Deacon Bill Melton is pictured here during his days as a Charlotte police officer. His path to becoming a deacon followed a winding road that first led him through public service and the United Methodist Church. (Photo provided)GASTONIA — One of the first things you notice about Deacon Bill Melton is his sense of humor. He laughs that there are “a lot of Deacon Bills in the diocese,” which is why most people simply call him Deacon Melton.
He jokes that he “can’t resist a uniform,” and has the career path to prove it. From EMT to volunteer firefighter, police officer, private investigator, Methodist minister and now a deacon serving St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Gastonia, helping others in times of crisis has always been central to his life.
William S. Melton Jr. was born in Charlotte on April 23, 1966, and raised in Mount Holly in the United Methodist Church. He attended Sacred Heart Grade School in Belmont, which was established by the Sisters of Mercy. That early encounter changed his path.
“I didn’t know what Catholics were, but I was impressed by the Mass,” he recalls.
During his teenage years, he remained active in the Methodist Church while also serving as a volunteer firefighter with the East Gaston Volunteer Fire Department and as an EMT with the Mount Holly Lifesaving Crew.
He headed to Belmont Abbey College after high school and discerned a calling to become a United Methodist minister, eventually being assigned to two small churches in Union County. “During that time, I quickly realized that wasn’t what I was being called to do,” he says. “I was better suited to become a police officer.”
Three days after college graduation, he joined Mecklenburg County Police, which later merged with Charlotte Police to form what is now the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
His winding career path continued with the Gaston County Police Department, where he rose to the rank of captain. He later became a licensed private investigator before returning to Belmont Abbey
College as director of campus safety and emergency management for 18 months.
He married his wife, Laurie, in December 1990. The couple later welcomed two children, Jacob and Kathleen.
Deacon Melton says he first felt an “inkling” that he was being called to serve faith soon after his conversion to Catholicism in 1994. His wife converted a few years later.
He read “The Faith Explained” by Father Leo Trese and other spiritual writings in an effort to better understand where God was leading him.
He began lay ministry training, and after a few stops and starts, entered the discernment process in earnest. “The Holy Spirit operates in Its own time,” he says.
He likens discernment to a sea voyage. “I was like a ship at sea with all sails up, and the Holy Spirit was guiding the ship,” he says. “Then there comes a point where you can take the helm.”
Deacon Melton was ordained on Sept. 25, 2021. “That was the COVID class,” he chuckles.
As a deacon, he goes wherever he is needed. “I don’t have a will in the parish,” he explains. “I try to help wherever the pastor needs.”
That includes assisting with Mass and being on-site in emergency situations or other crises. “I call it a uniform presence – talking to people and reassuring them, no matter what happens, God is always there.”
Deacon Melton is still an active as a firefighter/EMT with the East Gaston Volunteer Fire Department and as a police chaplain with the Gaston County Police Department, and he teaches incident response curriculum to responders.
The situational awareness skills he developed in public safety, he says, now help him anticipate needs and support pastors in ways that extend beyond the visible work of ministry.
“We see the world from where we sit,” he says. “Those experiences help give the pastor a kind of peripheral vision.”
— Courtney McLaughlin
