Editorial – Community will miss McCarty

Published 2:57 pm Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Weekend news of the death of highly respected minister and Isle of Wight County Supervisor William McCarty reminded us of life’s fragility.

In the prime of his life at age 48, McCarty fell victim to a rapidly progressing respiratory illness, taking from the community, in the blink of an eye, one of its most conscientious public servants and from his church, Healing Waters Worship Center, a beloved shepherd who helped transform a congregation on the verge of folding a quarter-century ago to a thriving ministry in northern Isle of Wight.

“Pastor Mac” served both the community and his church with grace. Preachers don’t always fare well in the rough-and-tumble world of politics, but McCarty succeeded due to his innate ability to disagree without being disagreeable. In a time when it was politically unpopular, he successfully articulated a case for residential growth that cost others their elected positions. His landslide reelection victory in 2023 despite vigorous opposition spoke to the high esteem in which he was held by Carrollton voters.

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It was fitting that McCarty lived just long enough to see the opening of Publix, an upscale grocery store on Carrollton Boulevard that would not have been possible without the population growth he supported.   

Whatever the issue facing county government, McCarty cast an informed vote, spending untold hours outside the meeting room researching the facts and weighing the pros and cons of voting aye or nay. 

His reputation extended beyond Smithfield. After a quick rise through its leadership ranks, McCarty was elected 2024-25 president of the Virginia Association of Counties, which advocates for the commonwealth’s 95 counties. 

McCarty was never intimidated by a challenge. When he came to town in 1999 at the ripe age of 22, Smithfield Church of God, as Healing Waters was known then, five people listened to his first sermon. Ride by Healing Waters’ facility on Smiths Neck Road on any given Sunday morning now and you’ll see a parking lot full of cars.

He had a heart for improved race relations, in 2020 founding the P.A.R.E. Alliance, an acronym for Parishes/People Affirming Racial Equity. “I am inviting local pastors to the table as we begin a very long and overdue conversation about race and the racism that is in many ways ignored and overlooked in our day,” he told us at the time. “While we may not be able to set a standard in the nation per se, we can begin in our world right here where we live and hope others do the same. I am confident that the conversation will be dynamically charged yet productive when moderated correctly as we move together to address the racial tensions, mindsets and topics that, in my opinion, have been ignored, overlooked or were too controversial to be put on the table.”

We mourn the abrupt loss of one who contributed immensely to his church and community.