A Litte History

The fun part of any blog is that it is personal and you can indulge yourself by revisiting the past even when you're the only one it interests. Obviously, when it comes to this one thing in my life, I am comfortable if it appears to the observer that "it's all about me".

That said, I was remembering Dr. K. Owen White and how much he meant to First Baptist Church. I was so proud that in that moment when I made my public profession of faith he was the pastor that met me there in the baptismal waters where I was "buried in Christ through baptism and raised to walk in newness of life". If you were to look at the First Baptist Church history on their website, you would notice that the only previous pastor mentioned was Dr. John R. Bisagno (who married my husband and me) and came to pastor the church in 1970. But in the early 1960's Dr. White pastored FBC during some difficult years in our country's history.

One of the most difficult days I remember vividly was when the church was picketed on a Sunday evening by a group of black people. After training union on Sunday evening, I would go outside by one door and back in by another as a shortcut to get in the worship center for Sunday night church service. That particular Sunday my Dad made it clear that there would be no short cuts - I was not to leave the building. It was a little frightening at the time but by today's standards very civilized! I am going to include Dr. White's biography which will explain why this happened.

Kenneth Owen White was President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1963-1964, and President of the General Baptist Convention of Texas from 1962-1964. During his simultaneous presidencies Dr. White continued to pastor First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Other denominational involvement included serving on the Home Mission Board, Radio Commission and Executive Board of the General Baptist Convention of Texas.

Dr. White was a prominent figure in the early 1960s, and played an active role in several controversial issues. He objected to The Message of Genesis (1962) by Ralph Elliott, who was then a professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Based on his conviction that the work denied the historicity of Genesis, Dr. White campaigned successfully for Dr. Elliott’s removal from the seminary. Shortly after his election as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. White became embroiled in a civil rights controversy after rejecting a black student’s request to join First Baptist Church, Houston. Dr. White and other church leaders believed that the request was motivated only to promote the church integration campaign led by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), who picketed the church following the denial. In 1965, the church passed a policy to remain segregated, and Dr. White accepted a position to become Metropolitan Missions Coordinator in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. White held pastorates in California, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and Washington, D. C. He was born in 1902 in London, England, and moved to British Columbia as a child. He entered the United States in 1921, and married Pearl in 1926. The Whites had two children, Stanley and Ruth. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisville and his Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. White died July 12, 1985 in Tuscon, Arizona.

Prepared by: Dorothy A. Davis
Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives
June 2008

Dr. White was a beloved pastor and wonderful man of God who believed in and taught the inerrancy of the Bible.

I do not remember when segregation ended at the church. In fact, there were only a few times that segregation really touched my life. I was never taught hate for anyone in my home. I was taught a lack of respect for people who did not want to work to support themselves or their families but that encompassed any person of any color. I remember once in the early seventies when I worked in a secretarial pool at Shell as one of the Vice-President's secretaries had called all of her friends looking for a lunch date to no avail. I said to her, "Ruby, you have asked everyone to lunch but me!" To which she replied with surprise, "Would you want to go to lunch with me?!" We had a great lunch together but I remember looking around the room and realizing we were the only white and black girls sitting at a table together. Of course, the other way I was touched by segregation was the undoing of segregation. In high school I was zoned to the rival high school for integration! I was devestated but ultimately that is where I met my husband!

I am not saying that I didn't see the signs of segregation or the pain that it caused or the hate that grew out of it. And I am thankful that it is an issue that my children and grandchildren will only read about in history books.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28