Michael Charles "Mike" Burnidge

After a courageous two-year battle with cancer, Michael (Mike) Charles Burnidge went home to be with Jesus on May 1, 2025. He was 70 years old.
Born on May 31, 1954, in Elgin, Illinois, to Merrill and Joanne Burnidge, Mike was raised in a loving, working-class home that instilled in him the values of faith and hard work. Mike started working when he was four years old, helping his parents clean office buildings after his dad's day job driving trucks for the city. Later, Mike delivered newspapers, bagged groceries, laid blacktop, and drove garbage trucks. But more than any job, what shaped him most was the unwavering love for Jesus that his parents passed on to him. Mike accepted Christ as a child, beginning a lifelong walk with the Lord that would become the cornerstone of his life and ultimately lead him into fulltime ministry.
Mike's childhood was rich in family and love, surrounded by a large, close-knit extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. He adored his two sisters-Hope, who passed away when he was in junior high, and his "baby sister" Angie, born when Mike was 13. As an adult, Mike cherished his family's biannual visits back to Elgin for Christmas and the Fourth of July.
After graduating from Larkin High School in Elgin, where he played basketball, Mike became the first in his immediate family to attend college. He chose John Brown University in Arkansas-in large part because John Brown had its own rock band, The Sound Generation, which he later toured with one summer as a sound engineer. Touring with the band was a dream come true for this lifelong music lover. Among other artists, they opened for Glen Campbell, Lawrence Welk, The Osmonds, and the 5th Dimension.
In college, 6'6" Mike was nicknamed "Crazy Legs." Mike's height accounts for the "legs"; the "crazy" he earned through another passion: pranks and practical jokes. He once snuck a stray dog with damaged vocal chords into his sleeping friend's dorm room the night after going to The Exorcist. Another time, Mike left a giant live fish in a toilet, which was discovered by a friend in the middle of the night. With 49.5 demerits-just shy of the 50 needed for expulsion-Mike lived his college years to the fullest.
At John Brown, Mike met the love of his life, Mary Campbell, a fiery Texan and daughter of a preacher. Mary fell for Mike's wit, warmth, and charm. On their first date, Mike took Mary to McDonald's and then to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-because, of course, she was from Texas. Mike knew Mary was the one when she agreed to sign him in for chapel so he could sleep in. He brought her fresh flowers regularly, and once Mary noticed scratches on his arms. She later discovered it was because the flowers were "recycled" from the cemetery next to campus. Life with Mike was always an adventure!
Mike and Mary married in 1976 and moved to Dallas, where Mike earned his Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. After seminary, Mike earned a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from Texas Woman's University. He later completed all but the dissertation for his PhD, which he ultimately decided not to finish after the birth of his first child so that he could devote more time to family. In addition to his main job as a pastor, Mike also worked as a professional counselor, following his dad's example of hard work and multiple jobs. Though counseling was never his primary career, Mike helped many families through his work as a therapist.
During his seminary years, Mike served as a youth pastor at Reinhardt Bible Church and later Northwest Bible Church. He and Mary loved the youth pastor chapter of their ministry and forged friendships that lasted a lifetime. They filled their youth ministry calendars with ski trips, lake days, and Hawaiian luaus. On youth retreats, Mike was known to have told his boys, "Go ahead and sneak out-just don't wake me up!"
Mike started the Genesis Class at Northwest Bible, a young couples group that eventually became its own church: North Community Church. The early ministry years were among Mike's sweetest-a season of deep, enduring friendships that continue to this day and will be renewed in glory!
In 1996, Mike accepted a call to plant a new church in Phoenix: North Ridge Community Church. North Ridge became his fourth "baby," and he remained its beloved pastor until retirement.
Mike was a gifted communicator-known for his thoughtful, accessible sermons (often full of memorable acrostics) and the all-nighters he pulled to prepare them. But it was the people who gave him the most joy. After every service, he could be found on the patio-laughing, praying, hugging, and listening. He loved all with the truth of the good news of the Gospel, without pretense or judgment, welcoming everyone with open arms and a full heart.
Under his leadership, North Ridge became a church where a person on the brink of homelessness could sit beside a CEO as they both worshiped Jesus-just as Mike believed it should be. As he liked to say, the church should be like the Toby Keith song "I Love This Bar"-full of "winners, losers, chain-smokers and boozers, yuppies, bikers, and thirsty hitchhikers." Jesus loves them all, and so did Mike.
Some of the people who made the most impact in his ministry were the most unlikely and unexpected. One of Mike's dear friends was a woman who came to church in a state of desperation. She was living out of her car and had worked at a strip club for over 25 years. Wanting a change but not knowing where to start, she drove to North Ridge, where she accepted Jesus. Mike allowed her to stay in the church parking lot overnight and gave her a Bible, but she came back the next week asking for more because she gave it away to a coworker. The same thing happened the next week and the next (and the next!). She offered the same love and hope she found in Jesus to her friends in similar circumstances and had a profound ministry within the Phoenix area until she passed away from cancer a few years ago. We know Mike was so excited to see her at heaven's gate!
