Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

3272 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSthat church ability and experience, and as its pastor developed andgreatly amplified his powers for broad and beneficent usefulness not only inhis home parish but as a constructive leader of church and social improvementwhose reputation is now national.The Second Baptist Church of Atlanta celebrated its semi-centennial in1894, and in October preceding that event the beautiful church home wasdedicated and has since been one of the finest in the South. During the firsthalf century of its existence the Second Baptist Church had founded andfostered eight mission churches into self-supporting churches. Since the warthe church has contributed more than $500,000 to the various causes fosteredby the denomination in the state and in the South. Its membership includedmany men of distinction in public and private life, and among the ministerswho served the church during its first half century were B. E. Tucker, DavidShaver, Shaler G. Billyer, T. T. Ticbcnor and F.' B. Kerfoot.John Ellington White was born at Clayton, North Carolina, near the CityRaleigh, December 19, 1868, the oldest son of Rev. James McDaniel andMartha (Ellington) White. Bis father was a bard-working and self-denyingBaptist clergyman, while his mother was a daughter of Rev. John F. Ellington,also of the Baptist faith. Rev. James M. White likewise served in the Confederate army as an officer in Bampton's Legion.After his training in local schools, Doctor White entered Wake ForestCollege at Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he was graduated Bachelorof Arts and with the honors of his class in 1890. From the same institutionhe received the degree D. D. in 1905. At that time he intended to enter thelaw, and his early education was largely directed toward that object. In1891, while teaching in Mars BiH College, in Western North Carolina, herealized a more definite calling and at once began his preparation for theministry. He was ordained a minister of the Baptist Church in 1892, buthad previously succeeded Dr. Henry W. Battle as pastor of a Baptistchurch in North Carolina. Be was pastor of the Baptist Church at Edenton,North Carolina, from 1893 to 1895. In the latter year he was unanimouslyelected state mission secretary by the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, and succeeded in that office the distinguished Dr. Columbus Durham.Be was general secretary of missions from 1896 to 1901, nnd under his leadership the state mission work more than doubled. In 1900 he was called tothe Second Baptist Church of Atlanta to succeed Dr. Benry McDonald, andbegan his work in that pastorate January 1, 1901. Under his pastorate tbcSecond Baptist Church has gone forward on an even broader scale of churchactivity and influence, and in membership and actual power for good it is oneof the leading churches of the South.A Southerner by birth and training, an independent democrat in politics,Doctor White has made himself one of the vital factors in the movement ofthe New South, and with a high appreciation for the high ideals andthe traditions of the older generation, he has sought to lead his people to thelevel of thought and action which is free from the undue prejudices of thepast. Be has also been active in mitigating the traditions in the South thatresult from the antagonism between the races. Be has served as head ofthe Law and Order Committee of Atlanta Ministry, is first vice presidentof the Southern Sociological Congress, and is officially connected with manychurch and educational movements. Be is a trustee of Wake Forest College,of Merideth College in North Carolina, of Mercer University in Georgia, ofBessie Tift College of Georgia, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminaryat Louisville, of the Georgia Baptist Orphans' Borne, of the home missionboard, of the Georgia State Sanitarium, and of the Southern Baptist Convention. Be is founder and chairman of the committee supervising the work ofthe mountain mission. Be was president of the Georgia Baptist Board ofEducation in 1909 and is president of the Mountain Workers' Conference.