On Sunday, August 23, 2009, the Chairwoman of the Riverside Church Council announced that the Council voted to give Dr. Braxton a parting gift valued at over $282,000. This sum includes 5 months' salary ($104,165), payment for 5 months of health benefits ($11,900), payment for 5 months of pension based on his denominational formula ($16,667), and the assumption of his personal contractual housing debt of $149,500.
The Council Chairwoman acknowledged that this sum was not contractually required by Dr. Braxton's employment contract with Riverside. As most workers know, it is extremely uncommon to receive payment of any sort when a person chooses to resign from their job. Thus, the $282,000 payment is simply a parting gift.
For less than one year of service to this church, the Riverside Council has chosen to pay Dr. Braxton a total sum of approximately $686,517, placing him among the wealthiest earners in the world for this year.
Here is the letter I sent the Council today:
Dear Riverside Church Council Members,
First, I will once again voice my view that the Council's decision to pay Dr. Braxton a parting gift of over $282,000, including the assumption of his personal housing debt of $149,000, is inconsistent with Christ's teaching to minister to those in need, and a violation of our social justice mission. It is my belief that this decision will have a very profound and negative effect on contributions to our ministry for a long time to come. If Riverside is going to minister by assuming personal housing debt obligations, it seems to me that, in the present era when many of our needy congregants, neighbors, and fellow citizens are losing homes due to foreclosures, the housing debts we should be assuming are theirs. That would be Christ's ministry. By using limited resources to make one man one of the wealthiest earners on the globe this year by paying him $686,517 while so many others are in dire and abject need around us, this Council has wrought an injustice that is incompatible with both our legal mission of social justice ministry and our spiritual mission to follow Christ's ministry and care for those who are in need. Among many possible ministries, $282,000 would have protected many of our brothers and sisters from becoming homeless.
Second, at yesterday's meeting, several members raised the allegation that Dr. Braxton was denied the housing Riverside originally arranged for him for reasons of race-based discrimination. This was the first time I heard this allegation. I believe the Council should fully investigate this claim. Furthermore, as a licensed member of the NY Bar in good standing, if the Council discovers a preponderance of evidence that discrimination, or any other illegal conduct, was the basis of Dr. Braxton's being denied that originally contracted housing, I hereby offer my legal services pro bono to work to vindicate that wrong.
We at Riverside must work to fulfill our social justice mission and follow Christ's ministry both by spending our fiscal resources to minister to those in true need, and by vociferously fighting to right egregious harms based on all forms of discrimination and social injustice. Our mission calls us to nothing less.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hoult, J.D.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
RSD Council Proposes large six-figure "gift" to Braxton
Recently, Dr. Braxton chose to resign his position at Riverside Church. In response, the Riverside Church Council has apparently voted to pay Dr. Braxton an outgoing "gift" that would be approximately the equivalent of 9-months of the financial package he has earned in his brief tenure at Riverside. This package has been valued between $400,000 and $600,000 per year. In total, this means the church would pay Dr Braxton close to, or possibly more than, $1,000,000 for less than one year's work, during the same period when our endowment has shrunk due to market forces, requiring us to rescind a promise to fund $1,000,000 in scholarship funding to needy children in our parish. In response, I sent the following letter to the Council:
August 4, 2009
Dear Riverside Church Council Members,
It has come to my attention that the Council intends to pay Rev. Braxton a six-figure departure gift out of the Riverside budget. As a member of this congregational church, I am strongly opposed to this decision.
In less than a year, Riverside has paid Dr. Braxton more money than 98% of the world's population will ever earn in a year. During this same time period, while Dr. Braxton has lived in luxury, Riverside's endowment has shrunk due to market factors, and we have been forced to rescind the promise to pay $1,000,000 in scholarship funds to needy children in our parish. Our ministry efforts have been completely strangled due to the financial remuneration to Dr. Braxton. During this same period, the world economy has been mired in a fiscal crisis of unprecedented proportions. Inflation in Zimbabwe has run over 200% for nearly a year; Iceland has been on the verge of bankruptcy. While Dr. Braxton has enjoyed the lifestyle of the richest men on earth, men, women, and children in our parish, our nation, and around the world, face the dire consequences of this monumental economic downturn.
Dr. Braxton chose to resign his position at Riverside. As all professional know, a person who chooses to resign is not entitled to payment of any kind. The only thing they are guaranteed by statute is the offer to pay (from their own funds) for a COBRA continuation of health insurance for 18 months, and keeping the balance of any vested pension funds they have acrued.
