IPS Welcomes Research Faculty Member, Fr. William Clark, SJ

Fr. William Clark, SJ, is a member of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus and an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.  He entered the Jesuits in 1982 and was ordained a priest in 1993, after studies that included an M.A. in philosophy from Loyola Chicago (1984-1986).  Following ordination, after serving for several years as a parish priest in Kingston, Jamaica, Bill returned to the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts (now part of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry) to complete doctoral studies in systematic theology.  He specialized in the role of local communities in Catholic ecclesiology, and completed the degree in 2001 with a dissertation that was later revised and published as A Voice of Their Own: The Authority of the Local Parish (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2005).  Since joining the faculty at Holy Cross, Bill has continued to focus his scholarly work on the theology of parish, and has authored various conference papers and articles related to that theme.

Bill is originally from Fairfield, Maine, and still visits family and friends there regularly, as well as continuing a variety of pastoral contacts in the Diocese of Portland.  He has assisted in a number of parishes in Maine and elsewhere, has presented parish retreats and workshops, and has annually directed eight-day Ignatian retreats at a retreat center near his hometown.  He also regularly directs retreats at facilities run by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Oslo and near Copenhagen.  Bill is also an avid singer and folk guitarist, and has done some song-writing and recording.

This year, in addition to teaching one course each semester in IPS, Bill will continue ongoing research on the theology of parish in the INSPIRE program.