Arlene Hart White Lawrence (November 11, 1916 – November 10, 1990) was a bishop and the third president and general superintendent of the

Pillar of Fire Church The Pillar of Fire International, also known as the Pillar of Fire Church, is a Methodist Christianity, Christian denomination with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire Church affirms the Articles of Religion (Methodist), Meth ...

, a Protestant denomination which in 1966 operated church congregations, missionary homes, radio stations, publishing operations, farms, schools and colleges from 54 properties around the world. The denomination was founded in Denver, Colorado, by her grandmother,

Alma Bridwell White Alma Bridwell White (June 16, 1862 – June 26, 1946) was the founder and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church. In 1918, she became the first woman bishop of Pillar of Fire in the United States. She was a proponent of feminism. She also ass ...

, the first woman to become a bishop in the US. She believed that "activities such as gambling and dancing take time from the really important activities of life". She was the president of all three church radio stations,

KPOF KPOF (910 kHz) is a non-profit AM radio station in Denver, Colorado. It is owned by Pillar of Fire and airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studio and transmitter are in Westminster, located on the campus of Belleview Christian ...

Westminster, Colorado The City of Westminster is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 116,317 at the 2020 United States Census with 71,240 residing in Adams County and 45,077 residing in J ...

;

WAWZ WAWZ (99.1 FM) is a contemporary Christian music radio station located in Zarephath, New Jersey. It is a listener supported/commercial radio station owned by the Pillar of Fire International. The station's target demographic is 25- to 54-year-ol ...

in the

Zarephath Zarephath may refer to the following : ; Places * Alternative name for Ancient Phoenician city Sarepta, now Sarafand, Lebanon * Zarephath, New Jersey in the United States ;Other * Raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath * Zarephath Wines ...

section of

Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Franklin Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 62, ...

; and

WAKW WAKW (93.3 FM, "Star 93.3") is a contemporary Christian music radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a listener-supported radio station owned by Pillar of Fire International. The Class B, 50,000-watt signal reaches the greater Cincinna ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Biography

She was born on November 11, 1916, the daughter of Kathleen Merrell and

Arthur Kent White Arthur Kent White (March 15, 1889 – September 16, 1981) was a bishop, and the general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church in Zarephath, New Jersey, and the president of Belleview College. The church was started by his mother, Alma Br ...

(1889-1981). Her siblings include Horace White (1920-?) who married Evelyn and lived in California; Constance White (1924- ) who married David Brown; and Pauline White (1927-2019) a pastor, who married Robert B. Dallenbach, a bishop in the church in Denver. She married E. Jerry Lawrence, a bishop in the church. She was one of the first people to broadcast on the local Pillar of Fire radio station,

in 1928. She and her sisters sang as the White Sisters Trio, with Arlene accompanying the Trio on the violin. She attended schools in

, and graduated from

Alma White College Alma White College was a Bible college in Zarephath, New Jersey from 1921 to 1978. It was an institution of the Pillar of Fire Church. The academic institution is now succeeded by Pillar College. History In June 1917 an elderly German professor ...

in 1941. She later earned a master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1943 she was ordained as an elder in the Pillar of Fire church, and was consecrated as a bishop in 1974. Her father,

, retired in 1975. She became president and general superintendent of the church, and she retired in 1984. She died on November 10, 1990, at her home in the Belle Mead section of

Montgomery Township, New Jersey Montgomery Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in southern Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township’s ...

, and was buried in Fairmount Cemetery in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Publications/media

Come Along
(1956)
Lady Blue Bell's Forest Banquet
(1973) Vantage Press, 44 pages *Weekly ''News and Notes'' column in the ''Pillar of Fire'' magazine *Hosted Saturday morning children's bible story program on

-FM

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White Lawrence, Arlene 1916 births 1990 deaths Pillar of Fire International Burials at Fairmount Cemetery (Newark, New Jersey) People from Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey People from Montgomery Township, New Jersey