William J. Shaw was born in Marshall, Texas, the youngest of six children. At a young age, he dedicated his life to serving God. He was baptized at age seven and preached his trial sermon by age eleven. Growing in faith, he served as supply pastor to his home church at the age of fifteen and was ordained as Pastor of the Oak Hill Baptist Church in Harrison County, Texas at seventeen.

He attended Bishop College graduating Summa cum laude at age nineteen with a major in Philosophy and Religion and a minor in World History. Dr. Shaw received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree (now known as the Master of Divinity) from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1957. He earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York in 1975. 

Dr. Shaw was called to serve as Pastor of the White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1956. He considers his work as Pastor his highest calling. 

In addition to his work as Pastor, Dr. Shaw has been a religious leader on the local, state national, and international levels. Pastor Shaw served as the sixteenth President of The National Baptist Convention, USA. Inc. from 1999 to 2009.  During his term, he led the Convention to become a more Christ-Centered body. With Pastor Shaw’s focus on Vision, Integrity, Structure, and Accountability (VISA), the convention reached several milestones including repaying more than $1.125 million dollars of inherited debt, implementing a retirement plan for Pastors and church workers, establishing fiscal accountability, and increasing the role of technology in the Convention.

In 2009, President Barack H. Obama appointed Dr. Shaw to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and, in 2010 appointed him as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Pastor Shaw has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Unitas Award, given by the Alumni Association of the Union Theological Seminary and the T. B. Maston Foundation Christian Ethics Award from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Pastor Shaw is married to Camellia L. Shaw. They are parents to one son—Timothy, grandparents to two granddaughters—Lillian and Brittany, and great-grandparents to two great-granddaughters — Zanaira and Nyela.

Reverend Steven Brett Lawrence is one of three children born to the late Steve O. and Lucille S. Lawrence. He began attending White Rock‘s Sunday School at the age of five and accepted Jesus as his Savior and was baptized at age twelve. In the following years, he was active in the life of the church, participating in the Excelsior Choir, the Youth Council, and the Prideful Youth Preparing for Christian Leadership (PYPFCL). He professed a call to the ministry in high school. He continued his education by earning a bachelor’s degree from Eastern University in St. David’s, PA, and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. In the fall of 1978, he was ordained and appointed Administrative Assistant to the Pastor at White Rock. In 2002 he assumed the duties of the Minister of Adult Programming and Technology.

Reverend Lawrence is known for his insightful and inspiring teaching and preaching. He has a unique gift for bringing the Bible to life and relating biblical issues to everyday living, thus challenging people to be better Christians. He is intimately involved in Christian education at White Rock. He writes “The Gist of the Church School lesson and teaches Adult Sunday School each week. Rev. Lawrence also facilitates the Bread of Life Fellowship, a midweek Bible Study. 

Reverend Lawrence loves music and shares his gifts with White Rock’s Church Chapel Choir, the Inspirational Choir, and, on occasion, with the “Praise the Lord Players” drama group. He is also an avid baker, known for his lemon and chocolate cakes.

In addition to his work at White Rock, Reverend Lawrence plans, staffs, and teaches the monthly Learning Conferences of the West Philadelphia Baptist Congress of Christian Education. He is on the design team and faculty for the Church of Christian Compassion’s School of Ministry. Reverend Lawrence has served as an adjunct faculty member of Palmer Theological Seminary, in its School of Christian Ministry, since 1992. He is a board member of the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia and chairs its Education Committee. 

Rev. Lawrence serves as Board Chair for NewCORE, The New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity. From 2008 to the present, NewCORE hosts a multi-ethnic, interfaith and intergenerational, monthly gathering that engages in honest conversations about race in America. 

Reverend Lawrence is married to Cheryl Baker Lawrence.

Rev. Gardner grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He acknowledged his call to the ministry while serving in the U.S. Air Force. He studied Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. In preparation for the Lord's calling, he attended Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California for one year. He was ordained in 1992 at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Oakland, California, and returned to Michigan where he served as pastor of The House of Prayer Church in Cassopolis. Sensing the need for formal theological education he resigned from the House of Prayer to attend the Princeton Theological Seminary.

While completing his fieldwork at White Rock, he worked closely with our Christian Education Ministry. After graduating from Princeton in 2000 with a Master of Divinity, Reverend Gardner continued with us as Minister to Youth and Children. He has a passion for ministering to youth and firmly believes that as Christians it is our responsibility to nurture discipleship in children in order that they may live out their vocation as ordained by God. He is also very involved in ministering to the community and in interfaith work and completed his Doctor of Ministry degree with an emphasis in Peace Studies and Interfaith Dialogue. In addition to working with our youth, Reverend Gardner also assists in the worship services.

Reverend Wayman Clenton Rucker Jr. is a native of West Virginia. He is the eldest of eight children born to the late Wayman and Annie Rucker of Powhatan, West Virginia. He was baptized as a youth at the Mercy Seat Baptist Church of Kyle and Powhatan in Powhatan, West Virginia. 

Reverend Rucker became a member of the White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1983. In 1987, he professed a call to the ministry and, on the advice of his pastor, sought to prepare himself for his vocation by pursuing a seminary education. After seven years of attending school on a part-time basis, Reverend Rucker received his Master of Divinity Degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, in Philadelphia in 1994. He was ordained one year later.

