Aquinas Weekly: Dr. Karla Bellinger, at the DMIN Lecture Series.

Dr. Karla Bellinger (DMin ’12) will be the first person in the lecture series for the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (DMin) program, which begins on November 20 at 7 p.m. The title of Dr. Bellinger’s presentation is: “Who says? Why Research Matters in the Field of Homiletics.”

Dr. Bellinger is a seminal figure in the world of preaching. A founding executive director of the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas, she had previously served as the associate director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgics at the University of Notre Dame.

A past president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (CATH), Dr. Bellinger was featured on America magazine’s “Preach” podcast, its preface titled “Meet a woman who teaches priests to preach.”  

Regarding the lecture series, Dr. Bellinger discusses the impetus for it, stating, “Catholic preaching needs to be improved.” The popes say it. The people in the pew say it. Preachers themselves say it. But what does “improved” mean? What does effectiveness look like? Everyone, from the learned to the unlearned, seems to have an opinion – make homilies shorter, tell a joke, give more doctrine/catechetics, eliminate the homily, move away from the ambo, structure it better… But… Who says? Anecdotes abound. Solid research does not. It is an exciting thing to part of the beginnings of any field, when there is so much to learn and so much is yet unknown. The field of Catholic homiletics research is still in its infancy. We need curious and eager minds to join in this adventure.

This webinar will give a brief introduction to what we know and what we do not know about Catholic preaching, probing, “what questions do we need to be asking?” For example, why does God touch this person and not that one through this particular homily? How can a homilist grow more compelling in speaking to the lives of his/her congregation? What does an encounter with God through the Sunday homily look like? Come and join in the conversation; set your feet onto a path of vital homiletics inquiry. The kingdom of God is at stake!”