Outrageous, funny, and unmistakably direct — one of the clearest teachers of the Science of Mind philosophy his students ever knew. He made you think, and he made learning fun.
Dr. William M. Taliaferro, known to students simply as "Bill," was outrageous, funny, and very direct in the classroom — one of the clearest teachers of the Science of Mind (SOM) philosophy his students ever knew. He made you think, and he made learning fun, encouraging students to become life-long learners by reading at least twenty minutes a day from spiritual and psychological books.
His wife, Dr. Lisa Taliaferro, served alongside him as a staff minister in Ft. Lauderdale.
He often credited Dr. Earl D. Barnum — affectionately nicknamed "Barney," one of the first ministers Ernest Holmes himself licensed — with shaping how he came to embody and live the SOM teachings. Bill studied under Barney from 1969 to 1973 at the West Valley Church of Religious Science in Canoga Park, California.
When Bill arrived as senior minister of the First Church of Religious Science in Eugene, Oregon, it was a small congregation meeting in a converted house. Under his guidance, the church acquired land — later traded for a proper building, still in use today. By the time he left as pastor four years later, the congregation had grown to 250+ members with a quarter million dollars in the bank.
Bill then joined the Science of Mind Center in Ft. Lauderdale, serving as senior minister for almost fifteen years. When he completed his ministry there in 1994, the center had grown to nearly 700 members, with its building owned free and clear.
"Stretch and grow."
Bill's enduring encouragement to every student — a simple invitation to keep learning, keep expanding, and keep returning to the teaching again and again.
Religious Science ministers trained and sent into active leadership
Sunday inspirational lessons preserved and digitized by former students
Board of Education member; wrote the fourth-year ministerial curriculum
Bill earned an honorary doctorate from Religious Science International (now Centers for Spiritual Living) for his leadership, and encouraged member and leader Avis Ziegler to write RSI's Sunday Youth Curriculum.
Preserved and digitized by devoted students, these Sunday lessons and classes carry Bill's teaching forward.
We're setting up the audio library. Check back soon to listen to Dr. Bill's recordings.
With support from Dr. Greg Harte, who gathered and preserved these recordings from Bill's former students.