McNeil New Minister at Carmel
Baptist Church
On March 7 the Rev. Henr\ C.
McNeil officially became the pastor
of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church irr
Winston-Salem. McNeil and Bar
bara. his wife of eight \ears. were
the guests of honor at the installa
tion ceremony to welcome McNeil
to the church. G.K. Moss of Rci
dsville Zion Baptist Church deliv -
ered the keynote address, the Res .
John Mendez of Emmanuel Baptist
and the Rev. W.C. Has of Galilee
Church gave the prayer of installa
tion.
'The installation services were
a memorable occasion tor Barbara
McNeil. I was pleasea
with the broad participation of min
isters. and 1 ua^ \ en appreciative to
me. >a\v McNeil. However, in
1985. he became affiliated with the
Baptists and ha> been with that
all who made that da> possible.
For McNeil, this pastorship
installation culminates a journev
that began 21 vears ago on February
IK. 19^2. when McNeil was 12
vears old. I was 12 years old w hen
1 accepted God s call to become a
minister. savs McNeil, the Lum
"bertorT native. I did not question the
call because I knew even then that 1
would be used by the Lord to help
man> people."
At that young age. McNeil
received his experience by deliver
ing a five-minute message two Sun
days a month at Faith Presbyterian
Church in Aberdeen. On those
Sundays. 1 preached to about 25
young people, says McNeil.
For the next six vears. McNeil
33. received invitations from vari
ous churches to speak to the youth,
and as he got older, his ministry
expanded, and he received invita
tions to speak to the church s gen
eral congregation.
' Those six years were a real
growing period for me. says
McNeil. "I learned a lot about peo
ple and about myself."
While handling his very busy
preaching schedule. McNeil found
time to attend college. He graduated
from Sandhill Community College,
a two-vear community college in
Southern Pines, where he received a
I degree in Human Serv ices Technol
ogy. He enrolled in Alderman s
Bible College and received.a Bache
lor of Divinity degree in 1981.
At 19. McNeil pastored his first
church, an AME Zion church. The
stewarts were alwavs older than
denomination ever since.
Before coming to Mt. Carmel.
McNeil was the pastor of New
Ahoskie First Baptist Church in
Ahoskie for 3 12 years. During that
time. 139 people became members
of the church. New Ahoskie first
Baptist has the distinction of being
"tTfe~ largest mission ary Bapt fsT"
Church in Northeastern North Car
olina with a membership oi 700
people, says McNeil. True, the
membership was sad about my leav -
ing. however. 1 felt God has used
me there. It was time for me to
move on. I wanted to move to a
larger city, and 1 prayed to the Lord
to allow that to happen.
It is interesting to see how the
L.or<$i allowed the union of Mt,
Carmel and me to materialize. It's
the way I found out about Mt.
Carmel ahd the way they found
about me. " savs McNeil. A fellow
preacher advised McNeil of the
opening at Mt. Carmel. McNeil
' preached at the All Baptist State
Convention held at the Benton Con
vention Center in Winston-Salem.
Unbeknown to McNeil. Mt. Carmel
members were in the audience: they
liked what they heard; they didn t
have a pastor, they asked for
McNeil's resume; they invited
McNeil to preach a trial sermon;
and the rest is history.
"I went to Mt. Carmel and
received a warm reception." says
McNeil. "Mt. Carmel was the type
of church that suited my ministry
which leans towards the evangelical
side. I felt that response from the
people. the\ were responsise in
worship.
Since McNeil has been pastor
mg at Mt. Carmel. attendance has
picked up. and approximately 29
people have become members.
However. McNeil believes there are
many goals yet to be accomplished
at Mt. Carmel.
I want Mt. Carmel to be what
God wants it to be. and to be the
best that it can be. I would like to
see Mt. Carmel become very com
munity oriented w ith many outreach
programs." says McNeil. Currently.
