About
Don Whitney
Don’s Early Life and Education
Don grew up in Osceola, Arkansas where he came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He was active in sports throughout high school and college, and worked in the radio station his dad managed.
After graduating from Arkansas State University, Don planned to finish law school and pursue a career in sportscasting. While at the University of Arkansas School of Law, he sensed God’s call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He then enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 1979.
In 1987, Don completed a Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL and later a Ph.D. in theology at the University of the Free State in South Africa.
Pastoral Ministry
Prior to his ministry as a seminary professor, Don was pastor of Glenfield Baptist Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), for almost fifteen years. Altogether, he has served local churches in pastoral ministry for twenty-four years.
Professor
Don Whitney has been Professor of Biblical Spirituality and the John H. Powell Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO, since 2024.
He served there in a similar position from 1995 to 2005, and then as Professor of Biblical Spiritual and Associate Dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, from 2005 to 2024.
He is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality.
Author
He is the author of:
- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, 1991/2014), which has a companion discussion guide.
- How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian? (NavPress, 1994/2019)
- Spiritual Disciplines within the Church (Moody Press, 1996)
- Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (NavPress, 2001/2021)
- Simplify Your Spiritual Life (NavPress, 2003)
- Finding God in Solitude: the Personal Piety of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and Its Influence on His Pastoral Ministry (Peter Lang, 2014)
- Praying the Bible (Crossway, 2015)
- Family Worship (2006; Crossway 2016)
His hobby is restoring and using old fountain pens.
Husband, Father, Grandfather
Don lives with his wife Caffy in Kansas City, MO. She works from their home as an artist, muralist, and illustrator. The Whitneys have a married daughter, Laurelen, and five grandchildren.
- Download Don’s biography as a bulletin insert as a DOC or as a PDF.
- Don’s website address is www.BiblicalSpirituality.org.
- He is on Twitter @DonWhitney and on Facebook as Don Whitney (look for the “Public Figure” page).
- Here is a link to promotional photos where you can choose digital pictures in color or black-and-white, in both formal and casual portraits, to download to your computer.
