Fr. McGinty came to the church of the Good Shepherd and St John the Evangelist, Milford in May 2003. In February of 2005 he was called to be the full time rector.

There is nothing typical about Fr.Bill, as he is known to everyone in the parish. Nor does he fit any picture Episcopalians might have of a rector, pastor or clergyperson. He is neither tall nor hansom, reserved or distant. He is very much his own person, gregarious, friendly, competitive, energized, intelligent and pastorally orientated. He can also be impatient, pushy, comical, silly and forgetful. It is a combination and package that fits well with his concept of ‘shared ministry’ in the parish setting. By that he means that the clergyperson is at once the catalyst and leader, who both shares and encourages wide participation in every area of the church’s mission. “I see my job as going around oiling the wheels of other people’s involvement. As the pastor I can use my talents and abilities, but so often we have individuals in the pews that have much greater ability and knowledge in these fields than I do. It makes sense to encourage as many as possible to answer the call of the Gospel, using their unique talents.”

Few would doubt, however, that Fr. Bill is the leader, both in the parish and in the community. “You don’t always have to lead from the front or even from the center. Sometimes it is enough that you simply make yourself available. It’s important to have a vision and a good idea where the church and parish is going on its spiritual journey. However, if you allow that vision to be kicked around among as many of the community as possible, two things happen. First, the vision grows as the narrative thickens. Secondly, the community of the church takes ownership of its own future and that in turn breeds responsibility for that future.”

It is thinking like this that has changed the dynamic in the church from what is probable, to what is possible. What is probable is what happens when events are allowed to unfold without a vision or a plan of intervention. What is possible is what happens when the opposite is the case. The future does not decide itself. Rather it is dictated to by men and women who sit down together and dream dreams and come up with a vision of what can be possible with the right planning and effort. In that sense, Fr. Bill is a dreamer, but a dreamer with a difference. He is aware that exposed to the input and critique of the whole church body, the dream can change and develop to the benefit of the whole community. “It is a very necessary part of the process of ‘shared ministry’.  I am a good ideas person. Yet, sometimes my judgment gets lost between the original thought and its practicability. I always need people around who will run with the possibility and give it more thought.  The result is usually that their revision is better able to be executed."

Fr. Bill was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland and was educated at Salesian College, Shrigley Park in Cheshire, England. After school he went to Manchester University majoring in Education. His teaching career began in Liverpool in 1971. In 1972 he joined the Salesian Order and began his priestly theological studies at London University in 1975. He graduated with an honors degree in 1979 and was ordained priest in 1980. For the next twelve years he taught in Salesian Schools until he decided to leave the order in 1992. He continued teaching adding two masters degrees to his resume before ending his career in 2005. He had taught for twenty five years. He became an Episcopal priest at the Cathedral of the Nativity in Bethlehem on the 29th of September 2001. At the present time he is the rector of the Good Shepherd Church in Milford, PA. and is close to completing a Doctoral degree in ministry.