1. Paula White delivered the invocation at his inauguration, on January 20,2017.
49 Facts About Paula White
1. 2.
Paula White is the first female clergy member to deliver the invocation.
3.
From 2014 until May 2019, Paula White was senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center, in Apopka, Florida, a nondenominational, multicultural megachurch.
4.
Paula White was formerly the co-pastor of Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Florida, a church she co-founded with pastor and then-husband Randy Paula White in 1991.
5.
Donald and Myra Furr's marriage began to fail when Paula White was five years old.
6.
Paula White's mother left Tupelo and took her to Memphis; her separation from her husband and his subsequent suicide drove Paula White, her brother, and her mother into poverty.
7.
Paula White has said that during that time, she suffered from bulimia.
8.
Paula White's mother married a two-star admiral in the United States Navy when Paula White was nine years old.
9.
Paula White's family moved to the Washington, DC area when her stepfather was stationed at the National Naval Medical Center.
10.
Paula White graduated from Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Maryland.
11.
Paula White later claimed to have received a vision from God shortly after her conversion.
12.
On July 12,2009, Paula White became the senior pastor of the church she had co-founded, replacing her former husband, Randy Paula White, who stated that he was stepping down as pastor for health reasons but would remain connected with the church in a different position.
13.
On January 1,2011, after the resignation of Scott Thomas, Paula White became the senior pastor of the Without Walls Central Church in Lakeland, Florida, making her the pastor of both locations.
14.
One year later, on January 1,2012, Paula White became senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center as well.
15.
On June 20,2012, her ex-husband, Randy Paula White, resumed leadership of the Tampa location.
16.
In November 2011, while Paula White was still senior pastor of the location, her ex-husband Randy Paula White said that the Lakeland property was on the verge of being sold or going into foreclosure.
17.
On March 4,2014, when Paula White was the senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Without Walls International Church filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection.
18.
Paula White participated in the Mega Fest, hosted by Jakes in Atlanta, in 2004,2005 and 2008.
19.
Paula White has ministered to Michael Jackson, Gary Sheffield, and Darryl Strawberry.
20.
In 2003, after Strawberry completed a prison sentence for cocaine possession, Paula White became his personal pastor.
21.
Charisse Strawberry, Darryl's wife at the time, worked as an assistant to Paula White, accompanying her on speaking engagements.
22.
Paula White is the "personal life coach" of Tyra Banks and appeared on her show, the Tyra Banks Show, in an episode on promiscuity on October 4,2006.
23.
On December 31,2011, the New Destiny Christian Church board in Apopka, Florida, announced it had appointed Paula White to succeed Zachery Tims as the new senior pastor.
24.
In 2012, after Tims died, Paula White became senior pastor for New Destiny Christian Center.
25.
On May 5,2019, Paula White announced that she was stepping down as senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center and that her son and his wife would become the new senior pastors.
26.
Paula White said she would help start 3,000 churches and a university.
27.
Paula White became a personal minister to Donald Trump after he watched her television show; he first contacted Paula White by telephone in 2002.
28.
Paula White brought her to Atlantic City on multiple occasions for private Bible studies, and has appeared on her television show.
29.
In June 2016, Paula White was credited by James Dobson for having converted Trump to Christianity.
30.
Paula White was part of Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board during his campaign for president, and she provided the invocation prayer during Trump's inauguration ceremony.
31.
Paula White said in 2024 that she had owned a condo in Trump Tower in New York for 20 years.
32.
From June 2016, Paula White had served as one of Trump's spiritual advisors, and after his election had held various prayer circles with him in the Paula White House, including in the Oval Office.
33.
One notable prayer moment was Paula White initiating prayer with President Trump on February 27,2020, at the African American History Month Reception in the Cabinet Room.
34.
Paula White led black leaders to lay hands on President Trump, a moment that aided his appeal with the black community following their concerns with him before he was elected.
35.
Paula White enthusiastically supported Trump's 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
36.
Paula White was crucified as a felon under Roman law.
37.
Paula White embraced Trump's immigration policy, including the detention of immigrant children, claiming conditions were not inhumane.
38.
In 2020, Paula White delivered the opening remarks for a National Day of Prayer ceremony.
39.
Paula White supported Trump in his 2020 reelection campaign, delivering a prayer at his June 2020 campaign launch event.
40.
On January 6,2021, at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the attack on the US Capitol, Paula White offered an opening prayer before Trump's speech.
41.
Critics argue that Paula White is not biblically qualified to be a pastor, with some pointing out that her role as a female pastor contradicts their interpretation of biblical teachings on church leadership.
42.
Paula White's past, including multiple marriages and alleged scandals, has been cited as problematic for a religious leader in such a prominent position.
43.
Paula White's ministry began to take on more modern-day apostolic and prophetic aspects in the early 2010s, common in Independent Charismatic Christianity, as she took Independent Charismatic Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams as her spiritual father.
44.
Paula White herself has been an "apostolic leader" since at least 2012.
45.
Andre Gagne, scholar of American evangelicalism and the New Apostolic Reformation, states Paula White's "words were misinterpreted" given the context of her spiritual warfare prayer and the cryptic language used.
46.
In December 2021, Paula White participated in the "Prayer Rally for Peace on the Korean Peninsula," hosted by the Unification Church's Universal Peace Federation.
47.
In 2010, Paula White was photographed leaving a motel in Rome holding hands with televangelist Benny Hinn.
48.
Paula White has one child, a son named Bradley Knight, from her first marriage, whom she installed as her church senior leader in 2019.
49.
Paula White was stepmother to the three children of her second husband, Randy White, and is stepmother to the three children of her third husband, Jonathan Cain.