Mike deeply admired those in recovery, calling them his "heroes," and was proud to support and host several recovery ministries and groups at North Ridge, despite some initial pushback. He also launched the annual "Northern Lights" offering, which used 100% of the Easter offering (the biggest offering of the year) to pay for the electric bills of all widows and single moms in the community.
Mike's biggest ministry of all, however, was in his home. He loved his family so extraordinarily well. After a long day, and oftentimes night, of counseling appointments, visiting people in the hospital, and preparing sermons, Mike would stay up into the wee hours of the morning talking his kids through their various adolescent "crisis situations." He made studying for spelling tests fun by creating obstacle courses around the house and having the kids complete a challenge whenever they got a word right. He would take the kids to Dairy Queen to celebrate each first day of school and would drive the family to San Diego with the windows down blasting The Beach Boys. He sat with his kids and walked them through each heartbreak, bad decision, or disappointment-without condemnation or impatience. Many pastor's kids end up becoming disillusioned with faith and the church, but Mike's kids had the opposite experience; indeed, his two sons followed in his footsteps and are now pastors.
In 2019, Mike's long-awaited dream of becoming a "papa" came true. He was made for the role. He waited at the hospital (often through the night!) as each grandkid was born and was one of the first to hold each one. They were his pride and joy. He was there for every moment. He rocked them to sleep, changed their diapers, took them out to lunch, and picked them up from preschool. They'd sit on his lap in his office as he introduced them to a wide variety of classics on YouTube, including "The Duck Song," "What Does the Fox Say?," and "Brown-Eyed Girl" (to which he lovingly changed the lyrics to "Blue-Eyed Girl" on behalf of the main ladies in his life!). Before his passing, Mike expressed that his biggest disappointment in relocating to heaven so soon was that he wasn't going to get more time with them. As a papa, dad, and husband, he embodied the love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; he was patient, kind, and not easily angered. He always protected his loved ones and pointed them to the one true Hope.
Mike knew that life was precious, and he lived life to the fullest. He delighted in Krispy Kreme donuts, Portillo's Italian beef sandwiches, and good '60s and '70s music (especially the Beatles and Elton John). While living in Dallas, he played Elwood in a Blues Brothers cover band. It wasn't unusual to smell popcorn popping at midnight and to find Mike in the living room jamming out to his music or watching Seinfeld reruns.
Mike was an avid Dallas Cowboys and Mavericks fan and remained faithful to both teams until the very end. (Though he was very disappointed by the Luka trade and thought Dak was overpaid!) Over lunchtime, you could usually find Mike at one of his favorite sports bars-Zipps or Tailgaters, shooting the breeze with everyone inside. During his illness, his family would pick him up takeout from his favorite places and the servers would seek them out to ask about Mike. He made a profound impact on everyone he met.
Mike was exceptionally curious and loved learning. An avid reader, he always had nearby a book with a highlighter and pen tucked inside. It's no wonder he was so great at trivia! Once on a cruise with some friends, he won nearly every popular culture trivia game on board. At the end of the week, he was asked if he worked in the entertainment industry. They were shocked to discover he was a pastor.
Mike was welcomed into heaven by his parents, Merrill and Joanne, and his sister, Hope. He is deeply missed by Mary, his wife of 48 years; his children and their spouses-Hannah (Dan), Spencer (Jordan), and Jordan (Bronwyn); his cherished grandchildren-Judah, Hadley, Charlie, Annie, and, his namesake, baby Michael (due in August 2025); his sister Angie and her family; and the countless other family members, friends, colleagues, and congregants whose lives he impacted.
A celebration of Mike's life will be held on what would have been his 71st earthly birthday-Saturday, May 31st at 10:30 AM at SBC North Ridge (6363 E Dynamite Blvd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331). Last year, his cancer treatments prevented him from celebrating his 70th; this year, we'll mark his first heavenly birthday in style. A BBQ lunch will follow. Dress is casual.
Mike finished the race well. If you'd like to honor him with a "birthday gift," we will be taking up a collection of new and gently used men's and women's running/athletic shoes in any size for the Phoenix homeless population. Please bring the shoes to his service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Starts With The Heart, a nonprofit in Phoenix dedicated to restoring dignity and hope to the homeless and others in need (startswiththeheart.com), or Emerge, a nonprofit that provides food, education, and other support to those in the slums of India (https://allegrosolutions.org/donate/Emerge4C001). Both of these organizations were very near and dear to Mike's heart.
Psalm 116:15 tells us that "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," and Mike was one of His most spectacular ones. We know that he was greeted into glory with a "well done good and faithful servant" and a big warm Mike Burnidge-style hug. Mike is enjoying some well-earned peace and celebrating with Jesus, but he is profoundly missed by those of us who loved him so dearly. We thank God for the impact he had on us all; it is a rare blessing to have a Mike Burnidge in one's life. As we grieve, we remember God's promise in Revelation 21:4 that "He will wipe every tear from their eyes [and] [t]here will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain," and we trust that someday "everything sad will become untrue." We love and miss you, Mike!