Word of Paula White’s new post seeped out Sunday when Randy White preached his last sermon as senior pastor at the church and resigned. White, 51, said he was stepping aside because of health concerns. He declined to elaborate on his condition, although he said he had been ill and in and out of the hospital for much of the last seven months.“I have some serious health issues right now,” White said in an interview Friday. “I’ve had six different doctors say that I had to take the stress, the pressure out of my life. So I’ve resigned, and Paula’s taking over.”
Although she had made periodic visits, Paula White, 43, has been away from full-time pastoring at Without Walls for more than two years. She left Tampa following a 2007 divorce from her husband. Since then, she said, she has ministered mostly in New York, Texas and abroad.
About two months ago, White said, she received a call from her ex-husband. He told her about his health situation and asked her to consider returning to lead the congregation, once one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation. White said she prayed, fasted and sought counsel from religious leaders including Bishop T.D. Jakes, the Texas pastor she calls her “spiritual father.”
“This is not a casual decision,” she said. “This has been something that has been well thought through and prayed (about) and saturated. I am looking forward to leading people to the best of my ability.”
Once a powerhouse couple in charismatic Christian circles, the Whites started the ministry that would become Without Walls in a South Tampa storefront. Its present sanctuary seats 4,000, Randy White said. The ministry was hit hard in recent years by the couple’s divorce, the death of White’s daughter from brain cancer and the hint of scandals, including a federal inquiry into the church’s finances by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Last year, Randy White said the church was rebounding, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
White said that despite his mixed emotions about resigning, he believes his ex-wife is the perfect fit for the congregation.
“I can hold my head high,” he said. “For 18 years, I served the people and served this community and we weathered a lot of storms through that process. I’m very pleased with how God used me.”
Meanwhile, Paula White says she is in the discovery and development stage as she prepares to again lead the church.
She plans to live in Tampa and will continue to base her television efforts, Paula White Ministries, out of the city. A highly sought-after evangelist, White says she will curtail her travel and focus on the local church.
“Many people watch the media ministry, and they’ll have a place where they can say Pastor Paula is planted,” she said. “It really is my joy and privilege to serve in this capacity.”
Sherri Day can be reached at sday@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2440.
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Women's Ministry Committee Members
Pastoral Advisors
Pastor Dave Kehl [GJ - Church and Change]
Professor Rich Gurgel [GJ - Church and Change]
Executive Team:
Marilyn Miller*
Kathie Wendland
Linda Buxa
Carolyn Sachs
Naomi Schmidt
Publications Team:
Linda Buxa*
Amanda Maresh
Lisa Bluhm
Melissa Bock
Franceska Wendland
Congregational Ministry Team:
Sally Valleskey*
Su Hanson
Edie Hintz
Jane Eddinger
National Conference Team:
Amanda Bourman*
Val Johnson
Laurie Starr
Vera-Ellen Cook
Sarah Owens
Mary Clemons
Web page Team:
Naomi Schmidt*
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Nat'l WELS Women's Leadership Conference
National WELS Women's Leadership Conference
Leading with a Christ-like attitude
July 16-18, 2010
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, WI
Keynote Address:
Leading with a Christ-like Attitude: Kathie Wendland
Leading with a Christ-like Attitude: Kathie Wendland
Developing Personal Bible Study and Devotion Habits: Prof. Richard Gurgel
Group Presentations
Serving Where God Puts You: Valerie Johnson
What is the Women’s Ministry Committee?: Women’s Ministry Committee
Committing our lives to the Lord - Mary Clemons
Committing our lives to the Lord - Mary Clemons
Breakout Sessions (you may attend 3):
Emerging Leaders of Tomorrow: Cynthia Whaley
Reaching Women in the Church – Organizing Women’s Ministries: Sally Vallesky
Christian Leadership in the Secular World: Marilyn Sievert
Value of Prayer: Vera Ellen Cook
Defining Your Leadership Style: Dr. Stacy Hoehl
Working Together to Address Conflict*: Marilyn Miller
Evaluating the Quality of a Bible Study*: Pres. Paul Wendland
Sharing Jesus with a Servant’s Heart*: Sarah Owens
Healthcare and Christian Leadership*: Connie Sauer and Linda Golembiewski
*offered on Saturday (only)
Music:
Koiné the Church Band
United Voices of Praise
Email us to get on our mailing list!
