'A healthy tree produces good fruit': Brandon Moore hopes to bring new growth and life to First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge

The First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge is far from New York City in more ways than one. Pastor Brandon Moore moved here with his wife, Becca, on March 21, after a two-day drive from their apartment in New York.

"Getting used to all the things you take for granted, living here, that was the hard part," Moore says. "Things like having to drive a car after riding around on subway cars to get everywhere, living in a full-sized house now instead of a 600-square-foot apartment. But it's been a great transition."

Moore originally is from western Tennessee, and his wife is from southeast Kentucky, so the small-town atmosphere and idyllic country setting of Oak Ridge are like coming home.

"We're really enjoying the pace of life here," he says.

Moore says he was attracted to Oak Ridge as part of his ministry. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in church revitalization from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and says he followed his lifelong call to bring his efforts to an established church.

Brandon Moore, the new pastor at First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge, poses for a photo inside the church's sanctuary on Wednesday.Laura Simon

Basically, he says, the way the process works is, a church will put out a call to different seminaries' job posting boards, and prospective pastors submit their resumes. From that point, the process is similar to a secular job hunt, with the congregation and the pastor each making sure the fit is good before making a commitment.

"The congregation has been so welcoming," Moore says, which is helpful, "and not really surprising. The people here are wonderful."

Moore says his passion and his mission are to help bring a church into a period of new development.

"Really, what I want to do is bring new growth, new life to an established community," he says. "I want the congregation and the church as a whole to feel revitalized, to feel healthier in their faith. I truly believe a healthy tree produces good fruit, and I want to help bring that vision to life."

He says metrics and data are important, but cannot be the focus.

Brandon Moore, the new pastor at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, poses for a photo inside the church's sanctuary on Wednesday, June 8, 2016.Laura Simon

"If all we're seeing are the number of baptisms in a year, church attendance numbers from week to week, that isn't the whole picture," he explains. "Data is useful, but is not our main goal. God does the work. We can't force it -- we can only be faithful."

He adds that the two main goals of his ministry are to glorify God and to share the good news of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, all to heal our brokenness.

"I want to bring people together under these goals," he says and, at the same time, help breathe new life into their faith.

Moore, who is soft-spoken but quietly outgoing, says he and his wife are expecting their first child within the next two weeks. "We had a lot of factors coming together that showed us it was time to leave New York for greener pastures," he says. "Basically, we're tackling all of life's changes at once. It's a big readjustment, but it's right."