Don and Susan White serve in the Grand Valley of Colorado, a large region hosting everything from rural towns to the city of Grand Junction. The Colorado River runs through this land, supplying water for the many farms and ranches. To the west of the valley are the rocky canyons of the Colorado National Monument, climbing from an elevation of 4,500 feet at Grand Junction to 8,000 feet at the Pinyon Mesa. To the east is the largest flattop mountain in the US: Grand Mesa, with higher elevations reaching 11,000 feet. To the south are the San Juan Mountains, home to old mining towns, and to the north are the coal and oil fields of Picance Creek and Rangely.
The people that call the Grand Valley home are as diverse as the landscape surrounding them. Rural areas host ranchers, fruit growers, and oil field workers, while Grand Junction provides employment for all types of city professionals. Grand Junction has always been a “boom and bust” town due to the heavy reliance upon jobs in the energy field.
Of the roughly thirty-five percent of the people of Grand Junction who claim to be religious, those affiliated with the LDS (Mormon) church are most numerous. There is a great need to bring Christian teaching to both the LDS community and the nearly sixty-five percent of the population that claims no religious background or affiliation. Local churches and ministries have spent years working to meet the needs they perceive in the community. While much good ministry is done, there has historically been little communication or cross-pollination between these churches and ministries. The Whites hope to increase the ecumenical synergy in the Valley through their work.
The Whites have served as InFaith field staff since August 2017.
Don is an ordained minister in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). He went to seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, and worked at Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship, a congregation for the homeless and addicted in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, as part of his field training. Don and Susan stayed on with Shepherd’s Heart after graduation as part of the full-time staff, living in community with the senior pastor and other ministry leaders.
Following their experience in Pittsburgh, Don took a pastorate in Long Beach, California. There he learned the ins and outs of congregational ministry in a more traditional setting. At the end of that pastorate, the Whites returned to Don’s native Colorado with their eldest son and his family, including two of their six grandchildren.
Don and Susan feel strongly that involvement in the local community church is a priority. To this end, Don is an elder and Susan does children’s ministry, and both serve on the music team at their local church in Glade Park, atop the Colorado National Monument.