My thanks go out to Dr. Ben Clements of the University of Leicester in the UK for his positive review of Crossroads in the Journal of Contemporary Religion. His review elevated findings from each of the chapters and captured well the insights that the book offers not only to local parishes and dioceses, but also national and international implications. I also appreciated the ways he endorses the urgency and high-stakes nature that we as authors believe our findings point to. Our Church–from the local to the global–is truly at a crossroads. In concluding, Clements writes:

Overall, this is a rich and informative analysis of the sociological structures and wider situation of Catholics in American society, accessibly written and thoughtful in its consideration of the findings and their relevance for internal debates in the Catholic Church. Readers will find much to learn about change and continuity in Catholics’ religious belonging, behaviour, and believing and how these connect to issues of gender, sexuality and equality, and core political debates.

My co-authors and I hope you find this book equally valuable!

Dr. Carol Ann MacGregor of St. Jerome’s University has provided a positive review of Cultural Catholics in the latest issue of American Catholic Studies. In her review, MacGregor highlights some of the book’s key contributions and notes its usefulness for multiple audiences. To offer a pull quote:

“[T]his in depth treatment of cultural Catholics will be of interest to both scholars and those engaged with ministry and leadership of Catholic organizations…. Overall, this book does a compelling job of emphasizing the heterogeneity among American Catholics in ways that are both rigorous and accessible.”

Thank you, Carol Ann, for helping bring this book to interested readers!

So excited to announce that another great book is underway! My good friend and esteemed colleague, Dr. Tia N. Pratt (Villanova University), and I will be co-editing a collection that will explore Catholics’ experience of racism and what a Catholic response to this might entail. This is a much needed book as we think through how we might better equip parish, educational, and diocesan leaders to better plumb the tools of our faith as they bring the Good News of Christ to all. Thank you, Liturgical Press, for partnering with us in this!

A Catholic Witness Against Racism: Resources for Ministers and Educators will showcase chapters that help bring both robust scholarship and professional expertise to this pressing concern. In addition to chapters by Tia and I, our all-star list of contributors includes Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, Ansel Augustine, Kim Harris, Linh Hoang, Brett Hoover, Dan Horan, Efran Menny, Maureen O’Connell, Hosffman Ospino, and Bethany Welch. Each chapter will close with thoughtful discussion questions for readers to think through how they might apply the insights to their context. As always, as the project progresses, I will post updates on my Books page.

Excited to announce that the contract has been signed! I’ll be partnering with Dr. Richard Flory and his team at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture to bring scholars and practitioners a new book: How Congregations Thrive: Fostering Community, Identity, and Mission in Today’s Churches. It will be part of the Bloomsbury Studies in Religion and Civic Culture series, led by CRCC.

This book explores the Los Angeles subset of the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations study, a national study housed at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and led by Dr. Scott Thumma. It is a fascinating dataset that shows both the fragility and the resilience of today’s congregations in the midst of and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The book is taking shape as I dive more deeply into the data, especially the observations and interviews. One big observation that shapes the book is that congregational “thriving” is often not a binary (either you’re thriving or you’re not) and really there are typically areas that congregations are doing well in (e.g., outreach) and other areas in which they are struggling (e.g., connecting with teens and young adults). This framework helps scholars and clergy alike really understand and assess a “typical” congregation, rather than the handful of “exemplary” congregations that typically characterize books on congregational health. I’ll put updates on my “books” page throughout the process!

As some of you know, the global Synod on Synodality–a discussion of Catholic experience across the world and at every level of the Church–concluded in October 2024. But far from an ending, the Church envisioned this as a beginning. Now parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations are prayerfully discerning ways forward after all we have seen and heard.

One of the many questions that surfaced in this synod is how to expand and support women’s leadership in the Church. To this end, my bishop and synod delegate, Cardinal Robert McElroy, commissioned a Women’s Advisory Committee to better understand the experiences of women in contexts of Catholic leadership in the Diocese of San Diego. The co-chairs of this committee were Dr. Mary Lyons and Chancellor Marioly Galván and I served as the social researcher. After a diocesan-wide census, a pastor survey, a survey of female leaders with both closed- and open-ended questions, and a key Committee meeting reflecting on the barriers, opportunities for enhancement, and ideas for ways forward in female Church leadership, we are pleased–at long last–to share the final report: Catholic Women in Leadership Study: Final Report. We share this not only to improve women’s leadership within our diocese, but also with the hope that it helps other dioceses think through the ways they might respond to the renewal called for in the synod, whether that be in relation to women’s leadership or any other prompting of the Spirit. You can also read about it’s coverage in National Catholic Reporter and listen on The Francis Effect: Illegal Deportations, Survey of Women in Ministry, Meghan Clark Interview (survey begins 35:20).

May we all be animated by communion, participation and mission!

I’m very excited to aid those serving in or planning for Hispanic Catholic ministries with this new report! Hispanic Catholics: A National Report is a project that Franciscan School of Theology alum Mercedes Wallace and I worked on. It uses the latest wave of the American Catholic Laity survey and compares Hispanic respondents to non-Hispanic respondents. It is quick read with ample charts, providing a clean overview of the religious beliefs, political attitudes and parish experiences of Hispanic Catholics as they compare to non-Hispanic Catholics.

I hope you find it useful!