The Rev. Dr. William Bert Neal III said he “always had a deep and abiding faith in Christ.”

Still, he didn’t always envision being a pastor. He said his mindset changed on a certain Sunday, nearly 25 years ago.
“I answered the call to ministry on Father’s Day 1998,” said Neal, 70, of McDonough. “I just kept feeling this tug of the Holy Spirit on me to do something besides sitting in the pew on Sunday morning. I felt God saying, ‘Bert, I’ve got something for you to do.’”

Neal will retire on July 1, after nine years as pastor of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, 397 Racetrack Road in McDonough. The church will offer breakfast in Neal’s honor May 21, at Eagle’s Landing Country Club in Stockbridge.
Retirement festivities will continue on June 25, with a tailgate party in the parking lot of Wesley Chapel. Neal will preach his final Sunday sermon as pastor on June 26.

Neal was born in Augusta, in a military family, and was baptized when he was eight years old. He said although he grew up in a Christian home, he didn’t always plan to be a minister.

“I’ve always been in church,” he said. “I just didn’t know that Christ wanted me to be in pastoral leadership.”

Neal served in the U.S. Army for 21 years. He then worked as a deputy executive director for the Atlanta Housing Authority from 1994-98, and as a contract manager for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice from 1998-2005.

Neal said when God called him to the ministry, he was attending Ben Hill United Methodist Church in Atlanta. He served as a children’s minister there from 2000–04.

I answered the call for Him to use me for His glory,” he said. “During that time is when I went to Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. I graduated seminary in 2005 and became minister of outreach and social concerns at Ben Hill United Methodist.”

Neal was commissioned in 2006, and became the associate pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, where he remained until 2010. He then planted Sacred Praise United Methodist Church in Lovejoy, and stayed there for three years.

Neal came to Wesley Chapel in 2013. While serving as pastor, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2019 from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Neal said he is proud of how Wesley Chapel ministers to local residents. This, he said, includes giving away food and back-to-school supplies to families in need, or assisting them with bills and living expenses.

Neal originally planned to retire in 2020, but those plans changed with the advent of COVID-19. He said the last 27 months have been the most difficult for him as pastor.

“I think the pandemic threw all of us a major curve in what we wanted to accomplish,” said Neal. “I woke up on a Sunday morning in March of 2020, and the church had to be closed. I never thought, in my entire life, that the church would be closed to worship.

“As a nation, and as a local community, we weren’t prepared for it to happen and to last as long as it did,” he continued. “I think one of the challenges now is, how do we get people to re-engage in ministry when they’ve been disengaged for 27 months? I think that’s going to be a challenge for the next church generation.”

Over the last nine years, Neal has delivered invocations at meetings of the McDonough City Council. This, he said, reflects his commitment to the community, not just his church, and a desire to “lead by example.”

“As a pastor, your parish is more than just the people who worship with you on Sunday,” he said. “Your parish is the community.

“You can’t just pontificate on Sunday morning and live differently the rest of the week,” he added. “What I strive to do is to live by the same expectation that I have for others.”

Neal and his wife Denise have two children – Tiffany, and William IV – and one grandson, Isaiah. Upon Neal’s retirement, the Rev. Belinda McCastle, currently at Red Oak United Methodist Church in Stockbridge, will take over as pastor at Wesley Chapel.

Neal said he still plans to make Wesley Chapel his home church. He gives glory to God for what he has achieved at Wesley Chapel. The mantra for his ministry, he said, is II Corinthians 10:17-18.

“I don’t brag on myself,” said Neal. “I let the Lord take care of that for me. I boast only in the Lord.”