Megachurch founding pastors to seek divorce The power couple behind Tampa's Without Walls do not say what is behind their breakup.
By SHERRI DAY
Published August 24, 2007
TAMPA — Megachurch pastors Randy and Paula White stood before their congregation Thursday night and made the announcement that many in their flock feared had been coming for months. They are divorcing.
"It is the most difficult decision that I have had to make in my entire life," said the Rev. Randy White, 49.
"I take full responsibility for a failed marriage -100 percent. I don't blame Paula, and I don't blame other parties. But as the man of the house, I take full responsibility for that." He praised his wife, calling her an exceptional woman and a great preacher and wife.
Standing by his side and appearing to fight back tears, the Rev. Paula White called the decision to divorce "one of the most painful of our lives."
"But God always comes to you in the dark places of life," White said, standing beside her husband in the pulpit. White, 41, also offered a note of optimism.
"It's not the end of the story for Randy or Paula or maybe even Randy and Paula," she said. The couple, who have both been married and divorced before, did not say what caused their breakup. They also did not detail if they had filed for divorce. They have grown children from previous relationships but none together.
Word about trouble in the couple's marriage has circulated for months. The Whites' disparate ministry paths have fueled much of the concern. Randy White, a bishop at Without Walls International Church, has been spending time in Malibu, Calif., in hopes of establishing a ministry on the West Coast. Paula White, the church's senior pastor and a sought-after televangelist, keeps an apartment in New York City, where she recently opened a new ministry and self-help center in July.
The couple, arguably the most prominent evangelical partners in the state, said they made their announcement at Thursday night's service to tell their church "family" before word of their separation appears in the local and national media.
The Whites' split calls into question the future of the 22,000 member megachurch, which the couple founded as South Tampa Christian Center in 1991. During their announcement, which came just before the sermon, the Whites sought to put those concerns to rest.
Randy White said he would continue to lead Without Walls and would focus on being a "great pastor" and a "great dad."
Paula White said she would also continue to preach at Without Walls when invited by her husband. She also said Paula White Ministries would continue to be based in Tampa.
Several hundred Without Walls members were in the audience for the announcement. As the Whites spoke, some people in the crowd cried. Others appeared stunned, noticeable by the audible gasps in the cavernous sanctuary.
Warming herself outside the church, one woman said "God knows best," before being told by another member to avoid talking to the media. At least one Without Walls member said the church was hurting and lashed out at a reporter for being on site to witness the announcement.
The church broadcasts its services via the Internet at www.streamingfaith.com. But last night's announcement was not aired. The video of the broadcast was interrupted without explanation and resumed after the announcement.
Inside the church, the preacher for the evening, the Rev. Tim Storey, sought to offer direction to a stunned congregation. "How many of you feel sorrow tonight," Storey asked the crowd. Hands shot up around the sanctuary. "We should. But God is still good."
Okay this is just getting ridiculous. What is really going on in the world of faith and why does it all appear to be taking place in the same week?
Aug 24, 2007
Paula and Randy White Seek Divorce
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7 comments:
This is the type of stuff that happenings when you focus on building buildings and not building people. I am just speechless. I respect the fact that they too like us are human, but this is their second divorce not their first. People need to stop playing with God. Get it together.
Be careful what you say about these two. Just because they are having trouble doesn't remove their anointing. The Bible is very clear on the subject of touching God's anointed. Many have lost their lives and other devastating things have happened because people have put their hand, mouth or other things on God's anointed. Don't trample people when they're down.
Randy White Makes Emotional Return To Without Walls Pulpit
By JEFF SCULLIN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Aug 27, 2007
TAMPA - Days after its founders announced they plan to divorce, Without Walls International Church got back to business Sunday.
The 9 a.m. service drew about 1,000 people - a typical crowd for the early service during summer months. After a typically high-energy service, few members wanted to talk about the impending split between Randy and Paula White, though.
