Fleetwood Maddox

Several years ago, during a baptism at his church, ruling elder Dr. Fleetwood Maddox raised his hand along with everyone else to consent to the congregational vow to “assist the parents in the Christian nurture of this child.” Then his wife jabbed him in the side and whispered slyly, “How are you personally going to help these parents do this? Are you going to go to their house and help them teach this child?” At that moment Maddox realized the full meaning and weight of the vow he and the congregation were taking. He responded, “No, I’m not likely to do that. But I can make absolutely certain that there is always a Reformed Presbyterian pastor in the pulpit of the church to preach the Word of God to that child.”

For Maddox, this realization of the trans-generational aspect of the gospel became a personal quest to fulfill his vow before the Lord to care for the children of Christ’s church—a goal he has been pursuing since first being asked to serve on the Board of Trustees of Covenant Seminary in the early 1990s. Since that time, Maddox, who heads a flourishing ophthalmology practice in Macon, Georgia, has been putting his considerable personal influence to work promoting awareness of the Seminary in his congregation and mentoring young men who show promise as future church leaders.

Maddox sees support for the Seminary as essential not only for the health of the institution, but also for the health of the future church. “We’re growing rapidly in our numbers of students,” he notes. “We need to ensure that we have church leaders who are prepared to take the gospel out to the world. We need to ensure that we can educate properly those who come here to become pastors for the next generation.”

Maddox is doing his part to see that that happens. His prayer is that others will also begin to take seriously the vows they take at baptisms, and do what they can to be faithful to future generations. “We all need to take responsibility for our part of that vow,” he says. “Everyone can do something.”