The Rev. Dr. William H. “Bill” Bennett II, a prominent Washington pastor, community leader, former director of the District’s Office of Religious Affairs, died Tuesday after battling cancer.
Bennett, 70, was recently elected president of the Missionary Baptist Ministers Conference of Washington, D.C. and Vicinity, and founded and served as senior pastor of Good Success Christian Church and Ministries in Northeast Washington, where he led a ministry that emphasized both spiritual growth and community empowerment.
He is survived by his wife Mari Bennett and three children, including daughter Jayna Freeman, pastor of the church’s music ministry; William H. Bennett III; and Jaday Yvette Bennett.
Freeman said her father was hospitalized for several weeks and elected to be brought home, where he died Tuesday night, surrounded by his family.
“He has completed his earthly assignment and is now resting in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” the family said in a statement. “We are comforted in knowing that his legacy of faith, service, and leadership will continue to inspire generations to come.”
The faith leader earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Howard University, and both a master of divinity (1990) and doctor of ministry (1992) from Howard University School of Divinity. His doctoral dissertation, “The African American Church as a Conduit to Economic Empowerment,” reflected a lifelong commitment to faith-based community development.
“When I first met Pastor William ‘Bill’ Bennett II, we were both students at the Howard University School of Divinity,” the Rev. Anthony J. Motley, a longtime friend, told The Washington Informer.
Motley described Bennett’s life as “a remarkable testament of faith and love for Christ and the people he served.”
‘His Work Spoke for Itself’
During his seminary years, Bennett began first serving as Youth Minister at Berean Baptist Church and then at Galilee Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He then became associate pastor of stewardship at Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, followed by service as associate pastor of ministry development at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
Bennett served as the former chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Missionary Baptist Ministers’ Conference. He also served as the Director of the D.C. Office of Religious Affairs in the Office of the Mayor for the District of Columbia.
As a community organizer with Industrial Areas Foundation, Bennett worked with churches in Baltimore and Washington to advance economic opportunity, political empowerment and community development.
In 1993, Bennett became the sixth senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Deanwood, where he served for eight years before founding Good Success Christian Church & Ministries in June 2001.
Beyond the pulpit, Bennett believed that churches should be engines of economic development and community transformation. Through his preaching, civic leadership, community development initiatives and mentoring of clergy and young leaders, he championed a ministry that combined spiritual growth with economic empowerment and neighborhood revitalization.
He founded the Good Success Community Development Corporation, which has supported neighborhood development initiatives. Through the House of Good Success Men’s Ministry, he spent a decade helping hundreds of men overcome drug and alcohol addiction. The church’s Family Ministry likewise sought to strengthen families through biblical instruction, fellowship and community activities.
“His work spoke for itself,” Motley said, “and his smile and spiritual enlightenment will be remembered, celebrated, and missed by many. On behalf of the members of the East of the River community, we will miss this strong minister who was in our midst!”
‘Deeply Invested in the Well-Being of the People He Served’
In January, Bennett was elected the 57th president of the Missionary Baptist Ministers Conference of Washington, D.C. and Vicinity, one of the region’s oldest and largest organizations of Baptist clergy. His election was widely viewed as recognition of decades of pastoral leadership and community service.
The Rev. Thomas Bowen, Earl L. Harrison minister of social justice and congregation care at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest, D.C., reflected on Bennett’s influence on his own career and ministry.
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. William Bennett,” said Bowen, the recently named General Secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. “When I was appointed director of the Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs, he was one of the very first pastors to reach out and welcome me.”
Bowen, who served as the director of Religious Affairs from 2016–2024, can still remember Bennett’s words of encouragement.
“He jokingly told me I was now part of a special ‘club’ of clergy who had served in mayoral administrations, and that I could always call on him or any of its members,” he told The Informer. “He lived that commitment.”
For nearly four decades, Bennett was among the District’s most respected clergy leaders, known for bridging the church, government and community organizations in pursuit of economic opportunity and neighborhood revitalization.
“Dr. Bennett was generous with his wisdom, steadfast in his commitment to the Deanwood community, and deeply invested in the well-being of the people he served,” Bowen said.
“I valued his counsel, friendship, and encouragement over the years. Washington has lost a faithful pastor, a trusted civic leader, and a true champion for Deanwood. He will be deeply missed.”
