Father Maurice J. Nutt, C.Ss.R.

Maurice J. Nutt, C.Ss.R. is a Roman Catholic priest in the Redemptorist Congregation. He earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis (the first African American to receive a Catholic doctorate in preaching), a Master of Theology Degree from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Master of Divinity Degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy and Communication from Holy Redeemer College in Waterford, Wisconsin. In June of 2001, he was named a Danforth Fellow and completed the Leadership Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In October 2020 he completed his certification in Spiritual Direction from the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction in Tucson, Arizona.

He has taught as an adjunct professor at St. Louis University, Hampton University (online instructor), Xavier University of Louisiana, and Catholic Theological Union. Courses taught: The Black Religious Experience, Introduction to Christian Theology, Pentecostalism, Preaching and Evangelization, Black Preaching, Introduction to Liturgical Preaching, and Advanced Preaching.

He served as Pastor of St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Catholic Church (1993-2002) in St. Louis, Missouri and Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church (2005-2011) in Memphis, Tennessee. He is an adjunct professor of preaching in the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (2007-2017). From 2011-2014 he was a full-time preaching missionary as a member of the Redemptorist Mission Preaching Team based in Chicago, IL. He is a former Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans from 2014-2017. He is a past convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, a national interdisciplinary association of Black Catholic scholars from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. In June 2020 he was appointed as an adjunct professor of preaching and evangelization serving as a doctoral thesis adviser in the Doctor of Ministry of preaching program at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO. He also teaches in Aquinas Institute’s New Frontiers in Preaching Academy for Hispanic and Black Catholics.

Dr. Nutt is an award-winning author. He has published several books, including Thea Bowman: Faithful and Free published by Liturgical Press (2019), won awards from the Association of Catholic Publishers and the Catholic Press Association. Down Deep in My Soul: An African American Catholic Theology of Preaching published by Orbis Books (2023) won the 2024 second place award for liturgy from the Catholic Media Association. He co-edited Preaching Racial Justice by Orbis Books (2023). Additionally, he has published many articles and book chapters about preaching, African American spirituality and culture, pastoral theology, evangelization and social justice. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics (AOH), the African American Caucus of AOH, the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, Spiritual Directors International, and the Spiritual Directors of Color Network. In February 2021, he founded Copiosa Care: A Spiritual Direction Practice. (www.copiosacare.org)

In 2022 he was inducted into the prestigious Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta. GA. Dr. Nutt serves on the editorial board of the Bloomsbury Publishing series, the T&T Clark Library of Homiletics. He is the owner of Britton Duvall Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm offering consultation, training, workshops, lectures, and organizational facilitation. He is also a proud active Life-Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and lives in St. Louis, Missouri.