See highlights from the July 7, 2007
National Women's Leadership Conference
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Our History and the Original Brainstorm
The WELS Women's Ministry Committee was spawned from an event that took place in June, 2002. The event, a brainstorming retreat, was a pilot project of the WELS Board for Parish Services. The "think tank" objectives were:
1) to review and reaffirm the Biblical principles of the universal priesthood of all believers and of the role of men and women in the Church,
2) to brainstorm, clarify, and prioritize ideas regarding vehicles and approaches which will foster, encourage, and enhance the personal and corporate ministry of WELS women and,
3) to craft the outline for a document that will present our recommendations to the WELS Board for Parish Services for appropriate action.
Ten WELS women from various walks of life participated in the June task force. Some of these women had full-time ministry positions or had had them at one time. Several women were working professionals, several were retired volunteers. Six WELS pastors representing the Board for Parish Services, Wisconsin Lutheran College, and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and Martin Luther College also participated. The Friday, Saturday, and Sunday retreat generated a set of "Action Plans". One of the programs that resulted as a key idea from the brainstorming retreat was a Commission or Committee on Women's Ministry in the WELS.
It took a year to get the committee going; nevertheless, the think tank weekend essentially generated the committee. Initially, four women who attended the think tank were appointed to this committee. There were three men on the committee who represented the Board for Parish Services and the seminary.
In October 2008, the committee expanded and now includes an Executive Committee, formed with the initial committee plus two new members, and several Sub Committees totaling 23 gifted women from across the nation and the two pastoral advisors.
Why is this ministry needed?
At the retreat the need to enhance the ministry of WELS women was expressed. All who attended felt—and also represented many other WELS brothers and sisters who feel—that there are some barriers that we in our church body must overcome in order to enhance this ministry of and to women. The task force participants felt that women in the WELS passionately seek to serve God in the Church in ways that please God and do not violate His Word. The committee's task is to fulfill the need to foster, encourage, and enhance the personal and corporate ministry of WELS women.
What types of opportunities for service and/or fellowship do are we considering?
The following are the key ideas that came out of the task force weekend in 2002:
▪ Hold a women's conference.
▪ Initiate a commission or committee on Women's Ministry (already referred to above, formed in 2003)
▪ Foster respect for WELS Christian women (to counter the real and perceived lack thereof)
▪ Identify, validate, celebrate women's (and men's) ministry
▪ Create a women's magazine.
▪ Create an environment that fosters heightened ministry among WELS women
▪ Pray
▪ Ask the Conference of Presidents and Synodical Council to make women's issues an agenda item
▪ Offer all called workers enhanced leadership training
▪ Enhance the understanding of the Scripture's principles of the roles of men and women
▪ Enhance the understanding of the Scripture's principles of the priesthood of all believers
▪ Encourage WELS women to learn as much as possible about the Scriptures
▪ Identify and teach spiritual gifts in appropriate ways, starting young.
As you can see, the suggested action plans are ambitious! There is much to be done. But we on the committee are fully aware that women's ministry in the WELS is not dependent on our committee, by any means. There are many, many opportunities for Christian service for WELS women, and we have invited women in our synod to e-mail our committee with encouragements and successes regarding women helping and serving in their congregations so we can be a clearinghouse for these ideas. Our committee is moving fairly slowly; we want to "get it right," before initiating any major conferences or programs. By this I mean we are studying Scripture together at all of our meetings regarding men and women in ministry-service in the Kingdom. In the meantime there are lots of other programs, Bible studies, retreats, and seminars that are enhancing the ministry of WELS women throughout the United States and beyond!
Our Communication Tools:
Some communicating is taking place via the WELS website. In addition to a website for women, we envision a WELS women’s' magazine, regional and/or national conferences, and presentations. All of the women on the committee have done and continue to do retreats and presentations to spiritually serve WELS women. These events can also serve to be opportunities to share the work of the Committee and the work of other WELS women's groups throughout the synod.
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GJ - Which women were consecrating Holy Communion? WELS/ELS will never tell. That would be informative and edifying. The outlines given above show this is another outgrowth of Church and Change.
