Yancy Evans was participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation but thirsted for even more knowledge about his budding Catholicism. The Institute of Catholic Theology was there for him.
“I wanted to understand my faith better,” Evans said. He started with a course on Scripture and moved on to systematic theology and Catholic Social Teaching.
“For me, it was just a well-rounded formation tool that helped me get into the faith deeper and have a better understanding of things.”
The ITC was founded in 2009 at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Phoenix. Since 
then, it’s grown significantly and now offers courses at satellite sites such as Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe, St. Thomas Aquinas in Avondale and St. Bridget in Mesa.
Dr. Eric Westby has been at the helm since the inception of ICT. Hundreds of Catholics have had their faith bolstered and deepened through the course offerings.
“Since July 1 [of 2023], we’ve had 654 students take over 2,392 courses,” Westby said.
Some of those are free lectures, paid mini-courses or full-semester courses. Some of the courses the ICT offers are accepted for credit at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona State University, and Grand Canyon University. Additionally, ICT has a partnership with Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. ICT students pay ICT tuition for credits earned at Franciscan.
Courses can be taken in person or online which makes for lots of flexibility. It also means
students from around the country and across the globe can enroll. Over the years, ICT has had students from the Philippines, Canada, Florida and many other remote locations.
Evans said the flexibility was a draw for him.
“It was something that I could work around my work schedule and my in my free time,” Evans said, “but what I really enjoyed though is if I had questions, the instructors were very hands-on and right there.” And, if students emailed a question, faculty and presenters got right back with answers.
Kimberly Isaac-Emery earned a certificate in Catholic apologetics at ICT. She grew up in a family with multiple faiths and didn’t have a clear picture of Catholic Church teaching.
Although she went through the Rite of Christian Initiation, she wanted an even deeper understanding of her faith.
“My RCIA program was phenomenal. I feel like I learned so much, but I knew there was so much more. I really wanted to be able to answer questions respectfully and defend the faith and create insights for people who don’t have correct information,” Isaac-Emery said.
Formation, she knew, would be a lifelong process. ICT offered a way to continue the journey.
“For me, the number one thing was that it just clarified the proper teachings and it gave so much insight into why we do what we do,” Isaac-Emery said. Courses at ICT showed her the connection between God being unchangeable and how the world has changed, but God hasn’t.
“It really highlighted the spiritual realities and how God still applies equally the same today as He did back in biblical times.”
The courses at ICT, Isaac-Emery said, helped her to approach difficult situations with compassion and gave her a context for how to feel about difficult conversations.
“Every professor was not only a really great teacher but brought their personal journey to the class. And that was really helpful because everybody’s in a different space in their journey with God.”
Westby, for his part, points to the flexibility of ICT as well as the popularity of courses like Study the Bible in a Year and Study the Catechism in a Year. Students can audit and not do the homework, or they can do homework and work toward certificates and credits.
“Our tagline is strengthening Christian discipleship through intellectual formation. We just think that it’s a great opportunity for people to understand the Lord and His plan for us more deeply and then hopefully, to strengthen people to live their faith on a daily basis.”
Information: www.ictphx.org
