Getting the word out

Continuous improvement

It is a byword that people across many disciplines embrace, both personally and professionally. For the thousands of priests, deacons, and bishops serving across North America, steadily enhancing their ministerial skills is paramount. 

Two leading programs — the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas and the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, NE — have emerged to help Catholic clergy become the best “fishers of men” they can be. 

Practicing what they preach

Formally established in 2021, UD’s Institute for Homiletics is focused on improving the quality of preaching in the Diocese of Dallas and across the United States. 

The institute “seeks to help priests, deacons, and bishops proclaim the Word of God faithfully, compellingly, boldly, and winsomely,” said Jonathan Sanford, UD’s president and a member of Legatus’ Dallas Chapter. “It seeks to help Catholic preachers to find ways to penetrate the hearts and minds of parishioners so that they might cultivate a deeper relationship with our Lord.”

The institute employs a cohort model, extensive collaboration with lay parishioners, research, instruction, and close scrutiny of a participant’s current preaching habits with an eye to mentoring toward significant improvements, Sanford explained. 

“There was significant preparatory work behind this initiative, including an extensive study of perceptions of the quality of preaching within the diocese, and a remarkable effort in fundraising,” Sanford said.

That fundraising began from a position of financial strength since it built upon funds which UD had at its disposal. The Catholic Foundation, which has supported priests of the Dallas diocese for decades, has been affiliated with the institute since its inception, endowing it from two funds earmarked for homiletics, noted Matthew Kramer, president and CEO of the foundation.

Sanford said UD had been exploring how to use these funds for years, but the ideas crystallized after the Dallas diocese and the Catholic Foundation began consulting with each other on a plan. The Institute for Homiletics was the result. 

Lay involvement

Kramer, also a member of Legatus’ Dallas Chapter, said that a component of enhancing the quality of preaching by Catholic clergy locally includes feedback sessions that involve many laity. 

Karla Bellinger, the institute’s executive director, stressed that lay people are passionate about improving Catholic preaching. 

“They sit beside their children or grandchildren and hope that there is a word that will rouse them. For most Catholics who regularly attend Mass, 83 percent do not do other things in the parish or have other sources of faith formation,” Bellinger said. “So, the liturgical homily is often their only source of faith formation.”

Many people have family members and friends who have strayed from the faith and no longer go to church, “but there are occasions when they do show up,” Bellinger said. “What is the preaching like on those occasions? We are studying and designing our programming to speak to the interplay of homiletics and evangelization.”

Bellinger added that formation in preaching in seminaries is not a high priority. Most seminarians have one to three courses. 

“This puts most of the weight for learning to preach into their experience in the parish after ordination and into ongoing formation,” Bellinger said. “We are designing a process for lay people so that they can help their preacher to grow in his ability to connect with the people of that parish.”

Each of the preachers in the program has a personal coach who tailors instruction to the preacher’s needs. “We evaluate theological content, structure, delivery, focus, function, delivery, impact on the listener, scriptural integrity, memorability, and more,” Bellinger said. 

There is much to the “science of homiletics,” she pointed out, and preaching is not as easy as it might seem — as many new clergy discover.

“The preachers find, after the first year, that they are just beginning to learn what it takes to effectively inspire their parishioners,” said Bellinger.

Bellinger noted that the institute is showing early success after completing the first year of a two-year program in preaching improvement. 

“Our researcher just sent us the results of the first year of coaching,” Bellinger said. “The good news is that all of the preachers improved significantly.” 

That clergy spirit

A few states away in Nebraska, the Institute of Priestly Formation was started in the mid-1990s by a small group of priests and religious who saw the need for a more solid spiritual formation for diocesan seminarians, similar to that of a novitiate for those entering monastic orders.

The several Jesuits and priests created a program structured around helping seminarians learn contemplative prayer and self-discovery in understanding that they are “beloved sons of our Heavenly Father,” according to Deacon George Esseff, who serves on the IPF’s foundation board and is a member of Legatus’ Ventura-LA North Chapter.

“They focus especially on the importance of developing the discipline of personal prayer, understanding the unique needs of a diocesan priest in his life of ministry,” Esseff said. “In collaboration with Catholic seminaries and dioceses, we form seminarians, priests, and bishops in holiness and accompany them in their ongoing spiritual growth so they can more effectively lead others to Christ.” 

Often a priest is so busy with the demands of parish life that “quiet time in prayer can be the last thing on their ‘to do’ list,” Esseff said. “The programs of IPF help them realize that everything they do hinges on and comes from communion with their heavenly Father, and this is what they have to share with their people.”

The six-week program starts with an eight-day silent Ignatian retreat, where each seminarian has daily meetings with their spiritual director. There is daily eucharistic adoration along with conferences on specific topics, with time spent in prayer and reflection. The program concludes with two weeks of field ministry at one of the local hospitals or senior care facilities.

Additional programs have been created to help train diocesan seminary formation directors and seminary spiritual directors, Esseff noted. IPF also offers 30-day Ignatian retreats for seminarians and priests and has taken its program on the road with clergy retreats outside Nebraska.

“Our Church is in need of good, holy, well-formed priests who can teach us how to pray, walk with us through all those important moments in our lives, and be good shepherds drawing us all closer to Christ through His sacraments,” Esseff said. “I hope that the work of the Institute for Priestly Formation will continue in its fruitfulness.”