Bill Strom, PhD

Professor of Media + Communication
In the beginning was the relationship” says one communication colleague, and I could not agree more. For this reason I study and teach relational communication as the foundation of life with God, for as we treat each other we treat family, friends, and strangers, mirroring the Trinity.

Bill Strom is Professor of Media + Communication at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada where he teaches communication theory, relational communication, persuasion, public speaking and organizational communication. He earned a B.A. in speech communication (Wheaton College), an M.A. in communication theory (Northern Illinois) and a Ph.D. in communication research (Iowa).  In addition to serving twenty-six years as department chair, he also served for eight years as Associate Director of Faculty Development.  His research focuses on virtue and covenant in close relationships and is published in regional, national, and international journals.  His faith perspective textbook, More Than Talk: A Covenantal Approach to Everyday Communication (6th ed., 2023), Kendall/Hunt Publishing) and The Relationship Project: Moving from ‘You and Me’ to ‘We’ (Beacon Hill Books, 2014) continue these themes.

Bill also serves as Executive Director at Telecare Crisis & Caring Line in Abbotsford, British Columbia, a non-profit society with the mission to support hurting people who call for assistance.

Almost year around you can find him fishing for salmon in the rivers of western British Columbia.

Bill is married to Shelaine Strom and lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

  • PhD (University of Iowa)
  • MA (Northern Illinois University)
  • BA (Wheaton College)

Expertise

Christian perspectives on communication, Organizational communication, Leadership communication, Interpersonal and relational communication, Public speaking theory and practice, The role of personal virtue in constructing redemptive relational communication, Relational worldviews as predictors of relational communication and quality, Predictors of relational resilience during COVID-19 lockdown, Personality, fear of listening, and religious orientation as predictors of empathetic listening

  • ​2023. [with Divine Agodzo] More Than Talk: A Covenantal Approach to Everyday Communication, 6th edition Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. (450 pages).
  • 2021. Relational Resilience Amidst the Pandemic: Contract and Covenant Orientations Predict Struggle and Thriving During Social Lockdown, Journal of Religion and Communication, 44, 45-62.
  • 2020. “Do Moral Communicators Make Better Listeners? Personality, Virtue and Receiver Apprehension as Predictors of Active Empathetic-Listening,” International Journal of Listening, DOI:  10.1080/10904018.2019.1705160
  • 2017. [with Harold Faw] Worldview Orientations in Close Relationships: Development and Initial Validation of the Contract-Covenant Continuum, Journal of Psychology and Theology, 46, 151-165.
  • 2014.  The Relationship Project: Moving from “You and Me” to “We,” (Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, MO). 208 pages
  • 2013. “Contractualism, commitalism, and covenantalism:  A Worldview dimensional analysis of human relating,” Communication Studies, 64 (2013):353-373.
  • 2009.  “A Christian Perspective on Communications.”  Pp. 163-182 in Deane E Downey and Stanley Porter (Eds.) Christian Worldview and the Academic Disciplines, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Pickwick Publications.
  • 2003.  “Communicator Virtue and its Relationship to Marriage Quality.”  Journal of Family Communication, 3, 21-39.

Awards & Honors

  • Paul K. Crawford award for outstanding graduate study, Northern Illinois University, May 1983

Recent Publications

  • 2020. Do Moral Communicators Make Better Listeners? Personality, Virtue and Receiver Apprehension as Predictors of Active Empathetic-Listening,” International Journal of Listening, DOI: 10.1080/10904018.2019.1705160
  • 2019.  “Menno Simons: Engaging Interpersonal Confrontation and Avoidance for Organizational Integrity,” in Robert H. Woods and Naaman K. Wood (eds.) Words and Witnesses: Communication Studies in Christian Thought from Athanasius to Desmond Tutu, Hendrickson Publishers.
  • 2018. [with Divine Agodzo] More Than Talk: A Covenantal Approach to Everyday Communication, 5th edition Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
  • 2017. [with Harold Faw] Worldview Orientations in Close Relationships: Development and Initial Validation of the Contract-Covenant Continuum, Journal of Psychology and Theology, 46, 151-165.2018.
  • 2014. The Relationship Project: Moving from ‘You and Me’ to ‘We’ (Beacon Hill Books, Kansas City)

Affiliations & Memberships

  • National Communication Association
  • Religious Communication Association

  • MCOM 171 Introduction to Communication
  • MCOM 271 Introduction to Leadership Communication
  • MCOM 272 Organizational Communication
  • MCOM 281 Public Speaking
  • MCOM 351 Business & Technical Writing
  • MCOM 371 Relational Communication
  • MCOM 372 Cross-cultural Communication
  • MCOM 399 Communication Theory in Everyday Life
  • MCOM 471 Persuasive Communication
  • MCOM 479 Leadership Communication Capstone