Bishop Franklin McNeil

Obituary For Bishop Franklin McNeil

McNeil, Bishop Franklin, a resident of Montgomery, AL, departed this life on January 9, 2024. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 11:00AM from True Divine Missionary Baptist Church, (Troy Highway) with a burial following in Greenwood Cemetery.

Bishop Franklin McNeil, TH.B., will lie in state on Friday, January 19, 2024 at Greater Grace Victorious Assembly from 5-7PM ONLY, and at True Divine Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, January 20, 2024 one hour prior to services.

Bishop Franklin McNeil, TH.B., D.D, was born on June 22nd, 1939, in Monroe County, Alabama to the late Warren Franklin McNeil and the late Elder and Pastor Vernell Mosely-McNeil and passed away peacefully at age 84 on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at his home in Montgomery, AL, surrounded by his loving family.

Bishop McNeil attended and graduated from Union High School in Purdue Hill, Alabama and received his early education in the Monroe County (Alabama) School System. He later relocated to Pensacola, Florida, where he continued his learning in the areas of Business Education and Industrial Mechanics. He worked as a Mechanical Analyst for two years.

On October 10, 1959, he married Margaret R. Ephraim and to this union was added seven (7) children.

Bishop Franklin McNeil received his call to the gospel at the age of 16, however, wanting to be certain of such an important task, he did not accept until convinced of God at age 22. In the early years of his ministry, Bishop McNeil served as Assistant Pastor of various churches in the State of Florida.

His ministry path changed significantly when he was appointed pastor of Rice Temple A.O.H. Church of God, in Montgomery, Alabama. Bishop McNeil left his job and the home he had been blessed to build for his wife and seven children and moved the family to Montgomery. Bishop McNeil preached souls out of sin and ministered to the flock of Rice Temple for 31 years. Throughout his pastorate at Rice Temple, Bishop McNeil planted or helped to establish various missions and ministries in the State of Alabama. Bishop McNeil also ministered internationally in Nigeria, Peru, Haiti and Chile.

In 2003, Bishop McNeil founded Greater Grace Victorious Assembly in Montgomery, AL. He continued his pastorate for an additional 16 years until he retired in 2019.

Because of his anointed, soul-stirring teaching and preaching, his long-standing ministry in the city of Montgomery, his dedication to the integrity of the Gospel, and his commitment to the personal pursuit of holiness before God, in 2007, Bishop McNeil received a special outpouring of love from apostolic pastors in the Montgomery area and was affectionately named the “Apostolic Father of the Gospel in Montgomery, Alabama.”

Bishop McNeil was a well-rounded individual who hadan interest in not only the church, but community affairs. He was a past member of the E.S.S.A. Advisory Council and held a life-time membership with the N.A.A.C.P.

Additionally, Bishop McNeil received a vast array of degrees and awards, some of which were: Bachelor of Theology, Christian International College, Phoenix, AZ; Doctor of Divinity, Pentecostal Bible College, Tuskegee, AL ; Teacher’s Certificate, Evangelical Teacher Training Association of Illinois; Outstanding Service Award.

Bishop McNeil was preceded in death by his mother, (Vernell Gresham), his father, (Warren FranklinMcNeil); and two sisters, (Bernice Millender, Florence Graham).

Bishop McNeil is survived by his devoted wife, Evangelist Margaret Ree McNeil; seven children:Margie (John) Toney; Vernalisa (Terrence) Bruce; Franklin (Beverly) McNeil, III; Marcia (Roosevelt) Biddles; Stephanie Davis; Aaron (Sybil) McNeil; and Karen (Malcolm) Reynolds; 27 grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren; two brothers: Stanley (Brenda) McNeil of Mobile, AL, Julius McNeil of Los Angeles, CA; one sister, Patricia Harley of Pensacola, FL; and one beloved cousin, Barry Lee Hixon (aka Sonny Man).

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