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.

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.

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.

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.

Don’s blog and website address is www.BiblicalSpirituality.org. 

He’s on X @DonWhitney and on Facebook as Don Whitney.