Published September 08. 2026 02:45PM<\/p>\n
Forty-six Catholic priests across Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill counties are about to face a challenge no seminary prepared them for: cooking on camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cCooks with Collars,\u201d the Diocese of Allentown\u2019s online priest cooking competition, returns for its sixth year on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and runs through Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
Short videos of priests preparing their favorite dishes \u2013 in rectory kitchens, backyards and, occasionally, alongside the parishioners and pets who wander into the frame \u2013 will be posted at CookswithCollars.com. Local priests participating in this year\u2019s event includes the Revs. Michael Mullins of Sacred Heart in Palmerton, Eric Arnout of Assumption BVM in Slatington, Abraham Ha at St. Nicholas in Walnutport and Thomas Osei Gyau at St. Joseph Parish of the Panther Valley in Summit Hill,<\/p>\n
Viewers \u201cvote\u201d for their favorite by making a tax-deductible donation. Every voting dollar goes directly to that priest\u2019s parish or ministry.<\/p>\n
The competition raised more than $210,000 for local parishes last year alone, and its six-year total is expected to approach $1 million this September. It began in 2021, when pandemic restrictions forced churches to find new ways to connect with people at home. It has since drawn donors from across the country and news coverage from local television and newspapers to national outlets.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s Top Fundraising Chef was Monsignor Tom Baddick of Notre Dame of Bethlehem, whose gourmet chili hot dogs brought in $44,485 toward replacing his church\u2019s crumbling front steps \u2013 a $100,000 project the parish nicknamed \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a priest a long time, and I\u2019ve never had a homily pull in thousands of views,\u201d Baddick said. \u201cChili dogs, apparently, are a different story. Our steps were falling apart and our people answered. That\u2019s the part I\u2019ll remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dishes range widely. In last year\u2019s competition, the Rev. Simon Kimaryo of St. Ann Parish in Emmaus cooked Fufu Ugali, a Tanzanian dish he learned in his home village, while his then-pastor, Monsignor Edward Coyle, stuck with a hot dog and mustard.<\/p>\n
Priests will compete this year in several categories: Top Chef, for the most dollars raised; Most Popular Chef, for the most-viewed video; and Top Deanery Chef, for the leading fundraiser in each of the diocese\u2019s five regional groupings of parishes, one for each county.<\/p>\n
New this year is the Commemorative 65th Anniversary Award, marking the Diocese of Allentown\u2019s 65th year. It will go to the priest whose video attracts the most individual $65 donations.<\/p>\n
Parishes have used past winnings for building repairs, roof and step replacements, youth programs, community outreach and, in one case, to establish a permanent parish endowment fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a gala. There\u2019s no ticket, no tuxedo and no minimum,\u201d said Michele Mullikin, executive director of Stewardship and Development for the Diocese of Allentown. \u201cSomeone can give five dollars from their couch in Schuylkill County or from their kitchen in Arizona, and it lands in the same place \u2013 back at the parish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone loves food, and there\u2019s something very human about gathering in the kitchen and sharing a meal,\u201d said Bishop Alfred Schlert. \u201c \u2018Cooks with Collars\u2019 gives people a chance to see our priests in a different way \u2013 cooking, laughing and sharing a little bit of who they are. And it has a wonderful purpose: the money raised supports important ministries in our parishes. I hope people will enjoy the videos, try some of the recipes, get to know our priests a little better, and join us in supporting the people and ministries we are called to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Videos can be viewed and searched by parish or priest at CookswithCollars.com. Winners will be announced in early October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published September 08. 2026 02:45PM Forty-six Catholic priests across Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill counties are about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-281664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}