Taste of Faith

About Us

Taste of Faith began in 2010 as a dinner to raise money to pay for seminarian education in the Diocese of Little Rock. Over time, one dinner grew into multiple dinners held in different regions of Arkansas.

Established 2010

Taste of Faith​

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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taste of Faith dinners were combined into one, livestreamed event that was watched online in 2020-21. Last year, as society slowly returned to normal, we went back to hosting this event in person at the Statehouse Convention Center. For those unable to attend, parts of the dinner are still livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. For more information, contact Dianne Brady.

The first Taste of Faith dinner was held at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock on Aug. 7, 2010, and raised $130,000 for seminarian education.

Diocese of Little Rock development director Dianne Brady created the event to address the shortages needed to cover immediate seminarian education expenses. It is estimated to cost the diocese $41,000 a year to educate and provide for the living expenses of one seminarian. This includes tuition, room and board, health insurance and other needs.

Earnings from the Msgr. James. E. O’Connell Diocesan Seminarian Fund are not sufficient to pay for the current college and seminary tuition bills, so the Holy Thursday Collection for Seminarian Education was created and contributions from Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal were set aside to supplement the tuition and other fees that were needed.

The first dinner, which included testimonials and musical performances from seminarians and talks from then vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend and Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, grew over time. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Taste of Faith dinners was held three or four times a year in different cities across Arkansas.

To date, Arkansas Catholics have invested more than $5 million in the education of our seminarians through Taste of Faith in the past 13 years. More than $587,000 was donated in 2022. To help us provide for the needs of our seminarians, you can donate any time online.41

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Taste of Faith is a fundraising event to raise money for seminarian education in the Diocese of Little Rock. It is sponsored by the Stewardship and Development Office. For more information, contact Dianne Brady, director, at (501) 664-0340, ext. 391. © Copyright 2023 Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 N. Tyler St., Little Rock, AR 72207.