Mt. Carmel wants to implement a
daycare program, a food-bank pro
gram. a G.E. D. program, a Senior
Citizens Ministry and a program for
youth development.
McNeil currently reaches out to
youth by performing 60 concerts a
year at public schools and colleges
where he sings contemporary
gospel. In addition, he is an active
member of the Baptist State conven
tion of Nqrth Carolina. He sits on
the General Board of the General
Baptist State {Tg&vention of North
Carolina where he is the youngest
pastor serving on the board. He has
served on the Evangelism Commit
? -tt
Pictured are pastors who ass
tee of the Baptist State Convention,
and was former vice moderator of
the West Roanoke Baptist Associa
tion.
Pastor McNeil has two hon
orary doctorates. A doctorate in the
Humane Letters from the Tri
County Bible College in Robeson
County.
The other is a doctorate of
divinity from- Alderman Bible Col
lege in Keysville. Ga.
"We welcome everyone to
ted in the installation service.
come to Mt. Carmel," says McNeil,
"the type of worship we have at Mt.
Carmel is a praise-oriented church
that loves the word of God.. .and is
the kind of church of people who
want to be blessed by the Lord."
The Mt. Carmel schedule is as
follows: Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.;
Morning Worship, 1 1 a.m.; Inter
cessory Prayer: Monday at 7 p.m.;
Bible Study, Wednesday 7 p.m.;
Youth Christian Discipleship,
Thursday 6:30 p.m.; Girls Scout:
Tuesday and Wednesday 6:30 p.m.
K/ds' C^ner
. ?
What's up 'round the 'hood?
Smith Pleads Guilty in Stoner Killing
(Editor's note: Because of a techni
cal error, this story did nor run in
its entires in last w eek's issue i
by MARK K MOSS
Chronu Ic Staff Writer
Mark Anthony Smith, one of
four defendants who have been
charged with the brutal slaying of
Carlos Colon Stoner. pleaded guilty
Tuesday and will testify against the
other two men who have been
implicated in the murder.
Smith*. 22. of 1 147 W. Acad
emy St. agreed in Forsyth Superior
Court to plead guilty to second
degree murder and conspiracy to
commit murder.
John Totten. Smith's attorney,
said his client also agreed to testify
against Ricky Eugene Knight. 28. of
1158 Bank St. and James Andrew
Gilbert. 23. of 170 Granville Drive.
The fourth defendant. Dwavne Gre
gory Doby, 22. of 1717 Cone St.
agreed in August to testify against
the others.
"It was simply in our client's
best interest to plead guilty.'' said
Totten, who. along with Nancy
Wooten. represents Smith.
Totten said Smith faces up to
50 years on the murder charge and a
maximum of 10 years on the con
spiracy count. Just how much time
Smith actually receives depends
upon his testimony in the trial of
Gilbert and Knight. Totten said. In
Tuesday's hearing. Judge Melzer A.
Morgan Jr. postponed sentencing
until after the resolution of the other
trials.
Stoner. an African American,
was found dead near Washington
Park last May 27. He had a large
hole -in the left side of his chest and
his penis had been stuffed in his
mouth. The statement that Smith
made to Winston-Salem police offi
cers a day after Stoner's body was
found, was admitted into evidence
at the hearing. In it. Smith said that
after meeting Stoner on Academy
Street, they all drove to Washington
Park. Stoner was pushed out oflfHT
"little red truck" they rode in and
was kicked and beaten by all of the
defendants. After the beating.
Knight and Gilbert proceeded to
slab the . Stoner. who was lying
down.
After the stabbing, Gilbert
thre vn "his knife away toward the
creek.' .and they left the park. The
four of them returned *o Smith s
neighbor's house, but Smith said he
wasn't sure if they all went inside.
