Remembering Paul Bradley

The Blanton-Peale Institute and Counseling Center and New York Theological Seminary announce with great sadness the death of The Rev. Dr. Paul W. Bradley, the President and CEO of the Blanton-Peale Institute and Counseling Center. He died on Friday, April 4, 2014, after a prolonged illness. Dr. Bradley began his tenure as President in June 2010, after serving as a fundraising consultant and as Vice President for Development beginning in the fall of 2009.

Prior to his work at the Blanton-Peale Institute, Dr. Bradley was the Vice President for Development and Institutional Advancement at New York Theological Seminary, where he was also the Director of Supervised Ministry and an Adjunct Professor, teaching Supervised Ministry, Church Administration and Stewardship, and United Church of Christ Polity.  For the past three years he served as a Trustee of New York Theological Seminary where he chaired the Development Committee.  He previously served for five years in the Development Office of Union Theological Seminary, and worked for ten years at The New York Public Library in several increasingly responsible development positions, culminating in five years of service as Manager of the Campaign for the Library’s successful $750 million “Second Century Campaign.”  Before joining the Library’s staff, he was Director of Development for The League of Women Voters of New York State and Director of its capital campaign, and earlier served as a development officer for Yale University.  In his thirty-plus-year career, he consulted on development, stewardship, and communications for many churches and other not-for-profit organizations.

A sixth-generation Congregational/United Church of Christ minister, Dr. Bradley was a born at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 14, 1954. He moved to New York City in 1976.  Dr. Bradley received his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, his Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and his Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary.  He was ordained as a UCC minister at The Riverside Church in the City of New York in 2002 and had been a member of Riverside since 1993. He was active as a lay leader and as backup clergy at Riverside and was a member or chair of a number of committees and organizational bodies at the local, regional, and national levels of the United Church of Christ.  Beginning in 2001, Dr. Bradley was the Senior Pastor and Co-Minister of Step By Step: A Ministry of Recovery and Healing, a project of the Center for Recovery Ministries at NYTS, which meets in nine locations in the New York metropolitan area, and uses the Twelve Steps of recovery in a spiritual worship program. He was also Assistant Pastor at Eldred Congregational Church in Eldred, New York.

Dr. Bradley was married to Dr. Robert J. Abel, DNP, PMHNP-BC. Their love spanned more than 14 years. He is survived by Bob, his mother, Paula Bradley, his two brothers, James Choukas-Bradley and Dwight Bradley and their wives, Melanie Choukas-Bradley and Lauren Bradley, and  nieces and nephews Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Jesse Choukas-Bradley, Alice Bradley, and Dan Bradley.

A service of celebration for Dr. Bradley’s life will take place at The Riverside Church in the City of New York, on Friday, May 30, 2014, at 2:00 PM. Donations may be made to the New York Theological Seminary Rev. Dr. Paul Bradley Scholarship Fund for Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender Students by calling 212.870.1241.