One woman who did speak after the service, Katrina Singleton, 35, of Brandon, said the couple's separation might affect the church. Some members tend to follow Randy, while others follow Paula, she said.
"I was really surprised," Singleton said.
After a rare joint appearance Thursday night, when the co-founders delivered the news to a stunned congregation, Randy White returned to the pulpit alone, as expected. White told the Tribune last week that his wife had returned to New York Friday morning, after they made their announcement.
That wasn't unusual. In the past year, as her own ministry has evolved, Paula White's appearances at the North Grady Avenue church have become sporadic.
No mention was made of Thursday's announcement at the 9 a.m. service, where White preached for a few minutes before turning over the pulpit to Ralph Messer, a Messianic rabbi from Denver who teaches about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith.
Messer preached about the Torah and Jewish entrepreneurship and spoke again at the 11 a.m. service, where he led the congregation in a prayer that ended emotionally for White.
"I declare today that my bishop has entered into a new season, a new season, a new season," Messer intoned, prompting White's followers. "Now, give him glory. Praise God."
As emotions in the sanctuary reached a high point, Messer hugged White, telling him, "I love you. I love you so much." White, a prayer shawl draped over his shoulders, stood clutching a Torah scroll, head bowed, with a pained expression on his face.
Then White made his way to the podium, as his congregation cheered, buried his face in a black cloth and appeared to sob. Shortly after receiving a supportive hug from Messer, White appeared to crumble completely. His shoulders sagged, and he laid his head on his arm at the podium and gave way to even deeper sobbing. Eventually, Messer and a host of black-suited ministers gathered, laid their hands on White and formed a tight prayer circle around him.
On the video monitor behind White, the words "international church" appeared to hover over White's prostrate body, as though he were carrying them on his back.
Intended or not, the symbolism may prove prophetic.
In his interview with the Tribune last week, White said he plans to resume his role as the church's senior pastor and that he has put on hold plans to start another church in Malibu, Calif.
The Whites founded Without Walls in 1991 as the South Tampa Christian Center. Since then, the church has become one of the nation's biggest and fastest-growing churches, boasting 23,000 members and nearly $40 million in revenues last year.
The Whites, who've been married nearly 18 years, said last week that the split is amicable and comes after visits to counselors over several years.
They blame two lives going in different directions.
Now, they will have to find a way to separate their interests without damaging the church they built.
Those logging on to Without Walls' Web site Sunday to watch services saw no signs of a separation. The site continues to display a picture of the Whites together and to promote Paula White Ministries, which contributes between $50,000 and $80,000 a week to the church, Randy White said last week.
White said his wife would come back as a guest speaker and continue supporting the church for a while.
She will have bases in New York, and San Antonio, Texas, where she has homes, and in California. White said he would remain in the couple's Bayshore Boulevard home.
The couple, who are using the same law firm for their divorce, plan to file as soon as they can work out the details of dividing their assets, Randy White said. That could happen as early as this week, he said.
First of all, how do you know that these two are anointed? Oh that's right they said it. So because a person claims they're anointed mean we cannot criticize them. Give me a break. And before you quote scripture give me the context in which it was used.
You have so stated the truth. I wished before someone quote a verse, they need to use it in the context it was intented. There is a deferance.
I must agree with the comment. People are always quoting scripture, but yet they don't have an idea about the context in which the scripture was used.
You know what - whether or not they're anointed or not is really not the focus. God will help, chastise, correct, deliver and restore them just like he will us - if they allow Him to. If you truly believe that as authentic believers, we have a responsibility to pray for all concerned - let's do so. You're opinion - my opinion, and believe me we all have them and they are prone to be different, really won't help this situation much. However, the greater concern is the many, many believers that have been shaken to the core and the non-believers that will see this as a strike against our God. The truth is, as children of God we need to each have our own relationship with God. However, we live in a society in which we are personality absorbed. Unfortunately, this has spilled over to the church.............
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