Because Smith was drunk, he
said he could not give an accurate
account of where ttoy-went after
stabbing Stoner. feut he said he
remember meeting with the four
men later that night. Smith said it
was then that he learned that Doby
and Knight had returned the scene
of the crime about an hour after the
-incident. ~
In the statement. Smith relates
what Knight told him: ' He (Knight)
said he stabbed him in his neck,
below his ear. Somewhere around
his ear and he told me that he'd cut
his dick off and stuck it in his
mouth."
Smith said Knight told him that
he stuck the knife in Stoner's ear
and twisted it. According to Smith's
statement. Knight said he learned
that from "somebody's dad being in
Vietnam or something."
. Before the group parted, they
made a pact not to talk about what
had happened.
Elected Officials Seminar to be Held
sion Service in Forsyth County and ship for the March 25 event is pro
Davie County. Financial sponsor- vided by the Sara Lee Corporation.
"Making a Difference in the
Fight Against Drug and Alcohol
Abuse" will be the topic of the next
Elected Officials Seminar scheduled
for March 25. at 6 p.m. at the Club
House at Tanglewood Park. All
elected officials in Forsyth and
Davie counties have been invited.
Program presenters include Linda
Carter, chairperson. Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Coalition on
Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Mary
Hodgen. president of FIRST:
George Sweat, chief of police. Win
ston-Salem; Nancy Dominique,
director of Support Services. Davie
County Schools: Bert Wood, presi
dent, of Step One Inc.; and Robert
Clemmer, principal Carver High
School.
The purpose ot the Elected
Officials Seminar program is to pro
vide an opportunity for all elected
officials to meet informally on a reg
ular basis for educational programs,
discussion of issues of common con
cern and social interaction.
The program is initiated by the
North Carolina Cooperative Exten
Making^^riaj^^ms A Reality
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128 North Cherry Street ? Winston-Salem. NC 27101
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SATURDAY, MARCH 20
9 a.m. ? The YWCA.. 1201 Glade St., is holding
pre-registration for its 1993 children's summer pro
gram. "The Time of Your Life." The program will
include field trips, art. drama, swimming, recreation,
spons. friends and fun! Registration lasts until 12 p.m.
A deposit for one week of the summer program is
iS10. For information call Kathy Ausen at 722-5138.
^ ONGOING
? The 4-H Club of the North Carolina Coopera
tive Extension Service is sponsoring several summer,
camps and r:treats for youth. Camps include topics in
horsemanship, computers, electricity and new tech
nology. sailing and marine ecology, space, teen
issues, wildlife and fish and game, photography. For
information call 767-3557.
? The YWCA, 1201 Glade St., has planned some
exciting after-school activities for kids to commemo
rate and explore the importance of women in our
community. Every week in March the YWCA will
have speakers from many walks of life who will talk
with the kids about their contributions and career
choices. The sessions are free. Sessions will be held
March 22 and 30. For information call Ellen Paine at
722-5 1 38.
? Habitat For Humanity of Forsyth County Inc. is
sponsoring a design competition for high school stu
dents. From now until April 16. architectural students
in the county's eight regular high schools who join the
competition will be busy designing a three-bedroom,
900 to 1 .100-square-foot house. The best design will
be used by Habitat to build a house as part of its mis
sion to provide affordable housing to low-income
families in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. The
competition is voluntary, but students who participate
will receive course credit for their work. The three
best designs from each school will be submitted by
April 16 to a judging committee. The winner will be
announced May 3. In addition to having his or her
house built, the winner will receive an award and his
name will be placed in the house when built. For
information, call Kenneth Carlson Jr. at 722-5700.
? The city of Winston-Salem Workforce Devel
opment Department is accepting applications for
JTPA summer jobs. Interested youth, 16-21 years old
(by June 14), may pick up an application at any one of
the following locations: high school guidanfce depart
ments, public libraries, Housing Authority Resource
Center, social service department (Carl Russell, old
courthouse, downtown), Reynolds Health Center
(lobby), Discount Records, and Three Girls Conve
nience Store. For more information, call 727-8004 or
727-2420. Application deadline is April 30.
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Henry C. McNeil