Ministry Today

When do church and state mix? Apparently, when there's a $600,000-a-year compensation package for an incoming pastor at stake. At least that's the case in Manhattan, N.Y., where a group of congregants from renowned Riverside Church has gone to court to prevent the installation of Brad Braxton as its new pastor.

Although Riverside named Braxton its new pastor on Sunday, several representatives from the 2,700-member congregation, filed a motion in Manhattan's State Supreme Court last week, claiming they never had the chance to vote on Braxton's employment package. The group, which includes members from the church's budget committee, says that despite its requests, the church board formed for the yearlong pastoral search refused to reveal any financial details surrounding Braxton's hiring.

A statement from Billy Jones, chairman of the church's executive board, disputed this claim and added that the new pastor's compensation was "in line with other religious leaders in Manhattan who minister to congregations of a similar size and scope."

According to the dissenting group, Braxton's compensation package includes $250,000 in annual salary, a monthly "living allowance" of $11,500, an annual payment to help the Braxtons save for a house, and separate allowances for a full-time maid, "professional development," entertainment, travel and private school tuition for the couple's 3-year-old daughter. Jones says expenses for a full-time maid were not included as part of the package, and argues that the tuition fees amount to free child care at the church's day care center.

Regardless of some of the details, those opposing Braxton's extensive compensation question the timing. "This is a huge amount of money to be paying at a time of such economic crisis," said Diana Solomon-Glover, who has attended Riverside for more than 30 years. In addition, the dissenters are concerned about the church's large operating deficit. Previously Riverside has had a massive endowment from John D. Rockerfeller Jr. as a safety net, but the recent economic stock market crash has dwindled that endowment, and the church can't draw more than 5 percent from it.

A 40-year-old former professor at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Braxton addressed the controversy on Saturday during a service by saying critics were "mistaking molehills for mountains," then later added that one of his top priorities as new pastor was "the sacred business of moving mountains." [nydailynews.com, 4/23-27/09; nytimes.com, 4/22/09]