Bill holds a BA in religious studies, and a Masters in Theological Studies from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. He served as a diocesan administrator for many years in Minnesota, principally in the Diocese of
New Ulm where he served with Bishop Ray Lucker. In this role, Bill worked directly with the parish leaders, guiding their pastoral planning for adult faith formation.

He later served as DRE in a suburban Minneapolis parish, St. Stephen’s in Anoka, which was one of the first parishes to adopt a model of faith formation aimed at the whole community.

In 1990 he established The Vatican II Project which contributes to the effort being made within the Church to keep alive the spirit and energy of Vatican II. As part of that project, he published A New Look at Grace
(Rahner’s theology from the Council) and Vatican II in Plain English, along with several other books outlining key features of the Council.

In 2000 he established the Whole Community Catechesis project, aimed at helping parishes and dioceses around the world implement the General Directory for Catechesis. As part of that project, he published The GDC in Plain English and Whole Community Catechesis in Plain English, The Pastor’s Guide to WCC, along with other books, support materials, articles, and presentations.

He is the author of Dreams and Visions, a practical guide to pastoral planning for parishes who are serious about implementing lifelong faith formation.

He has also published more than a dozen other books in recent years, along with numerous booklets, articles and screenplays. One of his books, A Spirituality of Wholeness: the New Look at Grace was named in US CATHOLIC among the top seven most influential books on spirituality for today’s world.

His most recent work, The Growing Faith Project, is a component, adult education product for parish or personal use, based entirely on the Catechism. This project seeks to assist every parish in the church to
establish an intentional and systematic adult catechetical process.

He has worked in Catholic publishing since 1995, and is on the adjunct faculties of both Loyola University New Orleans and the University of Dallas. He has served on the Board of Directors of Common Hope and is the founder and executive leader of Corporate Philosophy.

Consistent with his vision that you should never be very far away from either weeds or hard work, he lives with his family on a small farm outside of St. Paul-Minneapolis in Minnesota USA. They tend a small vineyard, raise a big garden, and spend as much time on the porch as possible.