Mark Franzen, Director

Mark Franzen is the inaugural director of St. Gregory’s Hall. He and his wife, Lauren, have been parishioners at St. Gregory since 2008. Before helping to found St. Gregory’s Hall, Mark managed programs for over a decade at the Lumen Christi Institute, a Catholic intellectual apostolate serving the University of Chicago. His interests range from baseball to modern European philosophy, liturgical theology to monastic spirituality. Mark received a BA in art and philosophy from North Park University and an MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Kevin Allen, Artist & Composer-in-Residence

Kevin Allen is a well-known composer. His works, sacred and secular, have been performed in churches and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Based in Chicago, he is the founding director of the Collins Consort, American Composer’s Project, and Schola Immaculata. Mr. Allen is also the director of Schola Laudis at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross.

Elizabeth Blanke,
​Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Coordinator

Elizabeth Blanke is passionate about sharing the love of Christ with children, and has been working in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Gregory since 2015. Though her involvement began as a simple way to assist in the religious formation of her own children, this method has quickly and steadily become a true calling. A classically trained singer, Elizabeth has served the St. Gregory's community as a cantor and soloist since 2007. Elizabeth is also a writer for the popular online Catholic women's devotional, Blessed is She. She enjoys reading, hiking, traveling, and cooking.

Sarah Crow, Artist-in-Residence

Sarah Crow received her BFA in painting and minor in creative writing from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2013, and an MFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2016. She currently lives and works in Chicago where she has also taught as a part-time lecturer at SAIC in the Painting and Drawing Department. Sarah entered the Catholic Church in 2017 and seeks to use her talents to serve Mother Church. You can learn more about her work here.

Maggie Flynn, Communications & Events Specialist

Maggie Flynn received her Bachelors of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University in 2014. She has worked as a trade reporter and news aggregator in the Chicago area since graduating, and has been a parishioner at Mary, Mother of God since 2016. Her interests include running, reading, knitting, hockey, and exploring in and around Chicago.

Scott D. Moringiello, Scholar-in-Residence

Scott Moringiello is Associate Professor of Catholic Studies at DePaul University, where he teaches classes on Catholic theology and religion and literature. He holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, an MPhil from the Divinity Faculty at the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Philosophy and Classics from Williams College. His research interest include religious themes in contemporary literature and the history of biblical exegesis. He and his family are former parishioners of St. Gregory the Great.