Cyvil Burks is named after a friend his father met in the Army during WWII. His dad and stepmother were both members of The United Methodist Church. Cyvil retired from the US Air Force after serving over 19 years. He has two Associate degrees, a Bachelor’s degree, and a Master’s degree in Human Relations (MHR) with a focus in Counseling. Cyvil has been a therapist for over 28 years and has since retired from the field. Since his retirement, he has been taking classes at SFCC with a focus on fine woodworking and taken some art and jewelry classes. Cyvil is a Harley rider (by history), a poet, and an avid reader. He enjoys Japanese Gardening and off-roading in his Jeep.

Cyvil was born in Chicago and raised in Detroit, MI. His service career has taken him to Texas, Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, Germany, England and Oklahoma.  While stationed in Germany, Cyvil came to faith in Christ and became engaged in the Charismatic movement of the 70s. There, he was part of Teen Challenge in a German community. Cyvil has a compassionate heart for people, especially the homeless, people with trauma in their lives, those who have lost hope and those wounded in their soul and spirit. Cyvil loves to dig into the Bible, spend hours in prayer, study and listening to worship music as his spiritual practice. He finds joy in praying for others and engaging others in the body of Christ to pray for one another.  

Cyvil has been a licensed minister with the Assembly of God and a Licensed Local Pastor in the Oklahoma Annual Conference. In Oklahoma, Cyvil served as a part-time local pastor at a small UMC Church in southern Oklahoma for about 4 and a half years. He has been the Lay leader at Zia UMC for the past 6 years and serves on DCOM for the ABQ District. Cyvil met his wife Diane, where they worked as therapists in adolescent residential treatment in a psychiatric facility in Oklahoma Oklahoma City, and they have been married for 31years. Diane is an LPCC who loves reading, genealogy and writing. She retired after working at McCurdy Ministries for several months. Cyvil and Diane have 6 children between them and 6 adult grandchildren. 

Cyvil can be found in the office 4 days a week but will venture out into the community to make connections with others, whether of other faith traditions or to meet and spend time with members of the community and the congregation. It is important to Cyvil that the compassion of Christ be nurtured in the person of faith and be evidenced outside the church where the need is greatest.  

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