Glenmary Challenge, Autumn 2014

t h e m a g a z i n e o f C at h o l i C m i s s i o n e r s t o r u r a l a m e r i C a

Au t umn 2014 www. g l e nma r y. o r g

Father Bishop’s ‘Good Company’

Celebratesof home mission ministry

‘Under the inspiration of Christ’s

love for mankind and the guidance of

the Holy Spirit, we are privileged

to begin a great work.’—Father Bishop, 1939

years

2 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g e A u t u m n 2 0 1 4 w w w. g l e n m a r y. o rgDONATE NOW

FROM THE EDITOR / Jean Bach

A ministry to the U.S. Church

Jean [email protected]

Publisher: Father Chet ArtysiewiczEditor: Jean Bach

Assistant Editor: Dale HansonArt Director: Tricia Sarvak

Staff Writer: Margaret Gabriel

Planning-Review Board: Father Gus Guppenberger, Brother Jack Henn,

Brother Curt Kedley, Patrick McEntee, Kathy O’Brien, Susan Sweet, Father Don Tranel

GlEnMaRy HOME MIssIOnERs

GlEnMaRy CHallEnGEThis quarterly magazine has three goals: to educate

Catholics about the U.S. home missions, to motivate young men to consider Glenmary priesthood or brotherhood, and to invite all Catholics to respond to their baptismal call to be missionary by partnering with Glenmary as financial contributors, prayer partners, professional coworkers and/or volunteers.

Glenmary Challenge is sent to all donors, to U.S. diocesan clergy and to anyone who requests it. (To begin receiving issues, use the contact information below.)

Father William Howard Bishop Glenmary Founder

Founded by Father William Howard Bishop in 1939, this Catholic society of priests and brothers, along with numerous coworkers, establishes the Catholic Church in small-town and rural America. Glenmary is the

only religious community devoted exclusively to serving the spiritually and materially poor in the rural U.S. home missions. Today, supported en-tirely through freewill offerings, it staffs missions and ministries throughout Appalachia and the South.

Glenmary missioners serve in areas where less than three per-cent of the population is Catho-lic, a significant percentage have no church affiliation and the poverty rate is almost twice the national average. Glenmary is known for deeply respecting the many cultures encountered in the home missions—Ap-palachian, Native American, African American and Latino among others. Its missionary activity includes building Catholic communities, fostering ecumenical cooperation, evangelizing the unchurched, social outreach and work-ing for justice.

GlEnmARy HomE miSSionERSP.O. Box 465618 • Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618513-874-8900 • 800-935-0975www.glenmary.org • [email protected]

© 2014, Glenmary Home Missioners. Reprint permission granted upon request.

Glenmary’s real task is to keep alive a passion for mission in the Catholic Church in the

United States. Ours is a ministry to the Church in the United States.”

Although Father Bob Dalton spoke those words in 2014, they reflect the thoughts of Fa-ther William Howard Bishop when he proposed a new home mission society to serve “Mission Land, USA,” in 1939.

Over the past 75 years, Glenmary and the “good company” that Father Bishop spoke of in 1953—filled with that same passion—have brought awareness of the home missions to the U.S. Church while successfully establish-ing more than 100 missions in counties where the Church wasn’t effectively present. Today missions in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina are serving county residents, and future mission areas are being explored.

Father Bishop was fueled by faith (page 4) to respond to the needs of those living in mission areas, as shown in a letter to missioners in 1948:

“Love the poor...and labor to sup-ply their needs of body and soul.” Glenmary priests, brothers and coworkers continue to heed his words through service inspired and guided by five facets. These areas of ministry are the focus of the anniversary section that be-gins on page 8.

Glenmary will celebrate its an-niversary with a dinner and

Mass in Cincinnati on Oct. 18 and 19, respectively. While both events

will be celebrations of the past 75 years, they are also opportunities to further share Glenmary’s “passion for mission” with the larger Church.

You’re invited to join in the celebration, too! Please visit www.glenmary.org/75years for more information and event details.

abOuT THE COvER: Father Bishop, surround-ed by missioners and students, breaks ground for Our Lady of the Fields Seminary in Glendale, Ohio, in 1951. He derived the name Glenmary in 1939 from Glendale, where the society was first headquartered; and Mary, the society’s pa-troness under the title “Our Lady of the Fields.”

