The Rev. James L. Burns currently serves as the Rector of The Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan.

He was born in 1946 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He received a BA in Psychology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1968. From 1968 until 1971 he served as an officer in the United States Navy, and following his military service he attended the University of Idaho where he received a MS in Clinical Psychology in 1972. From 1972 until 1979 he worked as a Psychologist in the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, first as Director of Forensic Mental Health and later on the clinical staff of Cumberland House School, a program for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children in Nashville. During this time he was also on the faculty of Volunteer State Community College where he taught Psychology, and Behavioral Statistics.

In 1979 he entered the School of Theology of the University of the South and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1982. He began his ordained ministry as the Vicar of St. Thomas Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. While there he helped the congregation to build a church and become a self-supporting parish. In 1988 he was called to Christ Church in Lexington, Kentucky as Rector, and in 1989 when it became the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Lexington he became the Dean. In 1996 he was called as the ninth rector of The Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan.

In the course of his ordained ministry he has served as a Stewardship Consultant in the Dioceses of Tennessee, East Tennessee, and Lexington. He has served as Chair of the Commission on Ministry in the Dioceses of East Tennessee, Lexington and New York. He was the Chair of the Standing Liturgical Commission in the Diocese of Lexington. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hope Center in Lexington, a comprehensive program for the homeless. He has been an elected Deputy to the General Conventions of the Episcopal Church in 1988, 1991, 1994, and 2006 and an Alternate Deputy in 1985 and 2003. During his tenure as Rector of the Church of the Heavenly Rest he has served as a trustee of the Trevor Day School and also taught Psychology at the school. He is a trustee of the Diocese Of New York, a trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and a member of the boards of directors of the House of the Redeemer in Manhattan, the Community of the Holy Spirit, and A Partnership of Faith. He is also a member of the Leadership Council of Habitat for Humanity in New York.

Mr. Burns’ wife Nancy is a therapist. They have a son, Eric, who is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and works in the field of Computer Science, and a daughter, Sarah, who is a graduate of Brown University in the fields of Art History and French.