[2] He graduated from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1976 with honors and prizes in homiletics and Christology and earned a Doctor of Ministry there in 1985.

Directly before being elected bishop, Baxter spent two-and-a-half years serving as the rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

California Rep. Barbara Lee credits Baxter's sermon at the September 14, 2001 memorial following the September 11 attacks, during which he warned Americans not to "become the evil we deplore," with cementing her decision to vote no on the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001 (Lee was the only member of Congress to vote no).

Other memberships include Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the Cosmos Club of Washington, and a life member of the Union of Black Episcopalians and the NAACP.

[citation needed] Baxter retired in May 2014 after serving as Bishop of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania for eight years.