Biography

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a Catholic Priest (Old Catholic), nationally recognized theologian and spiritual advisor to death row inmates nationwide. He has accompanied eleven men to their executions, including the first and eighth nitrogen hypoxia executions. Widely regarded as the leading spiritual voice on the death penalty, his work has been profiled in outlets ranging from the New York Times to a Rolling Stone documentary, The Spiritual Advisor. For his service and scholarship, he was nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Hood holds degrees from Auburn University (BA), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv), Emory University’s Candler School of Theology (ThM), the University of Alabama (MA), Creighton University (MS), and Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University (DMin). He has studied theology at formal and informal centers of meditation and practice worldwide, completed multiple units of Clinical Pastoral Education at a Level I trauma center in Fort Worth, Texas, and earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the American Institute of Metaphysics with a focus on futuristic concepts of God. His primary interest has always been the power of spirituality to bring about liberation.

Ordained to ministry in 2006 at Rock Baptist Church in Rex, Georgia, Dr. Hood was incardinated into the priesthood of the Old Catholic Church in 2022 at Saint Miriam Parish and Friary in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.

The author of over 100 books — including The Courage to Be Queer, named one of the best religion books of 2016 at the Independent Publishers Book Awards — Dr. Hood has also published countless articles and collections of poetry. He regularly partners with men on death row to co-produce original works of theology.

His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Huffington Post, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, WIRED, Slate, and Rolling Stone, and on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, and NewsNation, among many others.

Dr. Hood has served in the leadership of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and Fellowship of Reconciliation USA. He currently serves on the Board of Advisers of Death Penalty Action. His awards include PFLAG Fort Worth’s Equality Award, Hope for Peace and Justice’s Ambassador of Justice, the Next Generation Action Network’s Person of the Year, recognition from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and a proclamation from the Board of Commissioners in Clayton County, Georgia.

On July 7, 2016, Dr. Hood organized and led a Dallas rally against police brutality that ended in the shooting deaths of five police officers. He saved lives by using the cross he was carrying to force people away from the gunfire, and spent the days that followed doing media while his family remained under threat. The Dallas Public Library honored his role in that event and his wider work by opening the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood Collection in its archives.

In January 2024, Dr. Hood became the first spiritual advisor present in an execution chamber for a nitrogen hypoxia execution. Amid the international media attention that followed, he kept the memory of Kenneth Smith at the center of the story while demanding that such an execution never be repeated. No other spiritual advisor in the country has been present in the execution chamber for as many executions.

Believing that traditional theological education is increasingly inadequate, Dr. Hood founded The New Theology School, an experimental space for theological inquiry where he serves as Dean and as the Rev. Charles Moore Professor of Prophetic Theology.

With many arrests, various assaults, countless threats, and thousands of miles marched, Dr. Hood is not afraid to give his body to the struggle for justice.

He is the husband of Emily and father of Jeff III, Phillip, Quinley Mandela, Lucas, and Madeleine. He considers close friends on death rows across the country to be extended family. He has no patience for those who believe institutions matter more than people.