New Director of Human Formation

St. Mary’s Announces Inaugural Director of Human Formation

Rev. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, America’s first Roman Catholic seminary, announced that Deacon Edward J. McCormack will serve as St. Mary’s inaugural Director of Human Formation. Deacon McCormack brings a quarter-century of formation experience, serving most recently as a member of the Formation Faculty in the position of Director of Pastoral Formation at Theological College, The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

As Director of Human Formation, Deacon McCormack will also serve as Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics, beginning in his new roles in the 2024-25 academic year.

“I bring to St. Mary’s my 25 years of experience in formation work, a love of theology, a passion to improve preaching, and a desire to cooperate with Christ as I serve the seminarians, faculty, and staff of St. Mary’s,” Deacon McCormack said of his new role.

In the role of Director of Human Formation, Deacon McCormack will oversee the seminary’s comprehensive program of human formation, which seeks to properly balance and integrate the four dimensions of priestly formation (human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral) to maximize seminarians’ human formation and development. In collaboration with the Rector and Formation Team, the Director of Human Formation will coordinate seminary life, psycho-social services, fitness, nutrition, and recreation to assist seminarians in maintaining a balanced seminary experience.

Recognizing the growing importance and need in this area, St. Mary’s identified the endowment of the Director of Human Formation position as one of the four priorities of its successful $25 million-dollar campaign.  St. Mary’s has prioritized its Human Formation program, as well as its integration with the other dimensions of formation.

“Deacon McCormack’s long and diverse experience in priestly formation makes him an ideal person to lead St. Mary’s Human Formation program,” Father Brown said. “We are fortunate to have his leadership and expertise in this critical position, which is designed to ensure that our seminarians are well formed humanly, spiritually, academically, and pastorally for ordination to the priesthood.”

Deacon McCormack has a Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America and a Master of Arts in Theology from Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, New Jersey. Prior to joining the faculty at Theological College, Deacon McCormack served as Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Washington Theological Union, where was Chair of the Spirituality Department. An award-winning professor, he has taught graduate level courses in Systematic Theology, Christian Spirituality and has trained men and women for ministry in the Church for 22 years. He was ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2013.