Formation and Education Programs

The Archdiocese of New Orleans offers the opportunity for lay men and women to be formed and commissioned as Lay Ecclesial Ministers to serve in parishes, schools and ministries.  Notre Dame Seminary’s Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry offers a holistic formation program similar to diaconate and priestly formation programs to prepare lay ministers for leadership in the Church.

More Info https://nds.edu/institute-for-lay-ecclesial-ministry/

Notre Dame Seminary has grown from an institution exclusively for priestly formation into a full-fledged graduate school, an apostolic community of formation, spiritual enrichment and theological discovery dedicated to the New Evangelization.  Notre Dame Seminary offers degree programs and formation for priests, religious, deacons and the laity.

More Info https://nds.edu/

The Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of New Orleans provides formation and certification for parish and school catechetical leaders, RCIA facilitators, Catholic school administrators, and campus ministers.

More Info https://noladceff.org/formation-for-catechists-teachers-and-leaders

For almost 40 years, the Loyola Institute for Ministry has prepared Catholic lay leaders for ministry through master's degrees, certificates and continuing education. Our students learn and grow in faith in a supportive community on campus and online with classmates from around the world. Our programs are Ignatian, theological, and practical, and students focus on spirituality, religious education, youth ministry, pastoral care, digital culture and ministry, religion and ecology, or pastoral life and administration.  

More Info http://lim.loyno.edu/about-loyola-institute-ministry

Based at Xavier University of Louisiana, the Institute for Black Catholic Studies is the first and primary national center for the study of the Black Catholic experience. The Institute’s graduate and continuing education programs bring together theory and practice, systematic and pastoral theology, rigorous academic study and committed ministry, classroom learning and practical application, rural and urban ministerial concerns, the marketplace and the Church.

More Info https://ibcsxula.com

Studying undergraduate theology at the University of Holy Cross exposes students to the depth of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in the context of Roman Catholic theology. The University of Holy Cross also offers a graduate degree in theology that prepares students to incorporate theology into their lives or to become theologians and teachers for the Church.

More Info http://uhcno.edu