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After battling Dementia, the former founder of the well-known men's ministry, Promise Keepers, has gone to be with His maker.
Bill McCartney passed away on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Bill McCartney, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, who left this world peacefully at the age of 84 after a courageous journey with Dementia," the family said in a statement.
In his young adult life, after playing football himself, McCartney was the head coach at the University of Colorado. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013, having helped the team win three Big Eight Conference titles and the 1990 consensus national championship.
In March of 1990, after his team lost at a chance to win the National Championship, he drove to deliver a speech for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet. On the way there he came up with the idea of Promise Keepers.
"Our father surrendered his life to Jesus at 33 years old setting a trajectory for our family and many others. We share his faith in Jesus and truly believe our dad has been reunited in heaven with his beloved bride and our mother, Lynne Marie."
Promise Keepers started out as a small men's gathering and within a year it had grown to 4,000. Within a few years hundreds of thousands of men gathered to connect with each other and grow in their faith.
At a 1995 press conference in Washington, D.C., McCartney said, "A real man, a man’s man, is a Godly man. A real man is a man of substance, a man that’s vulnerable, a man who loves his wife, a man that has a passion for God, and is willing to lay down his life for him."
Another focus of Promise Keepers that some found divisive, was a forward stance on combatting racism and working toward racial reconciliation in America.
"He marked a shift in the American religious landscape where that form of faith became more mainstream," said Paul Emory Putz, assistant director of Truett Seminary’s Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor University.
While many knew him as 'Coach Mac,' he did end up leaving coaching football in order to be closer to his family, a daughter and three sons.
"While we mourn his loss, we also celebrate the extraordinary life he lived and the love he shared with everyone around him. We are grateful for the outpouring of prayers and support during this time and ask for privacy as we navigate this difficult moment."