Saturday, December 06, 2008
Striving for integrity
The Rev. Brad Braxton grew up listening to his father preach at Salem's First Baptist Church.
Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt University
Brad Braxton, a Salem native, was a Vanderbilt University professor before becoming pastor at Riverside Church in New York.
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When Brad Braxton, a Vanderbilt University professor, was being considered for pastor at what is thought of as one of the most progressive and influential Christian churches in the country, he came to pray in Salem.
Braxton is the son of the late pastor of Salem's First Baptist Church, James Braxton. After the young Braxton graduated from Salem High School in 1987, he went to the University of Virginia and later studied at Emory University and Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
His mother lives in Salem, and Braxton prayed at her home when he was being considered to become the pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City, where he has served since early November. The 39-year-old recently talked about growing up in Salem and the outlook at Riverside.
Q: You've gone to many places since you left Salem at 17. How did your formative years in Salem's First Baptist Church influence the way you saw the world?
A: My mother is still active there. In terms of my father, my father was a world-class pastor. If my father would walk into a room where everyone was his enemy, virtually everyone would be his friend after the meeting, or if they weren't his friend, they would at least have a healthy respect for him.
My father lived such an integrity-filled life that he left integrity hanging in the atmosphere. So what I learned from watching my mother and father in their ministry is being played out right now as I ask the question to the Riverside Church: I ask, what will hang in the air after we're gone?
Q: What were some things -- like being class president or football team captain -- that you did growing up that helped shape you as a young man?
A: When I was a little boy, even before my feet could touch the floor, I sat on the front pew as a child enraptured at my father's preaching. What I learned from my father is that words can change people's lives. Next, I would say I am grateful to the number of coaches. I shall never forget the words of [former Salem High coach] Willis White. He would say, "Gentlemen, football is a tough game played by tough people in tough conditions. So is life." And, you see, I'm 39 years old and these many years that has stuck with me.
Q: Any pastor who has been a newcomer at a church will tell you the congregation takes months or years to become acquainted with the pastor. How do you plan to unify a congregation that has been split on many issues and divided even on its former pastor, the Rev. James Forbes?
A: The way one rallies and unifies a Christian congregation is to make central the things of the Gospel, and I have already begun to do it in this straightforward way: In meeting after meeting, after meeting.
Q: With whom?
A: With nearly every leadership group in the congregation. Over and over again, I have said to the congregation, "I support our mission statement. I support our shared vision statement, but we need a trilogy." Whether it is articulating issues of nonviolence and standing against unjust wars or whether it's dealing with poverty eradication or how the internal budget is made. Whatever the decision-making, it should be on these nine values from the New Testament book of Galatians. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Q: And why are those values your rallying call?
A: You cannot have Godly ends without Godly means. Value-based leadership is as old as religious communities are. That's what we do.
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