Double-take: The two Reverends Stephen White

It may take a leap of faith to believe, but there are two reverends Stephen White who preach at Princeton. One of them, Rev. Stephen C. White — the infamous Brother Stephen who was arrested by Borough Police two years ago — can be found preaching on McCosh Walk near Marx Hall every now and then. The other is Rev. Stephen L. White, the new Episcopal chaplain at the University.

Brother Steve

While he preaches at other campuses in the area, Brother Stephen said he prefers universities where the students are "more intellectual" because his goal is "to open a Biblical debate." He said he believes students who are more intellectual are less physically aggressive when their beliefs are challenged.

"If [you] don't like it, just keep walking," he said. He explained that he wished to reintroduce "conservative Christian beliefs" to universities because most college campuses are too "liberal democrat."

"Universities are where the leaders of the world are going to come from," he said. "They are indoctrinated and brainwashed — anything that is not in the Bible is brainwash."

He is now a member of the Pentecostal church, though he was first a Catholic and then a Baptist. "Pentecostals are the most biblical [of all denominations]. We believe all that's in the Bible," Brother Stephen said.

In addition to sidewalks on college campuses, Brother Stephen has taken to the virtual world to espouse his beliefs. He has established a website at PennPreacher.org where visitors can read his beliefs, see pictures of his wife and two sons and read articles written about him from college newspapers — including The Daily Princetonian.

On his website, visitors who cannot get enough of his preaching can read about how Princeton was first established as a "Bible college" and how he thinks Princeton should return to its evangelical roots.

Brother Stephen welcomes "all sinners and saints to our Biblical, controversial, encouraging and inspiring website." His addresses to both "saints" and "sinners" are peppered with quotes from the Bible.

"Please flee from the wrath to come," Brother Stephen writes. "Jesus is the only answer. You must repent of all sin or perish."

Besides his pleas for religious reform, White's site also offers entries in diary form that tell of Brother Stephen's appearances at certain universities. His entries include preachings at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Stockton State College of New Jersey, and, of course, Princeton:

"Princeton University, Monday, November 20, 2000. Two students from Drexel University joined me as I preached the Word at this old Bible College . . . We had an exciting day in the cold with a conflict with the police."

Rev. Stephen L. White

The other Rev. White is the chaplain at the Episcopal Church at Princeton. Though this Rev. White is relatively new on campus — he has been here less than year — he has already been subjected to "teasing" because his name matches Brother Stephen's.

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"I could not be more different than that guy," White said. "What he says is not what I would say." He said he does not appreciate Brother Stephen's approach because he promotes a negative stereotype of Christianity.

"Some very unbalanced and exogenistic people here have hijacked the term 'Christianity,' " he explained. "They kind of pick and choose certain aspects of the Bible and, unfortunately, they are so vocal [that that is what the public sees as Christianity]."

White also said, "The world is kind of black and white for [Brother Stephen]." While he was preaching Wednesday, for example, Brother Stephen said to a Princeton student, "You are either sanctified or sinful."

The Episcopal Rev. White said he believes that "we are all saints and sinners at the same time. The theory of the 'in group' and the 'out group' I reject."

Yet he is not concerned with Brother Stephen's effect on campus. "I think he's more of a curiosity," he noted. "My concern is that . . . [Brother Stephen's preaching] could give a very distorted view of what Christianity is about."

...He also noted that his church's motto, "absolute faith is not a requirement, an open heart is" does not seem to be a maxim Brother Stephen would support.

...However different their beliefs are, yesterday the two reverends met. Rev. Stephen L. White said, "I asked him if his name was Stephen White and he says 'Yes, Praise the Lord!'. . . He seemed a little surprised that I engaged him, [since] people either ignore or heckle him."

While people may confuse the two Reverands White in name, their beliefs cannot be any different. Even the Episcopalian Reverend Stephen L. White admits, "This is funny . . . I've just got to keep my sense of humor about this."