Reverend Dr. Edward Allen White

1932 - 2022

WHITE

Reverend Dr. EDWARD ALLEN WHITE

The Reverend Dr. Edward Allen White of Washington, DC, passed away on March 31,2022 at the home of his son David, in Darlington, South Carolina. He passed a month after celebrating his 90th birthday surrounded by family.

Ed was born to William Crombie and Antoinette Francis White on February 23, 1932. He grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts where he met Louise Lafar Giesey, whom he married in 1954. They remained together until Louise's death in 2020. He earned degrees from Wesleyan University, Union Theological Seminary and McCormick Seminary and forged a career helping church congregations and their leaders find and fulfill their missions. His approach stressed ecumenical outreach and community activism.

Ed began his ministry in 1956 as Pastor to Good Shepherd Faith Church in Manhattan, New York.

In 1964, he moved to Chicago to serve as the Director of the United Presbyterian Church's City Church Project, where he worked with youth, teachers, and church officers to develop programs for urban and cross-cultural communities. Moving to Washington, DC in 1967, he led a project focused on responding to the Poor People's Campaign through the renewal of urban and suburban churches. He went on to serve as NCUP's General Presbyter for 15 years, where he played a critical role in the evolution of Washington, DC's faith community. He served as President of the Council of Churches of Greater Washington, President of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington, and President of the Society for Advancement of Continuing Education for Ministry. He also served as the Chair of the Alban Institute's board of trustees, and subsequently joined the Institute's staff in the training of church leaders from many denominations and geographies.

Ed continually stretched himself to embrace God's wider community. In the 1960's, he served as a coordinator for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's Poor People's Campaign. He joined the Freedom Riders in North Carolina to fight for civil rights. In 1984, he and other pastors were arrested while protesting apartheid outside the South African embassy. Ed was active in the Interfaith Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and in a variety of interfaith initiatives against gun violence. In the 1980's, he worked with local churches who were struggling to come to terms with homosexuality. He invested two decades helping to grow Korean and Taiwanese Presbyterian congregations in the United States.

When Ed was able to take time from the demands of his work life, he was happiest being with his family, especially out on the water in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Ed is survived by his five children and their spouses, and fourteen grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mary Francis Giffin (Robert), Tina Madison White (Mary), Anne Louise White (Bill Cooksy), David White (Pattie) and Graham White (Debbie Whalen); by his 12 grandchildren, Andrew, Sam (Genna) and Sarah (Sean) Giffin, Evelyne, Haley and Cameron White, Emily and Molly Cooksy, Lillian, Louise and Sonora White, Madelyn White; and by his two great-grandchildren, Eleanor Cooksy and Alida Giffin.

A memorial service for Reverend White is planned for Saturday, June 11 at 2 p.m. at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, One Chevy Chase Circle, Washington, DC 20015. The family asks those who wish to honor Ed's life to consider contributions to the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington (https://ifcmw.org/donate/) or to Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church (https://www.chevychasepc.org/give).