Bill Lane Doulos was born William Henry Lane II, in July of 1943 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He grew up an active member of the Presbyterian church and graduated from Westminster College in Pennsylvania and Fuller Theological Seminary in California. Bill took the name “Doulos” to symbolize his desire to become what the New Testament calls a “servant” of Christ.

Bill began his career of service to the poor as a volunteer, then as an employee of a fledgling Union Station in the early 1970s. He became a member of All Saints Church, Pasadena, where he served on the staff for 29 years. Bill’s first home, purchased for $1,000 in Pasadena, was converted into a sober living house. The Raymond House, as it was named, was refinanced to purchase a second sober living home for recovering addicts, called the Fair Oaks House. Bill’s dedication to helping those in recovery remained and he went on to purchase the El Nido House and apartments and the Washington House, among others, with the help of many donor-investors. His own history with substance abuse, which began at age 55, and concluded after a stint in rehab and the realization that the oversight of nine homes and an addiction was too much to take on, ended when he was able to settle his affairs. Five of the homes were sold to pay off debt and investors’ principle and the four that were kept were transferred to his new home parish, Church of Our Saviour, in San Gabriel, California, in 2002.

For 21 years, Bill has served the Church of Our Saviour as the Director of Jubilee Homes sober living for 50 adult men and women. He was ordained a deacon on May 17, 2014 by Bishop John Bruno, and on November 11, 2022, Bishop John Harvey Taylor named Bill Doulos an Honorary Canon of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. A beacon of support and hope for men and women struggling with addiction, and after over five decades of service, Bill Doulos will remain an important advocate for compassionate care, service and sobriety, after his retirement in 2023.