Stanley Milton Burgess passed from this life to his eternal home on March 17, 2025. He was born to missionary parents at Catherine Booth Hospital in Nagercoil, South India, on November 27, 1937. He had the great fortune of meeting Miss Ruth Lenora Vassar at Kodaikanal International School, South India, in January 1948. Twelve years later (February 26, 1960), they married in Abilene, Texas. They have been blessed with five children and ten grandchildren.

Stan Burgess earned his B.A. (1957) and M.A. (1959) in History from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and his Ph.D. (1971) in History from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After teaching one year in the Flint, Michigan Public Schools (1957-58), he accepted an appointment to the faculty of Evangel University, Springfield, Missouri, where he served for the following seventeen years (1959-76) on the faculty and in various administrative capacities. In 1976, he became a Professor of History and later of Religious Studies at Missouri State University, where he remained for the next 28 years. He founded the Research Office of Grants, the Handicapped Student Program, and the initiator of the newly created M.A. in Religious Studies. In 2004, Burgess was appointed the Distinguished Professor of Christian History at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he mentored doctoral students and briefly served as Director of the newly created Ph.D. in Renewal Studies program. In 2011, Stan and Ruth Burgess returned to their farm in Strafford, Missouri, to devote their retirement years to research and publishing.

Dr. Stan is known in the academic and broader Christian world for his publications and his ecumenical outreach. He has edited and written over twenty books, including a trilogy on the history of the Holy Spirit in the many Christian churches, three major reference works on the modern Christian renewal movements, a volume of primary sources for 2000 years of Pentecostalism in Christianity, a tome on Religion and Social Justice, a recent work on Two Millennia of Memorable Christian Women, and writings in Testimoni Della Fede Nelle Chiese Della Riforma (in Italian), Oxford Encyclopedia of Christianity in South Asia, The World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford), and many others. He was also actively involved in Protestant-Catholic ecumenical dialogues in the United States and during many trips to Italy.

Stan was a deeply devoted Christian who ministered in both word and keyboard; he always put his Lord and his family first.

Burgess was preceded in death by his parents, Reverend John H. Burgess and Bernice Andrews Burgess. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Ruth Vassar Burgess, and children: John Bradley Burgess (Debra), Stanley Matthew Burgess (Jennifer), Scott Vassar Burgess (Danielle), Heidi Amanda Levinson (Matthew), and Reverend Justin David Burgess (Sarah). His surviving grandchildren are Sophia, Michael, John Matthew, Mary Katherine, Charlotte, Clara, Amelia, Sarah (Sadie), Samuel, and Vanessa.

Stanley M. Burgess has been honored by Marquis Who's Who, Missouri State University, and the Society for Pentecostal Studies (Lifetime Achievement Award).

A memorial service will be held at Schweitzer Church in Springfield, Missouri, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM followed by a reception. Burial will be at South Bend Cemetery, in South Bend, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for memorial donations to go to the Bethel Bible College Fund c/o St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 601 Claymont Dr., Ballwin, MO.

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