Current Position
Bill is Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Joplin, Missouri. He is "responsible for all worship services and pastoral duties of the church including oversight of staff. " Additionally, he "supervises summer camps for deprived families, supervises an after- school tutoring go program for needy children" and serves as "Vice-President of the Children's Haven for homeless children." Bill notes "ten years ago, I began a free Community Health Clinic which has now treated more than 30,000 patients. I am also the Coordinator of the Graduating With a Future Program." Bill's church, which he has served for eleven years, is "located in an area of deprivation."

Career Path
Bill holds a B.D. from New College at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) as well as a D.Min. from Austin Presbyterian Seminary (TX). He also studied education at Harvard.

Bill's first job was "lecturing in church history at the University of Edinburgh." He "left that position to become the Minister of a Church of Scotland congregation in a public housing estate in Edinburgh. After a year and a half at Harvard, I returned to Scotland to take up another pastorate in a public housing estate in Glasgow. Then, I went to work for five years in the inner-city district of Glasgow. Afterwards, I spent 10 years building up a church in Ayr, Scotland, before becoming the first full-time prison chaplain in Scotland in charge of the activities of 120 part-time prison chaplains."

Grinnell Experience
At Grinnell Bill majored in history. "Grinnell gave me an excellent education so that I could compete with Oxford and Cambridge graduates at Edinburgh."

How He Can Help
"I could work out a summer program or a semester program for any student that was interested in relating faith to service. This program would include worship--but it would also include participation at the Clinic, the Children's Haven, Community House where our Tutoring Program is established, as well as our work with teenagers who are going through drug and alcohol rehabilitation at a local center. It would also include working as a Youth Advocate with our Graduating With a Future Program, designed to keep teenagers in school so they can graduate. The drop-out rate here is 60%. This could be a lot of fun for participating Grinnell students but it would also be a learning experience."

Contact the Career Development Office if you wish to get in touch with him.