ANNOUNCEMENTS

The 2026 priest cohort for the Preaching for Encounter Program is underway! The priests are in the initial process of applications, interviews, and orientations. The introductory summer retreat will be at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago on June 23-25, 2026. Stay tuned for more pictures and more information!

The 2027 deacon cohort will launch with their introductory retreat on April 22-24, 2027. Deacon James Baird, our Coordinator for Clergy Programming, will officially begin that deacon recruiting at the conference of the National Association of Deacon Directors next week. Look for him there at our booth to reserve a space for a deacon peer group from your diocese.

As we continue to grow the number of clergy in our PEP program, we want to maintain the personal nature of our ongoing formation. To do that, we need more coaches. We will hold a national coaches training program from October 14-17, 2026. Please contact us for more information if you think that you might like to apply for that initiative.

Remember to join our new cohort by registering on May 1, 2026. Apply Now!

James Moroney III (Jim), the Chair of the Board of the Institute for Homiletics, received one of the highest recognitions in the Catholic community when he was honored at the 2026 Catholic Foundation of Dallas Annual Award Dinner.

Jim was recognized for the many, many ways he has served the community in Dallas alongside a variety of Catholic and other organizations. His recent work to enhance homiletics, reminding us that Jesus inspired our faith through preaching, was featured during this memorable annual event.

In recent years as he entered retirement from his influential and innovative work in media, Jim was becoming increasingly aware of how many people were leaving the Church. “It wasn’t hard to see when you paid attention, they were leaving Mass without the hope they came for,” he said, “and I knew, that’s why some just faded away from their faith.” Jim would later learn that many seminarians receive little formation in preaching. And then around 2019, Jim experienced a very memorable moment “when I felt the Holy Spirit grab me by the collar and tell me to do something about it.” Together over the next few years he and his colleague Kris Kramer raised $7.5 million to endow the operations of the Institute for Homiletics, securing its mission and operations for generations to come. In August of 2021, Dr. Karla Bellinger was hired as the founding executive director.

“If God allows, I would like to live long enough to see a renewal of Catholic preaching in the U.S.,” Jim says. “My desire is that the Institute truly changes the culture of preaching so that through the homily, people in the pew encounter the living God and come to know Jesus Christ more deeply.”

All of us on the Institute for Homiletics team at the University of Dallas congratulate Jim wholeheartedly! We are grateful for all he does to impact the ways our faith can remain strong and growing when we truly encounter God.

Making a tremendous difference for priests and deacons across the U.S. are, left to right, Matt Kramer, President of The Catholic Foundation of Dallas and board member for the Institute for Homiletics, his wife Kris Kramer, who was instrumental in establishing the endowment, Dr. Karla Bellinger, the founding Executive Director and lead preaching educator, and Jim Moroney, the inspiration and driver for sustainable growth.

See more photos here.

Want to look back at something in one of our newsletters? We are just beginning to share results from our Preaching for Encounter, resources for more effective homilies, our research findings – especially concerning teens and young adult perspectives. To make it easy to return to an article we have featured, simply visit our Newsletter Archive! https://instituteforhomiletics.org/newsletter-archive/