Whites Inducted Into Hall of Prophets
November 9, 2021 – Cleveland, TN– Former Church of God General Overseer Dr. Robert White, and his late wife, Kathryn Shires White, were inducted today into the prestigious Hall of Prophets at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tenn.
PTS President Michael Baker, left, presents the Hall of Prophets honor to Robert White. Looking on is Church of God General Overseer Tim Hill (click photo to enlarge)
For nearly fifty-four years, Robert and Kathryn White were a ministry team until Kathryn’s passing. For the Church of God, Robert White served as evangelist, church planter, pastor, state youth director, administrative bishop, and the first director of the Department of General Education. In subsequent years, White was elected General Director of World Missions, Assistant General Overseer, and served as General Overseer from 1994-1996. He has also served as president of the Church of God School of Theology (now Pentecostal Theological Seminary), and as an International Evangelist. He was elected to the denomination’s Executive Council for sixteen years. Dr. White oversaw the development of a men’s discipleship initiative, LifeBuilders. He represented the Church of God in more than one hundred countries and ministered in more than seventy. Dr. White made the denomination’s first contact with underground churches in China (1979) and Russia (1989), and he organized the first Church of God in Kenya.
In service outside the Church of God, White served on the Board of Administration for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Under the umbrella of NAE, he served on the Commission on Higher Education and on the World Relief Commission. Dr. White has authored or edited nine books.
Kathryn White was a pastor’s daughter who served in ministry her entire life. She was a pastor’s wife, Ladies’ Ministries President, and International Ladies’ Ministries president. She was a popular speaker and led fundraising efforts to build a Bible seminary in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and a medical clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Mrs. White was an educator and believed in the power of education to transform lives. She and Dr. White established the Kathryn Shires White International Scholarship at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary.
Dr. and Mrs. White both earned bachelor’s degrees from Rocky Mountain College. Dr. White also earned a master’s degree from Arizona State University and a doctorate from Hamma School of Theology (now Trinity Seminary).
After Mrs. White’s passing, Dr. White married Adelia Shepard, who has joined him in ministry.
At the ceremony, friends, family and ministry colleagues shared the legacy of Robert and Kathryn White, including friend Martha Dismukes, Evangelist Jacqui Smith, and the White’s daughter, Dr. Alisa White, president of Sam Houston State University in Texas. Also sharing were former general overseers of the Church of God, Mark Williams and G. Dennis McGuire.
Prior to the formal installation, General Overseer Tim Hill addressed the ceremony stating, “We celebrate Robert White, a man of the big picture…he has always been able to see beyond the immediate and into the future. Big picture people know how to stay true to the will of God.”
Presenting the honor to Dr. White was PTS President Dr. Michael Baker who explained the purpose of the Hall of Prophets designation as reserved for, “Pentecostal ministers whose service to Jesus Christ and the Church of God has been meritorious.” A feature of the Hall of Prophets is the establishment of a scholarship in honor of the nominees which will be a perpetual source of funding for PTS students preparing for ministry.
