He was an accomplished musician and concert pianist and was educated at Grinnell, Northwestern, Drake, and the University of California.
He was ordained priest in Chicago, Illinois in June, 1927, by Bishop Edwin Burt Beckwith of the Liberal Catholic Church.
Following his ordination, he served in the Liberal Catholic Church of Omaha, Nebraska, under Bishop Eklund, a charge he held for 17 years.
He was consecrated to the episcopate of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch-Malabar Rite at Trinity Church in Santa Barbara, California on April 28, 1973, by Bishop Herman Adrian Spruit who was assisted by co-consecrators Bishop Stephan A. Hoeller and Jay Davis Kirby.
Organizational changes within Church of Antioch led to Watters and several other bishops departing to form their own separate and distinct ministries.