Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. is a Missionary of the Precious Blood. He was ordained in 1982. Before that he attended St. Joseph's College (1973-77), spent a year in a parish in Farmville, VA, and then continued his preparation for the priesthood at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he graduated with an M.Div. with a Word and Worship specialization. After ordination, he served as an associate pastor in two parishes for eleven years: St. John the Baptist, Whiting IN (5 years) and St. Andrew, Orlando FL (6 years). Then he returned to Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he served as formation director for his community and completed the doctor of ministry with a concentration in liturgy. He also served his community as vocation director (1992-2002) and then established Precious Blood Parish Missions. For the next eight years he preached retreats and parish missions, conducted workshops on the Christian Initiation of Adults, and served his community as director of their special formation summer program for six of those years. After teaching sacramental theology and methods of evangelization in Tanzania, he became the founding pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, Cincinnati, OH (a predominantly African-American parish created when four smaller parish came together in 2010). In 2016, he returned to formation work in Chicago. He had been recovering from a series of surgeries on his right foot since the summer of 2021 at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, OH and was appointed director of worship there in the spring of 2024.
Fr. Dennis was designated a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis on September 12, 2024.
Fr. Dennis has written three books on the Christian Initiation of Adults: Creating and Effective Mystagogy: A Handbook for Catechumenate Leaders (Resource Publication, 2002), The Fifty Days of Joy: Easter Reflections or New Catholics (World Library Publication, 2007) and Creating an Effective Mystagogy: A Handbook for Catechumenate Leaders, Second Edition (Liturgy Training Publications, 2022). He was also a contributor to Catechumenate magazine and several other publications over the years.
Fr. Dennis has conducted parish missions and retreats, individually and with teams of preachers as part of Isaiah Ministries and Precious Blood Parish Missions since the mid-90's.
He has served on the diocesan Christian Initiation Team in two dioceses, presented at several institutes of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, taught in the lay ministry formation and permanent deacon formation programs in two dioceses and conducted numerous workshops around the United States on Christian Initiation of Adults.
Fr. Dennis spent a number of years serving in African American Catholic communities where he learned a lot about preaching the Word of God. He often sings a refrain several times during his preachings. See recent homilies to read some of them.
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