On 31 March 1822 he was ordained Deacon at St. George's, Hanover Square by the Bishop of Ely, and the next day (1 April 1822) he was appointed curate at Albourne and at Twineham, both in Sussex.
Holding two livings required a dispensation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but as the population of Warden was a mere 27 Willis was probably coping.
[citation needed] In 1864, Richard Child Willis was reported to be the Curate of St Luke's, Baldwin, Isle of Man.
[11] The Bishop of Oxford, however, refused to institute him, on the basis that Willis was "non idoneus et minus sufficiens in literatura"- not fit and insufficiently learned.
The Court of Arches decided that the Bishop was required to explain his reasoning;[12] Willis died on 27 January 1877 whilst this dispute continued.
That he was beloved by all who knew him, and by his parishioners, and generally respected, we can testify; assiduous in his duties, his Church was never neglected, and he won the favourable opinion of all classes.
It is thought that the worry caused by the litigation brought about by the Bishop of Oxford had a very depressing effect on Dr. Willis, and on the whole hastened his death.
While living at Petworth, Willis played a single game of cricket for a Sussex XI, scoring 2 and 4 vs. England at Lords on 13–15 July 1829.
In 1835, at his mother's death, Willis inherited his maternal grandfather's property, Ravenhill (also known as Peak House and Raven Hall), near Staintondale.