Lynne and Charlie Wingard with Bill and Kristy Barcley at an event to celebrate Bill Barcley’s years in ministry. Photo by Amanda McQuade.
On November 18, Central Carolina Presbytery granted honorable retirement to William Barcley, longtime senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Four days later, nearly 300 friends, family, church members, and colleagues filled the fellowship hall of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina to celebrate Barcley’s years of ministry.
The dinner program – loosely inspired by Barcley’s favorite film, “It’s a Wonderful Life” – featured chronological vignettes from more than 20 speakers about the impact Barcley has had in the PCA and beyond. The event also marked the beginning of a new and uncertain chapter in Barcley’s ministry.
Barcley’s public titles -– pastor, professor, theologian, author -– only tell part of the story. Throughout his career, he has embodied the ideal of the shepherd-scholar: a man whose academic pursuits never detracted from his commitments to family and the church. Those who know him best emphasize Barcley’s devotion as a husband, father, and pastor whose influence was seen as much in kitchens as in classrooms, and most of all from the pulpit each Sunday.
Barcley’s preparation for ministry began in New England. After post-graduate study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, he earned his doctorate in New Testament from Boston University and joined the faculty of Gordon College as professor of biblical and theological studies. During those years, he and his wife, Kristy, attended First Presbyterian Church Northshore (OPC) in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he was soon ordained. It was there that Barcley met his lifelong friend, Charlie Wingard.
Wingard recognized the Barcleys’ practical contributions to the work of First Pres Ipswich right away, but it was Bill’s encouragement that made a lasting impact.
“Bill has always been an encourager in my pastoral ministry and in my personal life,” Wingard said. “He knows how to use his words to build me up, and he has the courage to offer corrective counsel when I need it, [but] always without scolding.”
In 2001, the growing Barcley family – now with four children in tow – moved from Massachusetts to Mississippi. Barcley joined the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson as professor of New Testament, and later became academic dean. He also served as the pastor of Lebanon Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Learned, Mississippi.
“Bill’s a good example of a pastor-scholar,” said RTS colleague and golfing buddy John Currid, noting how Barcley’s academic rigor was always balanced by his shepherd’s heart. “God’s really used him to take the edge off of me and to make me much more pastoral and caring. He’s just a wonderful example of that.”
In 2007, Sovereign Grace called Barcley as its senior pastor. Along with their six children, he and Kristy moved to Charlotte, and Barcley stepped away from full-time teaching. Still, he retained a role as adjunct professor at RTS, linking the seminary classroom to local church ministry for generations of students. Sovereign Grace became both a spiritual home and a training ground for many future church leaders.
RTS chancellor Ligon Duncan, who first worked with Barcley in Jackson, extolled Barcley’s consistent intentionality to pastor future pastors.
“So many RTS Charlotte students have been mentored at Sovereign Grace Church under Bill’s ministry. And so I value his pastoral ministry to [all of] you, but I especially value his pastoral ministry to our students.”
Under Barcley’s leadership, Sovereign Grace grew in depth and breadth. The church added members, hired staff and interns, instituted an annual missions conference, sent out missionaries, and increased missions giving more than fifteen-fold. A new sanctuary was built in 2015, complete with the church’s famously large pulpit.
Through all of it, “Kristy has been an amazing, humble, wise companion,” said Sovereign Grace member Kim Young, “modeling steadfast support and hospitality” alongside her husband.
Sean McCann – former associate pastor at Sovereign Grace, now senior pastor of Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina – recounted his early years working with Barcley.
“We heard a lot about how brilliant you are. But your sermons are about Jesus,” he said. “You lead us to Jesus time and time again.”
Barcley’s commitments to Christ-centered preaching and the primacy of Scripture have impacted not just congregants, but numerous leaders across the PCA.
One pastor especially shaped by Barcley’s ministry is Kevin DeYoung, who interned with Barcley during his tenure at First Pres Ipswich.
“My sense of calling has always been pastor first, and I look up to Bill in that way,” DeYoung said. “His academic chops and his intellectual curiosity stemmed from his love of his people, and communicating God’s Word effectively.”
DeYoung called it “ a sweet providence” that the Lord led him to Central Carolina Presbytery in 2017, where he rekindled his friendship with Barcley.
“[Bill is] kind of an older brother… who was always interested in me, always wanting to know how I was doing, always humble to ask for advice, and I knew I could ask him for advice,” DeYoung said.
Barcley’s published bibliography ranges from commentaries on 1 and 2 Timothy and Colossians, to a rebuttal of the New Perspective on Paul, but his book “The Secret of Contentment” was repeatedly cited as his most helpful.
Alongside his writing and preaching, Barcley was deeply involved in the courts of the PCA. In Central Carolina Presbytery, he chaired 10 ordination/installation commissions, mentored 11 interns, and led multiple committees. At the Assembly level, he spent five years on the Covenant College board of trustees and served twice on the Overtures Committee. These roles reflect not only Barcley’s administrative acumen but his hard work to strengthen the denomination as a whole.
For all the dignitaries at Barcley’s celebratory dinner, it was his children who offered the most moving testimonies. Leo, Maggie, Anna, Kate, Luke, and Will shared in turn about their father’s deeply held commitments to Scripture, the local church, worship, discipline, family, and Christ.
“I don’t ever remember hearing you say, ‘You must love the church,’ because that’s not how you make someone love something,” Maggie shared. “You modeled that love with your actions and commitments, and the joy that is deeply rooted in you overflowed as you spoke about the church and the gift of it despite its challenges.”
“Dad, you showed us Christ,” Will added. “Through all that my siblings have described, you did them and continue to do them in service and love of him.”
And it was the ruling elders of Sovereign Grace that crowned the evening with a mix of love and laughter. After sharing a few recollections of the steady strength of Barcley’s leadership, the session joined their voices to sing “Barcley was Born to Preach,” a parody set to the tune of “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springstein, Barcley’s favorite (non-operatic) artist.
“Near twenty years you’ve stayed that course,
Your Spirit-filled sermons are a tour de force!
Preaching from that pulpit oversized,
‘Let them see Jesus’ – was the goal you prized!
Baaaarcley was born to preach…”
The performance was followed by an equally rousing congregational singing of “And Can It Be,” a favorite hymn of Barcley’s, and a closing prayer for Bill and Kristy.
The celebration appropriately encapsulated both the joy and gravity of this pivotal moment in Barcley’s ministry and life. In 2024, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which prompted his decision to retire earlier than expected.
“I pray that in the coming years, you will know the Lord’s grace. I know you face very difficult personal challenges at this point, but I pray that you’ll trust that God as a faithful and loving God will not waver,” Carl Trueman shared via prerecorded video.
For his part, Barcley expressed gratitude to his friends and congregants, and most of all to God: “It’s been my pleasure, my privilege, my joy to be your pastor. So thank you very much, and the praise be to God,” Barcley concluded.
While Barcley’s honorary retirement marks the end of his formal career, Wingard well expressed the sentiment shared by many that Barcley is entering a new season of ministry, but not the end of it.
“With retirement, Bill’s role will change, but he will always be a pastor with a pastor’s heart to encourage God’s people. Yes, Bill, you’ll always be a pastor and you’ll always be my pastor.”