained to the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments in the Presbyterian Church, and from 1976-1983 served as the pastor of several Presbyterian churches in North Carolina.

In 1983, I returned to Virginia in order to do graduate work in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.  During that same period, I served for about six years as the installed part-time pastor of the South Plains Presbyterian Church in Keswick.  From there I went to St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, where for almost 15 years I served as the school chaplain and taught Religion, Latin, and English. 

Afterwards, I went to Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville, where I taught comparative religion, Latin, and English.  While at Tandem, I felt the “pull” of parish ministry reasserting itself and decided to accept a call to serve as the pastor of the Louisa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a position I held for almost 17 years until my retirement in 2018.

On a personal note, I have two sons, Tom and John, both of whom live nearby; and I have two grandchildren, Evelyn and Jack.  I am married to Patricia Fleshman, a native of Louisa, and we live in the Spring Creek community in Zion Crossroads.

It is clear to me that the Orange Presbyterian Church has a long and distinguished history, and, with God’s continued guidance, an equally promising future.  As a Presbyterian minister who is “retired but not tired,” I look forward to talking with you about the possibility of providing part-time pastoral leadership to your congregation.

​ - Denny Burnette

This late 19th-Century stained glass panel is a survivor of our previous church building. We had it displayed in our narthex. But over time the leading had deteriorated, and the panel was in danger of falling apart.

But now the panel has now been completely restored. After several months, this reminder of our past hangs once again in our narthex.