| Metropolitan Community Churches |
| Tearing Down Walls. Building Up Hope. |
| MCC Remembers the life & Ministry of Rev. Elder Jean White
| | "I am no longer a body, I am free..." ACIM It is with deep sadness that Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) shares with you the news that Rev. Elder Jean White died Monday morning, 8 November 2010, peacefully at 7:50am, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Jean was a pioneer and "leading light" in the early decades of MCC's growth and global calling.  This is a great loss for Metropolitan Community Churches, for our churches in the UK and around the world. She was a passionate believer and preacher of the inclusive gospel, and an activist in her own right. She was the Senior Pastor of MCC South London, a community who will mourn her greatly.
Jean was also a dear friend to many in MCC, including Founder, Rev. Elder Troy Perry and Phillip Deblieck, and MCC Moderator Nancy Wilson and her partner Paula Schoenwether, for over 31 years. We are deeply grieved for and with Mary, and MCC South London, and all whom she pastored and mentored over many decades in MCC.
Jean adored her partner Mary, loved her church, and so many, even on the edges of the church, who found her approachable and compassionate. May her memory be for a blessing. Rev. Elder Troy Perry, Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches commented that, "Jean White truly lived out her beliefs. She believed in servant leadership and she delivered in spades. Jean was the first face of Europe in the Metropolitan Community Churches and constantly brought to the Board of Elders her view of what it would take for us to grow outside of United States' cultures.
She was the consummate ambassador to all of us who had the opportunity to stay with her and Mary. Phillip's and my love goes out to her partner of many years, Mary Smail, who has been her constant caregiver since Jean was diagnosed with cancer." She will be missed by so many of us in MCC. Please click here if you would like to share your thoughts and memories of Rev. Elder Jean White. Funeral/memorial arrangements will be released as soon as possible.
Grace and Peace, +Nancy Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches |
Biography
Rev. Elder Jean White was a native of London, England. She received her training as a State Registered Nurse at the London Teaching Hospital, White chapel, London. Later she received training as a Midwife in Bristol and at the Elsie Ingles School of Midwifery in Edinburgh, Scotland and undertook a course in Tropical Diseases at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Liverpool.
In 1963 and 1964, Jean White studied at the International Bible Training Institute in Burgess Hill, Sussex, and in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1964 she went as a medical missionary to Macao, Southeast Asia. She served as a missionary in Asia from 1964 to 1970. Three of those years were spent under "compound arrest" in the "no-man's area", between Macao and the mainland of China, during the Red Guard uprising.
In 1970 she returned to England, worked as a Midwifery Tutor, undertook further Nursing management and administration courses, and remained working in a Senior Nursing Management position until 1981.
In 1972, the gay Christian group she was attending became a study group in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. Jean served on the Board of Directors, became a Deacon, then worship coordinator and later an Exhorter (student clergy). She applied and received licensing and ordination and became the Pastor of the London Metropolitan Community Church. She also served as Church Extension officer for the European North Sea District before they obtained District status.
At the Los Angeles General Conference in 1979, she was elected to the Board of Elders, becoming the first Elder from outside the United States. She was reelected again in 1981, 1985 and 1989. She served as the Executive Secretary for World Church Extension and as Chair of the World Church Extension Board overseeing MCC churches in Europe, Africa, New Zealand, South Pacific and Hispanic Americas. In the days before the internet, Jean traveled, sometimes at great risk to herself, to places where it was very dangerous to be openly gay. She wrote thousands of letters to lgbt Christians all over the world looking for hope, justice, peace and safe space to worship.
Rev. Elder Jean White mentored and pastored many of the pastors and leaders who serve in MCC's in Europe, and all over the world, today. She retired from the Board of Elders in 1993, and pastored Metropolitan Community Church of South London. Rev. White is survived by her long-time partner, Mary Smail, an accomplished church musician and MCC lay leader.
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| | Metropolitan Community Churches
PO Box 1374
Abilene, Texas 79604
Phone: 310-360-8640
Fax: 325-690-6328
Web site: Metropolitan Community Churches |
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