My Background
As a pastor, professor and spiritual director, I currently work as the Director of Vocation at Christ Church of Austin. I am also a lecturer at Baylor University in theology at Truett Seminary and Christian Ethics in the Hankamer School of Business. Prior to moving into this role, I served as the Assistant Director of Spiritual Formation at Truett where I helped coordinate their new spiritual direction training program. Some of my writing can be found on this blog and website, and my book A Theology of the Drug War: Globalization, Violence and Salvation, was published with Lexington-Fortress Press in 2020.
From 2014-17, I served as the associate pastor at Saint Peter’s Church in Charleston, SC. Before that, I was a lecturer in Christian ethics at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. I’ve worked as a youth minister and college chaplain along the way too. I earned my bachelors degree from Baylor University in Economics and Spanish, a Masters of Theological Studies from Baylor’s Truett Seminary, and a PhD from Claremont Graduate University in philosophy of religion and theology.
During several summers throughout my many years in school, my wife Whitney and I embarked on a number of study abroad and immersion trips in Spain, Mexico and Argentina. These experiences were some of the most memorable and formative of my life. They also served as the inspiration for my research interests in Latin America and the theological developments there in the last half century.
Outside of my academic work, I’m constantly asking what it means for Christians to be the church in today’s context and in their daily work and lives. I’ve gone through several training programs in discipleship leadership and church planting recently that have helped me learn a lot about this. The world we live in continues to change at an accelerating pace, and there is great need for adaptation on the part of pastors and churches. I believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant in all times and places, but the way it gets practiced and proclaimed must take on new forms.
Whitney and I have a three children: Liam (5), Roy (3) and Cody (1). I enjoy reading, running, writing and cigars. I love to snow ski, surf and water ski whenever I get the chance. You can reach me by email at williamawalkeriii@gmail.com or follow me on twitter at @bwalkeriii.
