Paul McNeese retired to Guam to enjoy the kind of life most men can only dream of — living on a beautiful tropical island, playing golf, gardening and performing “honey-do’s” assigned by his wife. But retirement didn’t last long, because God had other plans for him.
Today, he’s still living on the beautiful tropical island, but instead of living the leisurely life of the retired, he is pastor of a thriving Baptist church.
In 1997, McNeese’s wife, Carolyn, was teaching school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. Hearing that a new school was being started in Guam, she approached her husband about her teaching there.
“After a lot of prayer and deliberation on the matter, we decided to give it a try. She sent in her application and was in Guam within 13 days.” Surprised by the speedy appointment, McNeese could not join his wife immediately; it took him several months to close his business, retire from Jones Baptist Church, Autauga Association, pack their belongings and rent the house.
Adventure was nothing new to McNeese. While he served as a bivocational pastor in several Alabama churches, he also worked as a rehabilitation counselor for the state, counselor for the school system, led dive teams to retrieve antique logs from the Alabama River and started a business building and placing artificial reefs for the fishing industry in the Gulf Coast area.
Local Baptist church
On their arrival in Guam, the McNeeses became involved with Calvary Baptist, a local church built in the early 1960s, according to McNeese, by Lottie Moon money. Before long, the local Salvation Army discovered his qualifications and pressed him into service. He had the credentials required to write a grant that enabled them to establish a halfway house for alcoholics and drug addicts.
The grant was written, $330,000 was given and the program started. It’s in its second year now, doing well. Still McNeese had not gone to Guam to work.
”I only stayed with the Salvation Army for three months (because he wanted to be retired),” he said. But it was not long before the pastor of their church left.
The McNeeses were spending Christmas in Hawaii when the pastor left, and when they returned, “I was swamped by the pulpit committee to fill in,” McNeese said. “I was reluctant because I was retired, I thought. I agreed to help and that led to an interim assignment. Then the committee stopped all activity and presented me as pastor.”
Although initially reluctant, McNeese feels strongly about his decision to accept the pastorate.
“The vote was 100 percent, so the call was strong. Though I miss the golf and the “honey do’s,” I realize the Lord has more important things for me to do,” he said.
“Right now we are running about 170 in worship,” he said, noting the church started a mission near the University of Guam. The church also started an Awana group for the children, with attendance running as high as 75 on Wednesday nights.
McNeese also serves as moderator of the six-church association on the island and is serving on a convention committee for the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. He is also helping other Baptist churches on the island.
“You never know when you will find one on the steps of the church weeping, wanting someone to tell them how to find joy and peace in their lives,” he said, “that what they have is just an emptiness.”
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