Alma Bridwell
| Alma Bridwell White | |
|---|---|
White circa 1900–1910
|
|
| 1st General Superintendent of Pillar of Fire International | |
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In office 1918–1946 |
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| Succeeded by | Arthur Kent White |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Mollie Alma Bridwell June 16, 1862 Lewis County, Kentucky |
| Died | June 26, 1946 (aged 84) Zarephath, New Jersey |
| Spouse(s) | Kent White (m. 1887; his death 1940) |
| Children |
Ray Bridwell White Arthur Kent White |
| Parents | Mary Ann Harrison (1832–1921) William Moncure Bridwell (1825–1907) |
| Relatives |
Arlene White Lawrence, granddaughter Kathleen Merrell White, daughter-in-law |
| Known for | First woman to become a bishop in the United States. Feminist, noted supporter of the Ku Klux Klan. |
| Religion | Pillar of Fire Church |
Alma Bridwell White (June 16, 1862 – June 26, 1946) was the founder and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church. In 1918, she became the first woman to become a bishop in the United States. She was noted for her association with the Ku Klux Klan and her feminism, anti-Catholicism, antisemitism, anti-Pentecostalism, racism, and hostility to immigrants. By the time of her death at age 84, she had expanded the sect to "4,000 followers, 61 churches, seven schools, ten periodicals and two broadcasting stations."
She was born Mollie Alma Bridwell on June 16, 1862 in Kinniconick, Lewis County, Kentucky, to William Moncure Bridwell (1825–1907) of Virginia, and Mary Ann Harrison (1832–1921) of Kentucky.
William Baxter Godbey converted her at the age of 16 to Wesleyan Methodism in a Kentucky schoolhouse revival meeting in 1878. She wrote that "some were so convicted that they left the room and threw up their suppers, and staggered back into the house as pale as death." By 1880, the family was living in Millersburg, Kentucky.
She studied at the Millersburg Female College in Millersburg. An aunt invited one of the seven Bridwell sisters to visit Montana Territory. All of them were afraid to make the journey, except for Alma, the aunt's last choice. In 1882, nineteen-year-old Alma traveled to Bannack, Montana. She stayed to teach, first in public school, and later in Salt Lake City's Methodist seminary. On December 21, 1887, she married Kent White (1860–1940), who at the time was a Methodist seminarian. They had two sons, Ray Bridwell White and Arthur Kent White.
Alma and Kent White started the Methodist Pentecostal Union Church in Denver, Colorado in December 1901. She led hymns and prayers, and at times preached sermons. In 1907, Caroline Garretson (formerly Carolin Van Neste Field), widow of Peter Workman Garretson, donated a farm for a religious community at Zarephath, New Jersey.
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