As a rule, to say that one is a character can be a markedly different comment than saying one has character. Rare are those whose personalities allow the latter, usually thought of as a quality, to combine with the former, which oftentimes has derisive connotations.
Count the Rev. Grace Ruth Batten as an exception to the rule.
“I was born in Harbeson. Basically everything I did was in Milton,” Batten said of her growing-up years.
Today, her home near Milton is situated on land long owned by her family; land that decades ago her father farmed and, much to her displeasure, was soil she also had to work.
“Farm, farm, farm, farm. I hated driving a tractor. I remember daddy saying, ‘Go get a tractor,’” she said laughing about those days.
Batten, 65, is pastor of Mount Zion Holy Church on Front Street in Milton. She followed in the footsteps of her late father, the Rev. Jacob Brittingham Sr. – walking a path from the farm field to the pulpit to preach the Pentecostal gospel in the same church he once led.
“It’s a new building with a multipurpose center added,” Batten said of the sanctuary. In May she will mark her 38th year as pastor of a congregation that numbers about 75. She said Virginia, her mother, was a hard-working woman, who died when Batten was 14.
She said much has changed through the years in her role and responsibilities as pastor.
“I probably do a whole lot more than I did when I started out. I do Bible classes, I teach, I do seminars, workshops, all of that. It’s all about betterment and self improvement.”
She said the church reaches out to those in need of many things and has offered General Educational Development (GED) classes through the state’s James Grove Adult Education program.
“It’s been quite a challenge. But it’s all about upward mobility,” she said.
Maintaining upward – and onward – mobility is one of Batten’s traits of character.
She served on the Milton Town Council for more than 12 years, rising to the position of vice mayor. In 1994 the council voted unanimously to install her as mayor following then-Mayor Jack Hudson’s resignation. She served one term.
“As mayor I tried to do what was right and treat everyone right. I listened to their concerns and served the best I could,” she said.
Batten admits that when she was an elected official she had little tolerance for unproductive, repetitive discussions.
“I see no sense in belaboring things. If you’re going to do it, do it. If not, pass it over. There’s no point in hammering the night away and getting nowhere.
“I’m about progress. Let’s do it. Let’s get something done. I’m the same way in the church,” she said.
Batten is an assistant bishop for the Mid-Atlantic District of the Mount Sinai Holy Church of America Inc. Her diocese includes Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
“I get to run all over the place,” she said.
Given her background – her connection to the church and leadership roles in the church and in the community – chances were good that her destiny was fated.
“I’m from the school of being called first, then you prepare after you’ve been called,” she said. She graduated from Philadelphia’s Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, holds a degree from Wilmington College in business management supervision, and studied human resources at Delaware Technical & Community College.
“It means a lot to understand where people are coming from. You’ve got to have more than just the spiritual aspect of people; you’ve got to deal with the total person,” she said.
Batten said as a nation, the country is failing to help many who could use a hand.
“We’re missing something. There are a lot of issues that are not being taken care of. People have mental, emotional and physical problems. And they have spiritual problems. A lot of stuff I see going on is missing that,” she said.
As a young woman growing up on a Sussex County farm, Batten said she never saw herself in the role in which she’s now cast.
“I didn’t have that foresight. I couldn’t see that far into the future. We were really, really poor people. My aspiration was to graduate from high school. I endeavored to do that. A lot of my family members, unfortunately, could not do that,” she said.
As the youngest of 13 children, Batten said she was determined to earn a high school diploma, which she did from William C. Jason High School in Georgetown, in 1961.
“I think that you can do anything you put your mind to. If you want something bad enough, you pursue it. It’s not coming to you, you have to go to it,” she said.
And if there’s anyone in the Cape Region who could, without fear of challenge, lay claim to a fashion statement trademark right – it would be Batten and her wearing of hats.
“I’ve always been a lover of hats – all kinds of hats. And I’ve got all kinds,” she said of her collection which, laughing just a bit sheepishly, she said numbers more than 100.
“It’s one of those things. Some people like shoes. Some people like pocketbooks and this, that or another accessory. But I like hats. Always.”
Good characters always have a sense of style.
Contact Henry Evans at hevans@capegazette.com
