The University of Dallas announced a partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas that will provide local pastoral ministry leaders, serving in a variety of capacities across the diocese, with an opportunity to advance their ability to serve diverse communities. The university will offer its new intercultural ministry course, "Weaving Together a Culturally Diverse Church," at a special tuition rate.

“Our School of Ministry has one foot in the academic world and one foot in the church,” said Dean of School of Ministry Ted Whapham. “This partnership with the Diocese of Dallas is helping us take strides across the region to bring together our rich faith community.” Whapham holds a doctorate in historical and systematic theology along with a master's degree in theology from The Catholic University of America.

"Weaving Together a Culturally Diverse Church" is a dynamic, six-week online course, where students are equipped with an ecclesial vision of communion and mission and its application in the context of culturally diverse parishes and dioceses. Most importantly, students will gain the

theoretical and practical knowledge to communicate the faith effectively to an increasingly diverse world. The course is also offered in Spanish.

“This course focuses on the past and present of a wide range of Catholic communities,” said Pía Septien, M.T.S., director of continuing education and Catholic Biblical School instructor. “Students will come to understand the dynamics of mission, stewardship and other crucial elements of the faith experience in shared parishes across the country.”

Course instructor Alejandro Aguilera-Titus offers 30 years of ministry experience and is a nationally known speaker and writer highly regarded for his practical application of theology to ministry in culturally diverse settings. He holds a master’s degree in theology from the University of Portland and is a doctor of ministry candidate at Barry University. Aguilera-Titus currently works at the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“This course is going to continue to enhance our study and our research into how to best reach our multicultural membership,” said Director of Ministries at the Diocese of Dallas, Sister Theresa Khirallah, SSND. “The partnership between the University of Dallas and the diocese will continue to solidify into more endeavors like this.”