Meet our Contributors

Richard L. Eslinger

Rev. Richard Eslinger is Professor of Worship and Homiletics at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He remains an adjunct professor of preaching at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati. The author of a number of books on preaching, his most recent is The Web of Preaching: Living Options in Homiletic Method which was published Autumn, 2002. A United Methodist clergy, Dick is married to Elise Eslinger whose fields are church music, worship, and spiritual formation. Elise serves as Minister of Music at Westwood United Methodist Church in Cincinnati. They have three young adult children and two beautiful grandchildren.


Jeffrey Kemper


Fr. Kemper is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Associate Professor of Liturgical and Sacramental Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary - Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati. He is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and chairs the Advisory Council of the Notre Dame Center for Pastoral Liturgy. He also is an adjunct professor of liturgy in the Distance Learning Program of the Aquinas Institute in St. Louis and a visiting professor for the summer sessions at St. John's University, Collegeville. He has written for Assembly, Liturgical Ministry, and The Topical Encyclopedia of Christian Worship. He is a member of the Priests' Council and College of Consultors for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and is involved in Project Rachel.

Fr. Kemper holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Biblical Studies from the Athenaeum of Ohio, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Theology (Liturgical Studies) from the University of Notre Dame.

He preaches and presides on weekends at Saint Columban Church in Loveland, Ohio.

 

Tom Mannebach

Fr. Mannebach is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He grew up in metropolitan Chicago, and attended Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). He graduated in 1986 with a B.S. in Business Administration. He worked in marketing and sales in Cincinnati, Ohio for several years before entering the Athenaeum of Ohio seminary division. He earned his M.Div. in 1999, the year of his priestly ordination. He has since ministered in rural parishes in the archdiocese, and now pastors at the Church of the Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic community of 630 families located in New Bremen, Ohio.

 

Susan Fleming McGurgan

Dr. McGurgan is the Director of the Lay Pastoral Ministry Program and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati.  She holds a degree in History from Oklahoma State University and completed three years of graduate work in Ancient History and Classics at the University of Cincinnati.  She earned an M.A. in Religion from the Athenaeum of Ohio and a Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Il. 

In addition to administrative duties, she teaches Church History in the LPMP program and preaching classes in the permanent diaconate program and the seminary.  She is a member of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics and the Academy of Homiletics. 

Originally from Oklahoma, Dr. McGurgan's grandfather and uncle were Methodist pastors noted for their preaching ability.  She entered the Catholic Church in 1990. She and her husband have three teenage boys. 

 

James Schmitmeyer

From 1990-2000, Fr. Schmitmeyer served as the pastor of two rural parishes in the northern part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, an area predominantly German and French Catholic.  Agriculture and small factories provide the primary sources of income. 

He currently serves as pastor of St. Michael Church, Ripley, Ohio and St. George Church, Georgetown, Ohio. 

Fr. Schmitmeyer served as Instructor in Homiletics and Director of Liturgy at Mt. St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati from 1985-1990.  He holds a degree in Scripture from the Athenaeum and degrees in Speech from Purdue and Northwestern Universities.  His articles have appeared in numerous popular and professional publications and he is a regular presenter at the Preaching Institute at the Athenaeum.  He is the author of The Words of Worship: Presiding and Preaching at the Rites (Alba House, 1988). A second book, A Calendar of Care: Seasonal Reflections of a Country Pastor was published by LTP in 1999.  Fr. Schmitmeyer's hobbies include breaking quarter horses and creative writing. 

 

David J. Shea

David J. Shea is a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Anderson, and the Instructor of Homiletics at the Athenaeum of Ohio - Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. David joined the seminary faculty in 2002 after a thirty year career in business where he held various sales and marketing management positions. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Management, an M.A. in Religion from the Athenaeum of Ohio, and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Deacon Shea is a member of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (CATH) and the Academy of Homiletics.  David has been married to Jan for 37 years. They have two adult children—Jennifer and Jeremy—and one grandchild, Aidan, “the blessing of their lives.” 

 

P. Del Staigers

Rev. P. Del Staigers, a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since 1987, for the past eight years has served as pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church, in Dayton, Ohio. For the past six years he has served as

pastor of Queen of Martyrs Church, in Dayton. Since July, 2007 he has also pastored Corpus Christi Church in Dayton. The sharing of pastors, the consolidation of schools, and the collaborative sharing of both pastoral and administrative ministries has been part of the Dayton Catholic Urban Presence process as demographics and personnel shifts within the Catholic population. These neighboring parishes have a

combined registration of approximately 1,000 households, and are located in a changing urban situation. Fr. Staigers served at the Athenaeum of Ohio as Assistant Professor of Homiletics from 1991-2000.

He is past President of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (CATH), where he continues to hold membership, as well as continuing membership with the Academy of Homiletics. He holds a B.A. from the Pontifical College Josephinum, an M.Div., and M.A. in Theology, from the Athenaeum, an

M.A. in Theology, and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching, both from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is co-founder of this preaching web site.  

 

Mary Ann Wiesemann-Mills, O.P.

Sr. Wiesemann-Mills was an elementary teacher for 20 years serving schools in Akron, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. She received training as a retreat/director at the Jesuit Renewal Center in Milford, Ohio and continues to serve as both a spiritual director and retreat preacher as time allows.

Sr. Wiesemann-Mills holds a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from the Aquinas Institute (1997). She served as a pastoral associate at St. Joseph Parish, Mantua, Ohio where she regularly served in the ministry of preaching. She also served as the vocation and formation director for her Dominican congregation.

Sr. Wiesemann-Mills is Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at St. Mary Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio and serves as Promoter of the Charism for the Sisters of St. Dominic of Akron, Ohio. She also serves as a faculty member of the Aquinas Summer Preaching Institute in Chicago.  

 

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