The Rev. Brad Braxton, who grew up in the Roanoke Valley, resigned Monday as senior minister of New York City's famous Riverside Church.

A Baptist minister who describes himself as a "progressive evangelical," Braxton was called in August to lead the Manhattan landmark and bastion of liberal theology.

Braxton was ordained in 1991 at First Baptist Church in Salem, where his father, the late Rev. James Braxton, served three decades as pastor.

Brad Braxton said Tuesday that he could leave Riverside as early as the first Sunday in August, but separation negotiations continue.

Riverside called Braxton eight months ago with an overwhelming majority -- Braxton said more than 80 percent of the members -- voting to affirm him. He has served the congregation since that time. His resignation follows months of controversy stemming from a disagreement over his salary that erupted in April.

But according to Braxton, the salary issue was the lesser of the troubles. He attributes his resignation to an entrenched spiritual and congregational divide that has vexed the church and its leaders for at least 40 years.

Destructive congregational meetings and a crippling church bureaucracy have stymied a string of leaders.

"I am the fourth senior minister to struggle with these issues and the second to resign," Braxton said.

The Rev. Ernest Campbell resigned in 1976 after facing similar troubles, Braxton pointed out.

Braxton's predecessor, the Rev. James Forbes, who retired in 2007 at age 71, welcomed gays and lesbians and Buddhists, and increased the number of black members. But his ministerial vision and style caused some rifts in the 2,000-plus congregation, The New York Times reported.

In April, a handful of congregants who questioned Braxton's compensation package -- reported to be $400,000 to $600,000 -- filed unsuccessfully for an injunction to block his installation.

Church officials told The New York Times then that Braxton was given an annual base salary of $250,000 and a monthly housing allowance of $11,500. Experts quoted in the Times characterized the salary as roughly in line with those received by pastors of other megachurches.

Braxton said he considers his resignation an act of pastoral ministry that hopefully will allow the congregation to resolve its divisions.

With no new job lined up, the minister said, "my wife, young daughter and I are walking in faith" and considering relocating to Illinois.

"I have done a lot of ministry in Chicago," and the proximity to academic institutions could offer opportunities, he said.

Braxton expressed regret and disappointment over the separation from Riverside. He praised the church for its contributions to civil rights and peace, and said he hoped to learn from the experience.

Conflicts between parishioners and pastors are not uncommon, and they sometimes lead to separation, said the Rev. Ed Burton, retired pastor of Sweet Union Baptist Church in Roanoke. Burton served on the council that ordained Braxton and has followed his career since then.

Even in smaller churches, "you're always going to have ... people with different conceptions of what they are looking for in a minister," he said.

"I'm not worried about him," Burton said of Braxton. "He has all kinds of abilities. He will move on to something else. And I don't think this will be considered a failure in his ministry."

Braxton's achievements date to the early 1990s, when he was named a Rhodes scholar while a student at the University of Virginia. He went on to become a professor of religion at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., a position he relinquished to join Riverside.

Braxton also served for five years as pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church, an interdenominational congregation in Baltimore.