Remembering Why We Preach

Fr. Michael E. Connors, CSC, is director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgics, as well as a faculty member in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1984.

Connors earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois College, a master of divinity degree from Notre Dame, and a doctorate in theology from Regis College at the Toronto School of Theology. He is a past president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics and a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the Catholic Theological Society of America, and the College Theology Society.

Karla J. Bellinger is a Catholic speaker and the founding executive director of the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas. She previously served as the associate director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgics at the University of Notre Dame, where she also was a member of the theology department faculty.

Bellinger earned a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina State University, a master of arts in theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a doctorate of ministry in preaching from the Aquinas Institute. She is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, and the Norther American Academy of Liturgy. Bellinger is certified as a lay ecclesial minister and a master catechist. She is also a master gardener.

She is the author of Connecting Pulpit and Pew and Living the Word and contributed to several other books. Her work has appeared in Homiletics, The Deacon, Catechetical Leader, Momentum, and Seminary Journal.

Bellinger lives with her family in southwestern Michigan.