Canon Missioner for Death Penalty Abolition

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a Catholic Priest (Old Catholic), nationally recognized theologian, and founder of the Execution Intervention Project — the nation's leading nonprofit combining activism against death sentences, spiritual accompaniment, abolitionist thought development, theological education, and consistent public engagement to serve the people EIP partners with on death row. As a spiritual advisor to death row inmates nationwide, he has accompanied twelve 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 the 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 incarnated into the priesthood of the Old Catholic Church in 2022 at Saint Miriam Parish and Friary in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hood leads St. Oscar Romero Old Catholic Church, a hybrid in-person and online community. In addition to his role at St. Oscar Romero, he also serves as the Canon Missioner for Death Penalty Abolition at Sunshine Cathedral in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and as the Chair for Faith, Justice and Humanitarian Efforts at Saint Miriam Parish and Friary in Pennsylvania.

The author of over 140 books (listed here) — including The Courage to Be Queer, named one of the best religion books of 2016 at the Independent Publishers Book Awards, and Suffocation By Design: The Story of America's Newest Execution Method, the seminal history of nitrogen executions — 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 and honors 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, a proclamation from the Board of Commissioners in Clayton County, Georgia, and induction into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College.

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. He followed this moment up by being present with Anthony Boyd during a nitrogen execution in October 2025. The execution is the longest documented nitrogen execution yet.

No other spiritual advisor in the country has been present in the execution chamber for as many executions.

To commemorate Dr. Hood's death penalty work, the University of North Alabama has opened its' own "The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood Collection." This collection includes items and documents from every execution that Dr. Hood has been a part of.

Believing that traditional theological education is increasingly inadequate, Dr. Hood founded The New Theology School in 2021, an experimental space for theological inquiry where he serves as Dean and as the Rev. Charles Moore Professor of Prophetic Theology. At present, Hood has ushered over thirty students through the program, which involves the publication of an original work of new 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.