THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. MATTHEW

P.O. Box 17116, Tucson, Arizona 85731

The Rev. Allen Breckenridge                                                                     9071 E. Old Spanish Trail

Rector                                                                                                                  (520) 808-4073 cell

11/27/2007

To whom it may concern:

By way of introduction, I am the pastor of The Episcopal Church of St. Matthew in Tucson, Arizona, where I have been serving as Rector for a little over six years. Prior to that, I was Episcopal Chaplain at the University of Arizona for nine years. As a fairly long-time resident of Tucson, by western standards anyway, I have come to enjoy and value the rich diversity of resources and people here in Tucson.

I have been asked to write a letter of recommendation concerning Mr. Michael Burris, who is an associate and friend through several activities locally and one of those special people that I value and wish to commend to others as a resource person in our community. I have known Mike now for about 6 years. He was my youngest son’s drum teacher and now is my wife’s drum teacher, and we share musical interests together, as well as a number of other topics of interest and involvement in the community.

I have gotten to know Mike fairly well over those years, seeing in him both an ability to commit to friends and associates to support and encourage them to their maximum growth and potential. I see him as very knowledgeable about many topics, such as philosophy and religion, community service, music and the arts, technology and science matters, and current affairs. He is compassionate, a good conversationalist, has a good sense of humor, likes to work hard, likes to enjoy himself too, and is a person of high integrity and strong spirit.

Mike first and foremost, by being a dependable friend and sharing with others easily, is a people person. He seems to genuinely like people, enjoys being with them and helping them grow. It’s the first mark of a good teacher, I believe!  He seems to develop a rapport with people easily and to get them talking about their interests and concerns, to make a connection with them that carries into a deeper relationship.

Secondly, he is a very gifted teacher, being able to convey both the technical data and information about the subject matter he’s teaching, but in a way that relates to people’s personal experience. For instance, I’ve seem him come up with very meaningful and simple metaphors to connect people to learning about drumming and music that carry them from personal experience to connection to the topic at hand, simple but profound in a good, teachable sense.

Finally, I see Mike as being a good coach, an innovator that gets people thinking about their goals and future and the steps to imagining and formulating a plan of how to accomplish their goals. As a people person, as a teacher, as a supportive and imaginative coach, any firm or community of vision would be much better off to have him on their team and to entrust their staff and learners to his skills and engagement.

Please feel free to contact me if you wish any future communication concerning this recommendation and any help I might be able to offer.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Allen Breckenridge