June 20, 1941 – November 4, 2026
With grief and deep gratitude, the Christ Methodist family remembers the Rev. Dr. William R. "Bill" Bouknight III, who died on November 4, 2026, at the age of 85. For 13 years, Dr. Bouknight served as senior minister of this congregation, the final appointment of a 41-year ministry given wholly to preaching Christ and calling people to follow him.
He once described himself as "an evangelical with a social conscience," and those who sat under his preaching knew exactly what he meant. He loved the Scriptures, he loved the lost, and he loved the church enough to tell it the truth. We give thanks to God for his life, and we rejoice that the one he proclaimed for so many years has now welcomed him home.
A Preacher's Son, Called to Preach
Bill Bouknight was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on June 20, 1941, to Lillian Ranson Bouknight, a schoolteacher, and the Rev. William R. Bouknight Jr., a newly minted Methodist preacher who would soon serve as an Army chaplain in World War II. Bill grew up in a string of South Carolina parsonages and remembered his father as "exactly the same person at home that he was at church." From him Bill inherited a lifelong love of bird dogs and hunting, and from his mother a gift for words. "Son," she told him, "if you can't make your living with your mouth, you'll starve to death."
At age 12, at a revival in a small rural church, the gospel he had heard a thousand times finally reached his heart. He repented of sin and claimed Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord, and soon afterward preached his first sermon at Vacation Bible School. The call to ordained ministry took firmer shape at Duke University, and in the summer of 1961, at just 19, he served as temporary pastor of St. James Methodist Church in Laurens, South Carolina. The people there took him to their hearts, and something clicked. He knew preaching was what God wanted him to do, and he never looked back.
He earned his divinity degree at Duke, spent his third year at the University of Edinburgh under the great Scottish preacher James S. Stewart, and then completed a master of sacred theology in Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School. Seminary in the early years of the civil rights movement sharpened his conscience about racial injustice, and he took part in several sit-in demonstrations.
In June 1966, he began his pastoral ministry at the Fairlawn and St. Luke churches outside Columbia, where both congregations grew rapidly. There he met Gloria Pardee, and they were married on Dec. 16, 1967. Their son Brad was born in 1969 and their son Aaron in 1974. Appointments followed to St. Luke in Hartsville, where Bill came to know the power of the Holy Spirit in a deeply personal way; to Trenholm Road United Methodist Church in Columbia; and to First United Methodist Church in Myrtle Beach. During the Trenholm Road years, Bill and Gloria walked through the deepest sorrow of their lives when young Aaron was called home to the Lord. Surrounded by a loving congregation, Bill found that what he had long preached about God's faithfulness in the shadow of grief was true.
Alongside his pastoral work, Bill served 27 years as a chaplain in the Army National Guard, retiring in 1994 as a brigadier general and senior state chaplain for South Carolina.
Fourth Senior Minister of Christ Church
In early 1994, as Dr. Maxie Dunnam prepared to become president of Asbury Theological Seminary, Bishop Ken Carder asked whether Bill would consider coming to Memphis. He was 53, and he and Gloria had long prayed for a church with the potential to influence a major city. After meeting with the Staff-Parish Committee, they returned to their motel room and prayed late into the night. By breakfast the next morning, they had their answer: they would be honored to come to Christ Church. Gloria found a home in Germantown on a house-hunting weekend, and Bill agreed to buy it without ever having seen it.
The years that followed were among the most fruitful in our congregation's history. Under Dr. Bouknight's leadership, membership passed 7,000, and a capital campaign of more than $8 million doubled Seabrook Hall, added a large child care area and built the 100,000-square-foot Wilson-Ross Building for Christian education. A fifth major worship service, The Hour, began at 11:00 AM on Sundays, and the church celebrated its 40th birthday.
His vision always reached beyond our own walls. Christ Church planted a daughter congregation, Heartsong United Methodist, in Cordova. Together with Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, it launched "Love Thy Neighbor," a ministry of racial reconciliation that filled the Pyramid for countywide worship, including a great Easter service. The Cornelius Project began, with Nathan Cook sent as our first urban missionary in the Binghampton community. Mission teams traveled overseas, and Bill himself preached in Moscow. Through the Confessing Movement, Christ Church became a strong voice for biblical authority and orthodox faith across the denomination.
Bill credited much of this to others: Maxie Dunnam's gracious preparation, senior associate pastor Rick Kirchoff, who shared the burdens of leadership, and a lay leadership he called "the best in Methodism." Above all, he thanked God for Christ Church and for "the privilege of being her fourth senior minister."
A Faithful Witness to the End
Dr. Bouknight's passion for evangelism was recognized across the church. He received the Harry Denman Evangelism Award and the Philip Award for distinguished service in evangelism, and in 2002 he was named the Distinguished Evangelist of the United Methodist Church. He served 12 years on the Board of Trustees of Wofford College, which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1988, and he was twice elected a delegate to General Conference.
His love for the historic faith never dimmed in retirement. In 2023, he moved his membership to Mt. Horeb Global Methodist Church in Lexington, South Carolina, where he continued to preach regularly. Christ Methodist, now also part of the Global Methodist Church, shares that same hope he spent a lifetime proclaiming.
Bill is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 59 years, Gloria Pardee Bouknight; his son, Brad Bouknight, both of Columbia; and his sister, Marie Bouknight Allen of Williamsburg, Virginia. He was preceded in death by his son Aaron, his sister Dr. Martha Bouknight, and his brother Joseph C. Bouknight. A memorial service was held at Mt. Horeb Church on Nov. 9. The family has asked that memorials be made to Mt. Horeb Church, 1205 Old Cherokee Road, Lexington, SC 29072, designated for planting new churches, or to a charity of one's choice. Memories may be shared at DunbarFunerals.com.
We hold Gloria and Brad in our prayers, and we give thanks for a pastor who led this church with courage, conviction, and joy. With the apostle Paul, Bill could say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). Well done, good and faithful servant.
