Whitaker, James Clark, 1913- .

James C. Whitaker was born on July 22, 1913 in Black River, Louisiana. He received his B.A. from Asbury College in 1933; a B.D. from Candler School of Theology, Emory University in 1936; a S.T.M. from Drew Theological Seminary in 1966; and a M.S. in Educational Psychology in 1984 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Whitaker served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy during World War II. From 1935 to 1961 he served as pastor to several churches in the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Church (U.S.). He actively supported desegregation of the New Orleans public schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s, however, his liberal views were not popular with the Louisiana Conference. He transferred to the Northern New Jersey Conference in 1961 where he remained until his retirement in the late 1970s. In 1982, at the age of 70, Whitaker pursued a degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee and began a counseling career.

Whitaker was profoundly influenced by the writings of Soren Kierkegaard about whom he wrote his thesis in the 1960s. He was also influenced by the writings of H. Richard Niebuhr, Paul Tillich and many other theologians and philosophers. This influence is prevalent in the journal of reflections Whitaker maintained from the late 1940s until 1998 as well as in his letters to friends and family. He also participated in layman study groups that engaged in scholarly theological discussions.

Whitaker and his wife, Mozelle Renshaw, had two children. He died on September 21, 2000 at the age of 87.