Preaching for Encounter Program
Connecting preachers with the resources and support they need to take their homilies to the next level.
Bring Preaching for Encounter to Your Diocese
Contact us to talk about how to get your diocese involved in the program.
We’ll provide you with coaches and resources.
Witness the Holy Spirit transform your diocese.
An Ambitious Program to Renew Catholic Preaching
We are now recruiting participants for the 2026 cohort of the Preaching for Encounter program. We work together to improve their preaching skills, grow spiritually, and discover new ways for God to speak through them to inspire their people. Here is a brief summary of what our 20-month program entails:
- Peer-learning groups are at the heart of the process. In the first year, small groups of priests or deacons meet once a month to discuss preaching materials, to evaluate each other’s homilies, to pray together, and to enjoy food and fellowship. Orientation for the new peer learning groups will be in the spring of 2026 and peer groups will begin to meet in October 2026. If you are part of a hybrid group, you will meet with your peers from different parts of the U.S. online.
- Each preacher will be provided with a personal preaching coach who will work with him to set goals, evaluate his homilies, work on an upcoming homily, and offer personalized coaching toward more effective preaching. Many of the preachers have described what a blessing this one-on-one coaching has been for them. Coaching begins in September 2026.
- Whole cohort gatherings: there are two winter retreats and two summer retreats. These teaching moments bring preachers away from their parishes to focus on their learning. The first whole-cohort gathering will be a two-day retreat at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago in June 2026. The next retreat gathering will be at Marywood Retreat Center in Jacksonville, Florida, in February 2027.
- Each preacher will have a lay support group who will pray for him and encourage him in his preaching. This group will meet independently in the first year to learn to pray the Mass, do lectio divina on the Sunday scriptures, give feedback on sample homilies, and understand what makes for effective preaching. In the second year of the program, the lay-support group will meet with their preacher to study the scriptures and share with him how they are encountering God in ordinary life. The preacher’s responsibility is to select a lay coordinator for this group. That person will then recruit a diverse mix of 8-10 participants.
To learn how Preaching for Encounter can help your homilies flourish, let’s talk.
Reach out to Deacon James Baird, Coordinator of Preaching for Encounter Program, at jgbaird[at symbol]dallas.edu or the Contact Us button.
Four Keys to Unlocking Your Preaching Potential
Peer-Learning
These groups of clergy are the beating heart of the Preaching for Encounter program. Preachers come together monthly in their home dioceses for spiritual renewal and homiletic support. They will view each other’s homilies, pray, and offer constructive feedback in an environment of fraternal encouragement.
Lay Support
A group of laity called the St. Joseph’s Preachers will encourage each preacher through prayer and constructive feedback on homilies. They will give their priests and deacons insight into how the laity encounter God in their everyday lives.
Personalized Coaching
A coach will be assigned to each participant to help him improve his homilies. Preachers will upload their homilies online for their coaches to watch and reflect upon. Coaches will then share their thoughts and offer pointers for strengthening the messages.
Teaching Moments
Priests and deacons will come away from their parish and diocese five times in the two years. In the summer, they go north. In the winter they go south for focused moments of homiletic instruction.
Contact us today to find out how to join a Preaching for Encounter cohort.
“(The preacher) needs to be able to link the message of a biblical text to a human situation, to an experience which cries out for the light of God’s word.”
POPE FRANCIS,
EVANGELII GAUDIUM 154
Spiritually Renew Yourself and Your Listeners
After completing Preaching for Encounter, you will:
- Know more about how your listeners encounter God and what they’re looking for in a homily.
- Feel spiritually refreshed by the retreat-like atmosphere and the support of your brother clergy.
- Let God speak through your homilies more powerfully than ever before.