In late fall of 1934 a very wicked man was converted from being the Petersburg town drunk to a preacher of the gospel; he cleaned out his rabbit house and began holding religious services. His little “chapel” was soon the talk of the town as it became filled to capacity for every service.
One of his early converts was a beautiful young seventeen-year-old woman with talent and gifts, but who, according to her testimony, was worldly minded, haughty, filled with rebellion, conceit, and pride. Jessie Stevens knelt at that rustic old altar, and committed her heart and life to serving Jesus Christ. Somehow, God replaced all those sinful traits with traits of her new-found Savior.
Due to the extraordinary growth of this little “church”, Pastor McDonnell decided they needed a larger, more adequate place of worship. Thus, early in 1935 construction was begun and by mid-summer, the Center Street Tabernacle was open for worship in downtown Petersburg.
Sometime in the spring of that same year, sixteen-year old William Kneal and his sister were invited to attend a service at the Tabernacle. He was soon converted and ceased from his wandering and going astray, finding a new purpose to his life with his budding relationship with Jesus Christ. Soon, William was showing such growth in his spiritual life that he was chosen to teach a Sunday school class of fellow teens. One of his students became very interested in attending her Sunday school class; in fact, she secretly was becoming interested in her teacher. As this new interest grew, birds began to sing, butterflies twittered, her heart beat a little faster every Sunday as she listened with bated breath to this young man as he taught and expounded with much wisdom on the Word of God.
It has been said that “time waits for no one”, and one evening William asked Jessie if he could have the pleasure of sitting with her in the evening service. Her heart screamed “Yes”!!, but her timid mouth quietly replied, “yes”. Thus began the courtship, and a journey that would span well over seventy years, bring into their lives three children, grand-children, great grand children, and even a few great-great grand children. Bill and Jessie were united in marriage November 7, 1938, and they remain committed to one another after all of these years!
William began his pastoral ministry, went from his pastorate to serve in the US Army during WW II, returned from active duty, and shortly resumed his duties as pastor, husband and father. He later was elected to the conference board, a position which he still holds today. Some years later he was elected as conference treasurer, which office he held for over thirty years. He also served as District Superintendent for several years, advancing to the position of General Superintendent in 1982, resigning in 1998 due to his advancing age and some physical issues. He then returned to a pastorate for eight years, after which he resigned, and accepted the position of assistant pastor, which office he held until his passing in January of 2013.
Jessie went to be with the Lord on February 16, 2012 and William followed her to Heaven on February 11, 2013. We miss their presence here, but plan to follow their example and meet them again in the city that is not made by hands!
Dave Linville, General Superintendent
Lower Light Church- Adrian, MI
Lower Light Church- Petersburg, MI
Bro. & Sis. Kneal pastored churches in Petersburg, Adrian, Tecumseh & Deerfield.
They also served the LLM as District Supt., Assistant Supt., & General Supt.
Sis. Kneal served as editor of the Lower Light Evangelist for well over 30 yrs.
Note: It should be noted that Bro. & Sis. Kneal had reached a milestone that very few will ever reach. Not only were they married for 74 years, but they were BOTH life long members of the SAME Denomination! Few will ever reach that milestone!
