Superintendents from the other conferences gathered around a kneeling Burgoyne and laid hands on him while being led in prayer by Midwest Conference Superintendent Ken Carlson.

Burgoyne most recently was the senior pastor at Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. A graduate of Bryan College with an M.Div. in Pastoral Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Burgoyne served associate pastorates at First Covenant Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Evangelical Covenant Church in Batavia, Illinois, prior to his move to Newport Covenant in 1995.

In the past, Burgoyne has likened the new position as a sort of homecoming - the East Coast Conference is where his parents joined the Covenant and where he discerned his call to ministry.