Data scientist, attorney, pulmonary physician, director of religious education, priest. Saint Leo University welcomed students from many career fields as it hosted the first two cohorts in its Doctor of Theology in Applied Theology Program. Held on campus July 10-13, this was the first residency experience for the online Doctor of Theology (ThD) degree, which launched in August 2023 with its first cohort. A second cohort began classes July 1.

The 22 doctoral students come from all walks of life, but they share a mission of using theology to serve others.

Pulmonologist George Torres earned his master’s degree in theology from Saint Leo in 2023 as part of the diaconate program for the Diocese of Orlando, FL. In June, he became a permanent deacon and is ministering to his parish of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Apopka, FL. A member of the first cohort, he started the ThD program in Fall 2023 and will use the degree to not only serve his parish, but also his patients.

“The doctoral degree in applied theology will help me in being a healer for souls and bodies,” Torres said.

Saint Leo’s Doctor of Theology degree focuses on applied theology, “so not only does it include academic research, but it also offers practical knowledge and skills for those who serve in various ministries and organizations within the Church and the wider community,” said Dr. Stephen Okey, associate professor and director of the program. “It builds on our successful Master of Arts in theology program.” 

The doctoral degree is offered online, and most students attend the summer residency in person at the university’s campus in St. Leo, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area.

“Our residency is embedded within a course while they’re here [on campus],” Okey said. “In addition to meeting each other in person for the first time and building community, they’re going to the library, meeting faculty, and working on substantive content of a course that is harder to do online —even in their weekly live sessions.”

The summer residency featured Dr. Michael Tkacik, associate professor of theology and religion, teaching a course on the Second Vatican Council for the first cohort while Okey taught the second cohort theological research and writing.

The First Students

About one-third of the doctoral students have a prior connection to the university, mostly alumni of the Master of Arts in Theology Program, Okey said. Saint Leo University’s doctoral program is the only accredited online doctorate in applied theology offered by a Catholic university.  One-third of the students are from Florida, while others are from throughout the United States, including three from California. The majority of the students are Catholic; however they are across the ideological spectrum theologically, and they range in age from the 20s through 60s. The cohort members include priests, permanent Catholic deacons and people in diaconate formation, armed forces veterans, attorneys, music ministers, financial planners, and more.

The Doctor of Theology in applied theology is designed for those “who work or volunteer in churches, parishes, dioceses, schools, ministries, nonprofit organizations, who want a good, rigorous grounding in theology that they can use in their respective communities,” Okey said. And some students are enrolled because of a personal interest in learning more.

“The first cohort seems to have a strong bond among themselves,” he said. “They are encouraging and supportive, but also critical and challenging — what you should be in a doctoral cohort.”

Call to Serve

Father Carlos Rojas, pastor of St. Rita Catholic Church in Dade City, FL, said he enrolled in the doctoral program, “so I can be a better priest.”

For him, the understanding of applied theology will help refresh his homilies and prepare him to assist his parishioners. “It will help me be responsive to the latest needs and issues such as gender identity, issues of technology, abuse, and the concerns of the smartphone generation,” Rojas said. “What I like is that it will teach me how to use applied theology to discuss these issues.”

Divine providence brought him to the Saint Leo program, he said, when he was assigned as pastor of St. Rita, which is near Saint Leo. While the degree is offered online, the proximity to the university also appealed to him.

“I also hope to share this pathway with my brother priests,” Rojas said, encouraging them to pursue their degrees through Saint Leo.

Jean Hawley of Chesapeake, VA, earned her Master of Arts in theology in 2023 from the university. “But I felt like I wasn’t done,” she said. She wanted to learn more and do more for those she works with as the director of religious education for Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hampton, VA. Earning a higher degree also “spoke to my learning heart,” she said.

Hawley also hopes to use the applied theology degree to help children grow in faith with her work with the 4th-Soil Parenting initiative by Vibrant Faith and a grant from the Lilly Endowment.

“The metaphor at the core of our 4th-Soil Parenting project references Jesus’ Parable of the Soils: ‘Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand (Matthew 13:3-9),’: the project’s website states.

“We can give parents, grandparents, and guardians the tools to grow and nourish children’s spiritual lives,” Hawley said.

For Kirk Collins, who took classes from Saint Leo in the diaconate formation program in Richmond, VA, deepening his faith is one part of why he enrolled in the university’s Doctor of Theology program.

Not only is the program helping him feel closer to and serve God, he said, but also, “I can serve my parish better.” He is a deacon at Saint Mary Catholic Church in the Diocese of Richmond.

As for his dissertation, the data engineer hopes to explore criminal justice reform, “It’s really applying Catholic social justice teaching,” he said.

Find Out More

For information about the degree program, contact Dr. Stephen Okey, director, at stephen.okey@saintleo.edu.

Information about admissions to the program is available by emailing admissions.grad@saintleo.edu or calling (888) 875-8265.