Bill felt called to the Christian Ministry, and commenced training at Queens College, Melbourne University in 1956.  After four years at Queens he was sent to the Canberra Methodist Circuit where he was ordained.  For two years during that time he was the Methodist Chaplain, part-time, at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.  

A vacancy came up for a full-time chaplain in the Royal Australian Navy, to commence on 1st January 1966.  Bill applied, got the job, and spent the next twenty-two years in the Navy, both ashore and at sea.   Bill spent three years at sea, during which time his wife, Marilyn, and young family lived in Sydney, where they eventually settled.  In 1968 Bill was Small Ships Chaplain, and spent some time with HMAS HOBART on the Gun Line off the coast of Vietnam.  HOBART had lost three sailors during an attack on Tiger Island, close to the Demilitarised Zone.  (The DMZ separated North and South Vietnam.) Bill was also able to visit Naval personnel ashore in Vietnam, notably Navy divers inVung Tau, and a Navy helicopter squadron based at Blackhorse.  Bill eventually became Principal Chaplain for Protestant Denominations, and his time became taken up with the administration of the Chaplains Branch in Sydney and Navy Office, Canberra.  Bill retired from the Navy in November 1987.