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, 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.[1] The denomination was founded in Denver, Colorado, by her grandmother, Alma Bridwell White, the first woman to become a bishop in the US.[2][3][4] She believed that "activities such as gambling and dancing take time from the really important activities of life".[5] She was the president of all three church radio stations, KPOF in Westminster, Colorado; WAWZ in the Zarephath section of Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey ; and WAKW in Cincinnati, Ohio.[6]
Biography
She was born on November 11, 1916, the daughter of Kathleen Merrell and Arthur Kent White (1889-1981).[3][5] 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.[3]
She was one of the first people to broadcast on the local Pillar of Fire radio station, KPOF in 1928. She and her sisters sang as the White Sisters Trio, with Arlene accompanying the Trio on the violin.[7]
In 1943 she was ordained as an elder in the Pillar of Fire church, and was consecrated as a bishop in 1974. Her father, Arthur Kent White, retired in 1975. She became president and general superintendent of the church, and she retired in 1984.[8]
^ abGreenberg, Lenore (August 24, 1975). "Faithful Savor Rural Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-30. 'Activities such as gambling and dancing take time from the really important activities of life' Bishop Arlene Lawrence declared during a recent ... Mrs. Lawrence is the granddaughter of Alma White and the daughter of Arthur K. White, senior Pillar of Fire bishop and still active in church affairs at the ...
^ ab"Services tomorrow for church leader. Ex-president of Pillar of Fire remembered". Denver Post. November 13, 1990. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Services for Arlene White Lawrence, who once headed the Pillar of Fire Church ... Mrs. Lawrence, who died Nov. 7 at her home in Belle Meade, New Jersey, was 73. ... Mrs. Lawrence was one of the first people to broadcast on the local Pillar of Fire radio station, KPOF, started in 1928. She and her sisters sang in the White Sisters Trio. She wrote two books, one a travelogue and the other a book for children. Mrs. Lawrence was born in Zarephath on Nov. 11, 1916. She was reared in Denver and Zarephath and finished high school at the church-owned Belleview College here. She later graduated from Alma White College in Zarephath and earned a master's degree at Columbia University. She married the Rev. E. Jerry Lawrence , who died in 1983. ...
^ abc"Pillar of Fire Bishop Dies". Rocky Mountain News. November 14, 1990. Retrieved 2009-07-05. Arlene White Lawrence, Bishop and former president and general superintendent of the Pillar of Fire Church, died last Wednesday in her home in Belle Mead, N.J. She was 73. ... Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery. Bishop Lawrence was the granddaughter of Alma White, who founded the Pillar of Fire church in Denver in 1901. Born Nov. 11, 1916, in Zarephath, N.J., Bishop Lawrence divided her youth between New Jersey and ...
