Saint Mary’s Welcomes Inaugural Preaching Formation Cohort
27 Women Gather for Week-long Intensive
By TESS HAYES ’25
This summer, Saint Mary's College welcomed the inaugural cohort of 27 women to PROCLAIM’s week-long summer intensive. PROCLAIM is a new 22-month formation program designed to develop Catholic women as ministers of the Word and preachers in settings permitted by the Catholic Church. Their visit to campus marked the halfway point of their participation.
Saint Mary's became a core partner of PROCLAIM in 2024. The partnership with the College grew out of conversations with Discerning Deacons, a grassroots organization that helps the Catholic Church widen women's leadership at every level, from the parish to the Vatican. Together, they envisioned how other strategic partners could help with PROCLAIM’s scope and awareness efforts.Then, Lilly Endowment Inc. announced its Compelling Preaching Initiative grant program. At the time, Saint Mary's and PROCLAIM were already working together and a proposal was written. PROCLAIM was among the 142 programs awarded, receiving a $1.25 million grant.
Once PROCLAIM began building the formation program, the two partners invited and received the support of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades.
“Saint Mary's holds an important place in the history of women and theology,” said Molly Gower, Vice President for Mission at Saint Mary’s. “Sister Madeleva Wolff opened graduate theological education to women. PROCLAIM extends that legacy by forming women to proclaim the Word of God.”
The women of the inaugural cohort—many already involved in lay ministry—represent 18 dioceses across the country, and two from Canada. The program began in September 2025 with an online course called “Fundamentals of Preaching,” followed by a 12-week spring course, “Scripture, Prophecy, and Preaching.” When not taking coursework, women were organized into virtual “preaching circles” to practice preaching and receive feedback over Zoom.
Participants are paired with a formation companion—seasoned women in ministry, composed of several Sisters of the Holy Cross, Church of our Lady of Loretto community members, and several others across the country—who meet with cohort members throughout their program.
Lisa Orchen, PROCLAIM’s program director, said the intensive at Saint Mary's was the program's first chance to bring the entire cohort together in person. “Saint Mary's was an intentional choice of home for the week. When you think about the history and the ethos of the tri-campus community, South Bend has the power to seed things that take hold, make a difference, and have lasting power,” she said. The PROCLAIM team planned the week in collaboration with Saint Mary's Division for Mission and Center for the Study of Spirituality. The liturgy staff at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto also contributed to the planning.
The opening days were dedicated to naming what many of the women carried into the room; Orchen said, “We've all had both joyful and painful experiences in the Church, and each of us has a call to serve, but not every call is answered or recognized.” Before their curriculum could turn to dreaming, the women spent an afternoon in pairs sharing their stories, followed by preaching that affirmed each other’s experiences and named these shared places of grief. “It was very cathartic,” Orchen said.
The following days shifted toward possibility: workshops mapping the many places women can and do preach in the Church in alignment with Canon Law, and a “historical scan” charted out across a wall in Haggar College Center, tracing centuries of women's preaching and proclamation. “It's not just us,” Orchen said. “We are a part of a long line of women preachers in history...and we're paving the way for the next generation.”
Once you invite a woman to preach and coach her to do it, there's no going back for her. Once you see a woman preach, your imagination is forever widened. You can't unsee it.
- Lisa Orchen and Claire Lucas
By midweek, the cohort turned to practice. Each woman brought a piece of preaching to work on in small groups, taking turns in front of a coach and their peers.
Evenings brought their own kind of formation. One event at the Church of Loretto was particularly meaningful. The “Preaching Slam,” where three women stood before the large congregation, offered liturgical, traditional, and creative reflections of Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). The night ended with long, resounding applause and fellowship among those in attendance.
They closed the week on Saturday with a liturgy in which the women blessed one another, passed a Book of the Gospels, and were sent home to preach in their own ministry contexts.
For Claire Lucas, PROCLAIM’s program associate, the week reflected a golden thread: “The program is meant to be a bridge between the liturgy, the world, and the proclamation of the gospel,” she said. “The women of PROCLAIM embody that.”
Orchen added what distinguishes the program is its emphasis on prophetic preaching, not only preaching that addresses people's personal interior spiritual lives, but preaching that compels people to think about the implications of their faith in the world. Orchen and Lucas agree that preaching is about bringing the pulpit to the streets and the streets to the pulpit.
The first cohort will continue its formation online through the fall, taking a second preaching course before returning to Saint Mary's next summer for a second summer residency. Next summer, the second cohort of women will join them.
Orchen and Lucas PROCLAIM, “Once you invite a woman to preach and coach her to do it, there's no going back for her. Once you see a woman preach, your imagination is forever widened. You can't unsee it.”
For more information about PROCLAIM, visit proclaiming.org.
August 17, 2026