In addition to his Master of Divinity Degree, Reverend Rucker holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with a major in Political Science and minors in Spanish and Military Science, from West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia, and was a Cum Laude graduate. After graduating, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. 

Reverend Rucker serves as an Associate Minister at White Rock Baptist Church and is involved in various church ministries. He teaches an adult bible class during Sunday morning Church School. On the second and third Saturday of the month, he teaches the Seekers of Wisdom, a bible study class. Once a month, he, along with the Church’s Adult Missionary Circle #1, conducts a worship service at a nursing home in West Philadelphia. He also serves on the Board of Deacons, Men’s Usher Board, the Masters of Song (a male choir), and the Praise the Lord Players (a drama group). He has also served as the Coordinator of the Church’s Ministry to Families Affected by Substance Abuse. 

For 43 years, Reverend Rucker’s secular vocation was enforcing anti-discrimination laws in employment, education, housing, and places of public accommodation at the State and Federal government levels. He worked three years, as an Investigator and Investigations Supervisor, at the West Virginia Human Rights Commission in Charleston, West Virginia. He worked 10 years as an Equal Opportunity Specialist (Investigator) with the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in Philadelphia. In January 2019, he retired from the Federal government after working 30 years as an Equal Opportunity Specialist, Enforcement Branch Chief, and Enforcement Division Director with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in Philadelphia. 

In October 2019, Reverend Rucker returned to Federal government service with the Census Bureau, for the 2020 Census. During the one-year stint, he worked as a Recruiting Assistant, recruiting Census job applicants in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Census Response Representative, answering residents’ questions about the Census questionnaire and assisting them in completing the questionnaire.

Reverend Rucker is married to Kim Veronica Rucker. They are the proud parents of one daughter, Cheyenne Rucker.

Reverend Rucker is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He loves music, comedy, and sports.

Reverend Dr. Donna Lawrence Jones currently serves as founding pastor of the Cookman Community Baptist Church in North Philadelphia. Prior to 2011, she served as United Methodist Clergy for 20 years.  For 18 of those 20 years, she served as pastor of Cookman United Methodist Church at 12th and Lehigh Avenue.

The people of Cookman are very active disciples of Jesus Christ locally, nationally, and internationally in the areas of education and restorative justice, impacting vulnerable adolescents and their families. With Rev. Jones, Cookman has developed personal and community empowerment ministries, including an alternative high school for youth (ages 14 to 20) who have experienced truancy; a youth and young-adult led entrepreneurial and leadership development initiative; and a unique program of family group decision making which enables families and their young people to avoid court and other punitive sanctions. 

While a Methodist, Elder Rev. Jones served as Chair of the Children and Poverty Partnership, the Nigeria Partnership, Chair of the Community and World Issues Resource Team, member of the Urban Ministry Task Force; and Board President of United Methodist Neighborhood Services. In addition, Rev. Jones has been a public policy advocate in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., on issues related to welfare reform, livable wage, and restorative practices for juvenile offenders and ex-offenders, as well as juvenile survivors of crime. She also serves as a special consultant and Jr. Elder for the Veterans of Hope - Ambassadors of Hope project: an initiative of spiritual and democratic renewal headquartered in Denver, Colorado. She has taught Urban Youth Ministry as an adjunct professor at the ILIFF School of Theology, in Denver.

Since 2011, in addition to her work with Cookman Community Baptist Church Rev. Jones has served as a minister at White Rock Baptist Church.  She is the instructor for White Rock’s Daystar bible study and a member of several White Rock Choirs 

Rev. Jones holds a Doctor of Ministry in Renewal of the Church for Mission from Palmer (formally Eastern Baptist) Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Lutheran Theological Seminary, and a B.S. in Biology from Temple University. 

Prior to entering the full-time ministry, Rev. Jones was a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep for DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company.  She truly enjoys her vocation, family, church, and community, and knows that “a work is being done in our day that we wouldn’t believe even if we were told” (Habakkuk 1.5).

Rev. Jones is married to Mr. Kim Jones and they are blessed with wonderful Christian children and their families, including Jason, Mark, Jennette, and Kelvin Jackson (with Harmony and Jada); Robert and Faith Jones (with Jason and Josiah).

Rev. Cosby was licensed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ by Rev, Hubert B. Barnes on May 20, 1992, at the Star of Hope Baptist Church, Philadelphia and was ordained on December 14, 1997, by Rev. Hubert B. Barnes, pastor of Star of Hope Baptist Church.

Rev. Cosby is a member of the Pennsylvania Eastern Keystone Baptist Association and is the current Pennsylvania American Legion Department Chaplain (2019 – Present)

Rev. Cosby received a certificate in Christian Ministry from Eastern Baptist Seminary’s School of Christian Ministry in 1994. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Development in 2003, from Rosemont College, and in 2010 earned a Master of Biblical Literature.  In 2014 Rev. Cosby earned a Master of Divinity Degree from Faith Theological Seminary in Baltimore, MD.

Rev. Cosby continues to look for new ministries to bring into the church that will grow, cultivate, and nurture the communal body of Christ. 

One of Rev. Cosby’s favorite Scripture is 2nd Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”