About the host

Emily Strand is author of Mass 101: Liturgy and Life (Liguori, 2013), Your Baby’s Baptism (Liguori, 2014) and numerous articles on pastoral liturgy. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in theological studies at the University of Evansville and her Master’s degree in theology with a concentration in liturgy from the University of Dayton, where she also served as Campus Minister and Director of Liturgy from 2004-2011. Emily has taught religion at the collegiate level for over 15 years. Currently she teaches a Comparative Religions course to nursing students at Mt. Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio, and online at the Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation through the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives at the University of Dayton.   Emily was a core team member from 2008-2010 for Laudate, a Cincinnati-based music ministry camp for youth, and served terms on both the Music Committee and the Worship Commission for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. She produced and co-hosted the podcast Beyond the Words, sponsored by the Cincinnati Archdiocese, which served to prepare the faithful for the reception of the Roman Missal, Third Edition.   She now serves her home diocese of Columbus, Ohio as a Master Catechist and her parish as a lector, liturgical ministry mentor, cantor and accompanist. In her spare time she works (slowly) toward a second Master’s degree in literature, with a focus on speculative fiction. She has written many essays on religion and fiction for John Granger’s Hogwarts Professor blog, and is a frequent guest on Reading, Writing, Rowling, the academic Harry Potter podcast. Emily speaks at parishes, conferences and festivals about liturgy, sacraments, and the theology of popular entertainment.

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