Demitrius Burnett is a worshiper, husband, preacher, poet, and author who seeks to serve an Audience of One. The South Side, Chicago native and Phoenix transplant is an alum of Brown University in Providence, RI, as well as Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. At PSR, Demitrius earned a Certificate of Theological Studies as a member of the first class of Change-Maker Fellows in 2014 and Master of Divinity in 2016 with a focus in preaching, poetry, and worship. He was also a part of the 2017 Oakland/Bay Area Cohort for the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative for Urban Youth Ministry and the Leadership Institute at Allen Temple’s first class of the Bay Area Academy of Responsible Preaching, earning a Certificate of Responsible Preaching in 2020.
Currently, Demitrius serves as an associate minister at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, CA. Professionally, he works to address the affordable housing and homelessness crises in the Bay Area while helping non-profit organizations gain funding as the Senior Program Officer of the Place Pathway at the San Francisco Foundation.
Demitrius made his authorial debut with Sermons Will Ruin Your Life: A Collection of Poetry and Prose, where he seeks to capture the experience of the “sermonizer” as they shape sermons and are shaped by the sermon writing “process.”
Demitrius is happily married to his wife, La’Vonnda Haynes-Burnett, also a published author and Founder of Zion Learning Online Tutoring. Together, they strive to advance the Gospel as they serve their community.
