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. Former 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 were held three or four times a year in different cities across Arkansas. During the pandemic, Taste of Faith was combined into one, livestreamed event that was watched online. We no longer livestream this event, but it is recorded so you can watch at a later time through our YouTube channel. For more information, contact Kelly Wewers.

To date, Arkansas Catholics have invested more than $5 million in the education of our seminarians through Taste of Faith in the past 14 years. More than $600,000 was donated in 2023. To help us provide for the needs of our seminarians, you can donate any time online.