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History of Partners In Preaching

Mission & Vision

History of Partners In Preaching
The Catholic Church is still in the midst of a great renewal in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. The Council encouraged the Church to be responsive to the signs of the times. The current development of lay preaching is one such response.

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Lay preaching offers a resource to communities eager to welcome the Word of God. According to Partners In Preaching Director Patricia Hughes Baumer, M.Div., God has given the gift of preaching to lay people so the needs of the people can be met. Partners In Preaching collaborates with faith communities who recognize those preaching gifts and seek to prepare candidates to exercise them.

"The goal of preaching is to bring the good news of the gospel to bear on human experience. The greater the diversity of voice within the preaching ministry, the more accessible the message of the gospel becomes to women and men, young and old, working class and executive, financially poor to materially blessed, to people of many races and nationalities," Baumer said.

She added that the lay preaching ministry has emerged due to several contemporary dynamics of church life, including changes in ministerial leadership, heightened expectations for quality preaching, a need for the liturgy to address diverse communities and the recognition of the gifts lay people have to preach the Scriptures. "Partners is a collaborative ministry, through which priests and deacons have been able to share the responsibilities of the preaching ministry with well prepared colleagues," she said

A New Ministry Is Formed
Patricia and her husband Fred Baumer began a lay preaching training program in Pax Christi parish in Eden Prairie, Minnesota in 1991. Together with Pax Christi's pastor, Father Timothy Power, the Baumers designed and conducted the initial eight-month lay preaching training course.

Over the next several years the lay preaching program expanded both within and beyond Minnesota. In the fall of 1994 the Baumers began preparing lay preachers for the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan. In 1995, along with three additional mentors, they conducted the first inter-parish program in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. What's more, with increasing frequency, the Baumers were being invited to speak at national preaching conferences. National publications also began featuring the program.

Partners In Preaching Becomes Independent
By 1997, it became clear that the need for lay preaching training and formation had grown far beyond the parish community of Pax Christi. In July of that year, through its incorporation as a separate, non-profit, tax-exempt ministry, Partners In Preaching was born.

One of the first necessary steps was the selection of a board of directors. Members of the board crafted a vision statement for Partners that established broader horizons for its work. Partners would continue its primary task of providing training and formation for lay preachers, but would become an advocacy organization as well.

"This really was a historically significant move," Hughes Baumer emphasized. "The vision statement mandates that Partners In Preaching is to take the initiative in spreading the good news that lay preaching can enrich the worship experience of faith communities. Partners is commissioned not only to prepare preachers, but also to encourage Church leadership to welcome their ministry."

Serving into the future

Since its incorporation, Partners has flourished. Today it faces new challenges and opportunities. Hughes Baumer said the greatest need is the establishment of support structures to enable Partners to tell its story and expand its ministry. "Our challenge is to have the financial and personnel resources to reach out to faith communities around the country with what they are most eager for - not only awareness of the potential of the lay preaching ministry, but the means to make it a reality in their own location," she said.

Although the program has been in existence since 1991, Partners is still unique. Hughes Baumer explained that while seminaries for the training of clergy have offered preaching education, few programs of lay ministry training have offered courses that teach preaching. "For many years lay ministry candidates in the church have been able to study pastoral care, but very few schools of ministry have had preaching courses," she said.

Hughes Baumer added that Partners is the only program that can be adapted by local or diocesan faith communities for their preaching communities. "We travel to you, you don't have to travel to us. This is especially valuable for areas of the country that don't have access to other schools of ministry," she said. To date, the Partners In Preaching program has been offered within six dioceses in the U.S.

As part of its development, Partners has expanded its work with other national ministry organizations. Partners is a full member of the Catholic Coalition on Preaching.

In addition to preparing additional mentors and presenters, Partners is committed to the continuing formation of those lay preachers who have completed training and are now in active ministry. "Our partnership doesn't stop after the last learning unit," said Baumer. We want to continue a relationship of celebration and support."

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