In response to Dr. Braxton's theology, donations at Riverside have plummeted. Those members who may consider returning to our church upon his departure are hardly likely to donate knowing that the bulk of their donations will go directly into Dr. Braxton's personal bank account, and not into the ministry of our church or maintenance of our building.
Last December, I lowered my annual pledge to Riverside to $1 precisely because our legal mission, and the teachings of our Scripture, did not support the luxury financial payments to Dr. Braxton. Since then, I have given my time and money to churches and institutions that minister to people instead of funding a few luxury lifestyles. Upon Dr. Braxton's departure, it is my intention to once again donate to Riverside. However, I am not willing to fund any part of the nearly $1,000,000 that the Council has chosen to pay Dr. Braxton over the past year (including his 2008-2009 financial package and the planned outgoing gift).
Thus, please be advised that, until such time as those who individually feel inclined to provide Dr. Braxton with this Wall Street-sized bounty-gift have completed payment to him, I will legally target all my donations to those departments within Riverside that will not fund Dr. Braxton's personal lifestyle; including, but not limited to, the Food Pantry, and the Music Department. Sadly, much as I would like to fund the building maintenance, and the salaries of the many extremely wonderful and dedicated people who work in our church, I know that, if I donate into the general management fund, my money will all go to Dr. Braxton, and not to these worthy people, or our magnificent edifice. Christ taught me to feed the people, so I will help feed their bodies and spirits through food and music until such time as the Council effectuates our mission and Scripture with appropriate fiscal leadership.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hoult, J.D.
August 4, 2009
Dear Riverside Church Council Members,
It has come to my attention that the Council intends to pay Rev. Braxton a six-figure departure gift out of the Riverside budget. As a member of this congregational church, I am strongly opposed to this decision.
In less than a year, Riverside has paid Dr. Braxton more money than 98% of the world's population will ever earn in a year. During this same time period, while Dr. Braxton has lived in luxury, Riverside's endowment has shrunk due to market factors, and we have been forced to rescind the promise to pay $1,000,000 in scholarship funds to needy children in our parish. Our ministry efforts have been completely strangled due to the financial remuneration to Dr. Braxton. During this same period, the world economy has been mired in a fiscal crisis of unprecedented proportions. Inflation in Zimbabwe has run over 200% for nearly a year; Iceland has been on the verge of bankruptcy. While Dr. Braxton has enjoyed the lifestyle of the richest men on earth, men, women, and children in our parish, our nation, and around the world, face the dire consequences of this monumental economic downturn.
Dr. Braxton chose to resign his position at Riverside. As all professional know, a person who chooses to resign is not entitled to payment of any kind. The only thing they are guaranteed by statute is the offer to pay (from their own funds) for a COBRA continuation of health insurance for 18 months, and keeping the balance of any vested pension funds they have acrued.
In response to Dr. Braxton's theology, donations at Riverside have plummeted. Those members who may consider returning to our church upon his departure are hardly likely to donate knowing that the bulk of their donations will go directly into Dr. Braxton's personal bank account, and not into the ministry of our church or maintenance of our building.
Last December, I lowered my annual pledge to Riverside to $1 precisely because our legal mission, and the teachings of our Scripture, did not support the luxury financial payments to Dr. Braxton. Since then, I have given my time and money to churches and institutions that minister to people instead of funding a few luxury lifestyles. Upon Dr. Braxton's departure, it is my intention to once again donate to Riverside. However, I am not willing to fund any part of the nearly $1,000,000 that the Council has chosen to pay Dr. Braxton over the past year (including his 2008-2009 financial package and the planned outgoing gift).
Thus, please be advised that, until such time as those who individually feel inclined to provide Dr. Braxton with this Wall Street-sized bounty-gift have completed payment to him, I will legally target all my donations to those departments within Riverside that will not fund Dr. Braxton's personal lifestyle; including, but not limited to, the Food Pantry, and the Music Department. Sadly, much as I would like to fund the building maintenance, and the salaries of the many extremely wonderful and dedicated people who work in our church, I know that, if I donate into the general management fund, my money will all go to Dr. Braxton, and not to these worthy people, or our magnificent edifice. Christ taught me to feed the people, so I will help feed their bodies and spirits through food and music until such time as the Council effectuates our mission and Scripture with appropriate fiscal leadership.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hoult, J.D.
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