We’re excited to welcome five new members to our Board of Directors!
Each brings a wealth of experience, fresh perspectives, and a shared commitment to our mission. Their leadership and insight will help guide our organization as we continue to grow and create impact. Please join us in welcoming them—we’re thrilled to have them on board.
Dcn. Matthew Halbach, PhD
Dcn. Matthew Halbach, PhD, brings a distinguished blend of academic expertise and hands-on ministry to the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA). Holding a PhD in Catechetics from The Catholic University of America (2014), he has authored works like They Saw Through God’s Eyes: An Invitation from Mary and the Saints, which invites readers to embrace mercy and accompaniment—core tenets of USCMA’s mission to embody God’s love through intercultural encounter and solidarity. He was ordained as a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Des Moines in 2018, and currently serves as the director of deacon formation—leading retreats, workshops, and spiritual development for candidates and ordained deacons, helping to foster an identity of deacon as servant and social advocate.
With over 15 years of executive experience in Catholic publishing and education, including roles at William H. Sadlier, Inc., and as the former President and Publisher of Franciscan Media, Dcn. Matthew has driven innovative strategies for faith enrichment and evangelization, aligning organizational missions with prophetic works of mercy. As a national speaker and consultant on evangelization, catechesis, and missionary discipleship, he promotes intercultural dialogue and social transformation, directly supporting USCMA’s vision of networking faith leaders to proclaim the Gospel amid global challenges. Currently, he serves as Vice President for Mission and Campus Culture at Mercy College of Health Sciences.
Dcn. Matthew served for four years on the USCCB National Advisory Council (NAC). The purpose of the NAC is to support the bishops with the preparation of their plenary sessions. Specifically, the council—a cross section of the Church in the U.S., with 40+ members including lay, clergy, and religious—would be briefed on the plenary session dockets and then offer opinions on what issues might need to be amplified and/or escalated. The council also proposed agenda items based on emerging needs.
Friar Paul Lininger, OFM Conv., Ph.D.
Fr. Paul Linging, OFM Conv., serves as director of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) for the Our Lady of Angels Province of the Franciscan Friars. Prior to this, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church, Burlington, NC, for eight years. Located in central North Carolina, Blessed Sacrament is a multicultural, multilingual parish which provides a variety of outreach services to anyone regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, consistent with the commitment of the Franciscan Friars to create a places of welcome and community in response to the Gospel of Christ Jesus.
Beginning in 2005, Fr. Paul served for six years as the Executive Director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM). In this capacity and on behalf of the Conference, he represented all the Pontifical Religious Institutes of Men in the United States – Jesuits, Franciscans, Benedictines, Dominicans, etc. – in their dealings with the Vatican, the USCCB and other Bishops & Religious’ Conferences throughout the world. He regularly attended meetings at the Vatican with various pontifical dicastery officials.
A clinical psychologist, Fr. Paul served previously on the faculties of several universities and colleges, including Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Department of Medical Psychiatry, Baltimore, MD, where he taught medical interns concerning various alcoholism, drug addiction as well as sexual abuse disorders. At the time, he was also the clinical director of several Johns Hopkins’ psychiatric clinics and treatment centers in Baltimore, MD, i.e., a program for 350 heroin addicts, another for 150 cocaine addicts, a pregnancy program for women addicts, and another for 100 adolescents – all with chemical substance disorders prior to the age of 11 yrs. old. His work also involved several research projects conducted by Johns Hopkins University under the auspices of the School of Medicine.
Fr. Paul Lininger, OFM Conv., holds a Doctorate and Master’s Degrees in Psychology and Counseling from Loyola University as well as a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees – St. Anthony-on-Hudson in conjunction with New York State University.
Michael A. Romero
Michael Romero is the Director of the Pastoral Institute at the University of the Incarnate Word. He completed his Ph.D. in Theology at the University of Dayton in Ohio in Spring of 2022, defending his dissertation with distinction. His dissertation studied the evangelization of Mesoamericans by the sixteenth-century Spanish friars with a focus on their teaching of Marian devotion. Dr. Romero’s areas of research interest are the Catholic Church of colonial New Spain, Mariology, and Franciscan spirituality and history.
Michael is originally from El Paso, Texas. He lived there until he moved to San Antonio to complete his undergraduate studies at St. Mary’s University where he majored in English and Philosophy. He also earned his MA in English from St. Mary’s. He taught English and writing courses in San Antonio for many years at campuses such as Northwest Vista College before returning to school to study Theology. He completed his MA in Theology in 2016 at the University of Dayton with a thesis on the roots of the Catholic Charismatic Movement in the US and the laying on of hands. After completing his doctoral studies, he taught in the Religious Studies department and as a Research and Instruction Librarian at the University of Dayton. Michael is happily married to his wife Angela, a San Antonio native, and they have one daughter, Celeste.
Jenna Rummelhart
Jenna Rummelhart is a nonprofit and philanthropic strategist with more than a decade of leadership experience in cross-sector program development, people management, and fundraising. She currently serves as Director of Operations at the Archdiocese of Chicago Pastoral Center, where she oversees strategic planning and operational administration across 21 ministries, stewarding a multimillion-dollar budget and leading a team of more than 60 mission-driven professionals.
Jenna’s expertise spans strategic advisory, equity-centered program design, governance, and fundraising strategy. She is passionate about helping organizations maximize resources, strengthen operational systems, and build sustainable philanthropic models—particularly during periods of change, growth, or transformation.
Outside of work, Jenna stays deeply engaged in Chicago’s civic community. She is an active member of the Service Club of Chicago and a committed volunteer to causes that support families and children. Jenna holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and a Master’s in Marketing from DePaul University.
She is also the proud mom of two energetic girls (and one equally spirited dog), which ensures she brings both empathy and humor into every leadership space she’s in.
Shannon Wimp Schmidt
Shannon Wimp Schmidt currently works as the Content Director for the TENx10 Collaboration, an ecumenical collaboration of over 200 partners across the U.S. TENx10’s mission is to make faith matter more to ten million young people in the next ten years, so the Church can stem the tide of youth disaffiliation from Christianity. As Content Director, Shannon oversees the production of all resources and training products for ministry and organizational leaders to help implement relational discipleship and accompaniment as the primary posture for ministry.
Shannon is also a founding member on the Board of Directors for Catholics United for Black Lives (CUBL), a faith-based not-for-profit working for racial justice. With CUBL, Shannon has served previously as Treasurer and Director of Communications. She is also member of the advisory board for EQ Saints, an Youth Ministry resource and training company which seeks to equip leaders for evangelization and accompaniment with young people.
A 20 year veteran of pastoral ministry and former Director of Vicariate Renewal for the Archdiocese of Chicago, Shannon sees evangelization as the daily work of every member of the church and the work of mission as an essential task of the universal church. She attempts to contribute to this essential task through her freelance work as a writer, award-winning author, speaker, and podcaster.
Shannon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union. She is an active member of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry as well as her parish choir. She lives in Chicagoland with her husband, Eric, a Catholic school principal, and their four children.