James was born in 1964 and was raised in Saskatoon. He attended the University of Saskatchewan and received his Bachelor of Education in 1987.

James taught in Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools for 30 years primarily as a teacher of Religion, Catholic Studies, and Christian Ethics, serving over 15 years as Department Head. He also taught Industrial Arts, English, and Music. James served as a Football coach and also as an Outdoor Education leader. He was always involved in the Social Justice programs of the schools where he taught.

While with his wife (now Annulled), James was involved in Church music ministry for over 20 years while raising their family of nine children. Together they taught Natural Family Planning and were leaders at the Board level for over 10 years.

James is a master woodworker and an avid carpenter and so-called ‘JAC of all trades.’ Between 1998 and 2018, as a luthier, James made over 40 guitars, violins, mandolins, and Irish bouzoukis. Along with this he has created other fine woodworking pieces and furniture. Most recently, James had begun making intricate Crucifixes based on an Irish/Norse ‘High Cross’ style with embedded St Benedict Cross Medallions as gifts for people, and particularly as wedding gifts. This is a beautiful apostolate that James is looking forward to pursuing as God directs him.

Dear to James’ heart is his yearly part time commitment doing ‘contract work for Santa’s workshop.’ This usually begin in the Fall and continues until the end of the Christmas Season. It is a particularly joy-filled way that James shares his mastery of fine woodworking and his gifts of creativity and design with those he loves (especially his grandchildren and his children’s families).

James was always a writer-of-sorts which began with songwriting in late high school. His love for ballad-type songs while playing guitar and his personalised style of story-telling coupled with his unique sense of humour have flavoured his whole approach to teaching, literature, studies, and his writing. James’ favourite book remains The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He finds in C. S. Lewis’ writing in this book an inspiringly profound ability to explore the depths and breadth of eternal meaning and the human condition while presenting these in a way that speaks intimately to the heart of both the mature adult and the child. This has been a major inspiration for James, both as a teacher-in-charism and as a writer.

In the recent years since his marriage separation, James has received a call to enter deeply into his faith journey. This has encompassed much study of spiritual sources of formation and direction, and it has involved a wonderful deepening of his prayer life, especially in the areas of meditative and contemplative prayer. This remains an ongoing journey, and as much as he would not compare himself to the great mystics of history or of today – for whom he has a deep love and admiration – he experiences mystical encounters that are the signs of God’s promises spoken of in the Scripture and Tradition. This is the beautiful journey that James endeavours to continue as his current call and direction in life.

On Good Friday of 2023, James received a clear and unmistakable invitation, while in meditative prayer, to begin writing as a vocation of exercising his charism of teaching the Truths of the Faith Tradition. As detailed in the “Prologue” of God’s Plan, it was in the late Fall of 2023 that this vocation took the direction of the work that is now God’s Plan, A Treatise on Spiritual Direction for Lay Catholics. James looks forward with great trust and hope to the widespread distribution of his book and the beautiful work that God is planning to do through it in the lives of His faithful children.