Pastor of The Week

Bishop William J. White, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Southeast

Bishop William J. White was Instituted and Invested as the new Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Southeast (REC/ACNA) on December 12, 2020. He was educated in the public schools of Berkeley County, SC. He received his Master of Divinity from Cummins Theological Seminary, Summerville, SC. He has served the following churches in the Diocese of the Southeast of the Reformed Episcopal Church: Christ RE Church, St. James RE Church, St. Thomas RE Church, and New Bethel RE Church. In 2009, Bishop White was elected as Assistant Bishop and as Bishop Coadjutor in 2015.

Bishop William J. White was born in St. Stephen, SC in 1947.In 1970, he married the late Vivian Jenkins, who went to be with the Lord in June 2018. They have two living children and one deceased. In December 2020, Bishop White married the former Gail Wilson.

The Reformed Episcopal Church in the South, once the Missionary Jurisdiction of the South and now The Diocese of the Southeast of the Reformed Episcopal Church, enjoys a proud history that began in the Lowcountry of South Carolina in 1865, immediately following the Civil War. Rev. Stevens had resumed his work among the Freedmen, as he had done during the War. He successfully gathered a number of former parishioners and new converts, among whom was Mr. Frank Crawford Ferguson. Rev. Stevens then called a meeting of all members living on adjacent plantations, where he had previously preached during the war to arrange the business of building a church where all Freedmen could conveniently worship with him on Sundays. A substantial number met on or about the site where Immanuel Church was later erected. This meeting resulted in the organization of the Immanuel congregation. Approximately four years later, Rev. Stevens had organized three large congregations of Freedmen: one in St. Stephen, and two in St. John's Parish.