Obituary: Rev. William Arthur Holmes
William Arthur Holmes died on Aug. 9, 2024, eight days before his 95th birthday. He resided at Homewood Retirement Community in Frederick, Md. Holmes was adopted at two weeks of age by James B. and Johnnie M. Holmes.
He grew up in Oklahoma and Arkansas, graduating from Little Rock High School before earning a B.A. from Hendrix College and a Master's Degree from Perkins School of Theology. He then attended Union Theological Seminary in New York, studying Homiletics with nationally known preachers, and theology with Paul Tillich & Reinhold Niebuhr. He said the privilege of his graduate studies was made possible by Nancy’s “PHT” (putting hubby through). Later, he received two honorary doctorates, wrote periodicals for Christian Century, Havard Divinity School, and others; authored four books: Tomorrow’s Church, Mature Christianity, The God Mask, and Religious Renegades; and hosted the TV program, “Perspective."
Holmes was a United Methodist minister for 46 years, serving churches in Arkansas and Texas before his last appointment in 1974 as senior minister at Metropolitan Memorial UMC, the national Methodist church, in Washington, D.C. For 24 years, he served this prominent congregation, which included members of Congress, a Supreme Court Justice, and others in government service. In 1998, he retired as its Minister Emeritus. While in D.C., he also served on the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches, as a Trustee of American University and Sibley Memorial Hospital, chaired Sibley’s Ethics Advisory Committee, and founded the Washington Lawyer’s Guild, pursuant to his interest in legal matters and Christian ethics.
Throughout his ministry, Holmes gave priority to sermon preparation and delivery, which were mostly pastoral, but occasionally provocative and controversial. He preached for the nationally syndicated Protestant Hour and was an Interim Instructor in Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology. In 1963, while a minister at Northaven UMC in Dallas, he preached a sermon the Sunday after President Kennedy’s assassination calling for a new civility in Dallas to counter recent events there that included spitting on certain government officials and school children cheering when told of the assassination. Excerpts from that sermon were carried on the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite two days later, which immediately resulted in bomb threats to the TV station and the Holmes family. Police advised Holmes and his wife, Nancy, to take their sons out of school, leave home, and under police guard, stay with members of their congregation until after that Thanksgiving weekend.
The love of Bill’s life was Nancy. He not only loved her romantically but greatly respected and admired her as a person. A team for more than seven decades, no two people ever enjoyed each other and their family more. Holmes' greatest honor was getting to be his kids' dad and granddad.
Holmes is survived by his wife, Nancy; two sons, Will and Chris; their respective wives, Debi & Margarett; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and his sister Bonnie McLain. His sister, Marley Jo Clark, preceded him in death.
Donations in Holmes' memory can be made to: National United Methodist Church, 3401 Nebraska Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016; or Hartley House 326 W. Patrick St., Frederick, MD 21701