3A u t u m n 2 0 1 4 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g ew w w. g l e n m a r y. o rg DONATE NOW

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Celebrating a ‘Good Company’ at 75 Father William Howard Bishop’s passion for home mission min-istry continues today, as missioners carry out their ministries and outreach efforts using five facets as their guides.

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Overcoming ChallengesPatrick Muriithi made his First Oath in June. Although his journey to Oath was anything but smooth, he’s ready to move forward as a missioner and servant.

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1821 22 Final Words / from our readers

Thoughts shared about previous issue, 75th anniver-sary, the Glenmary Farm and Father Charlie Hughes.

Partner in MissionFor more than six decades, the Theta Phi Alpha frater-nity has helped support Glenmary ministries.

Golden JubilariansFather Jerry Dorn and Father Bob Hare mark mile-stones as Glenmarians: 50 years since First Oath.

Then & nowCelebrating, in photos, the last 25 years (1990-2014) of Glenmary’s mission and ministry.

Glenmary news & notesGlenmary Farm closing in December; All Souls Mass to be celebrated; legacy society members gather.

From the President / Father Chet ArtysiewiczFather William Howard Bishop had more than a dream. He had a passion that was fueled by faith.

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Jubilarians, Page 18

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Vo l u m e 7 7 / N u m b e r 3

COvER Story

FEaTuRE Story

DEPaRTMEnTs & columNSFirst Oath, Page 19

Farm to close, Page 5

Then & now, Page 17


Father Bishop’s concern for the needs of rural America led to Glenmary’s founding

FROM THE PREsIDEnT / Father Chet Artysiewicz

A passion fueled by faith

Father Chet Artysiewicz [email protected]

The year was 1939. Some reading this col-umn may have vivid recollections of it. For those who don’t, here’s a snapshot.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president of the United States, and World War II had begun in Europe. Thailand changed its name from Siam, and Pope Pius XI died at 81 after having led the Church for 17 years.

Annual wages averaged $1,800. A person could purchase a house for about $5,000 or a car for $700. A loaf of bread cost eight cents, a pound of hamburger 14 cents and a gallon of gas less than 20 cents.

The World’s Fair in New York opened in 1939, and New York Yankees great Lou Geh-rig retired due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(ALS), a disease that bears his name today. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooper-stown, N.Y., also opened, regular TV broadcasts began and nylon stockings were i n t r o d u c e d . Popular songs included “Over the Rainbow,”

“Begin the Beguine” and “Beer Barrel Polka.” Notable movies that year included Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Pinocchio.

another 1939 event took place quietly compared to what was happening on the world stage and in popular culture: the

official founding of Glenmary Home Mission-ers. The society’s founding marked the realiza-tion of Father William Howard Bishop’s plan for a religious society dedicated solely to the missionary needs of the United States.

I could call it his dream, but that word does not do justice to the vision he had. To me, his plan was a result of his passion rather than his dream.

Religious orders are not formed in a vacuum. They are begun by individuals who have a pas-sion fueled by faith to respond to needs—such

as ministering to refugees or orphaned children; caring for the sick or imprisoned; and teaching and spreading the Catholic faith.

Glenmary’s origins were spawned by Father Bishop’s realization that there were vast areas of our country where the Catho-lic Church was not present. His research showed that over 1,000 counties in the United States—mostly in the South and Appa-lachia—lacked a Catholic priest. He portrayed that stunning real-ity graphically by darkening each priestless county on a U.S. map, calling it the “No-Priest-Land of America.”

Seventy-five years later, Father Bishop’s spirit and passion to es-tablish a Catholic Church pres-ence in such counties continue via the ministry of Glenmary priests and brothers. That ministry is shared to-day by the Glenmary Sisters (founded by Father Bishop in 1941), the Glenmary Lay Missioners (begun in 1964) and the many dedicated reli-gious and lay coworkers who continue to work with us in serving the home missions.

In his years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Father Bishop was deeply con-cerned about the various challenges facing

rural America, not the least of which was spiri-tual. After spending much of his life working to help meet some of those challenges, his passion led him to found Glenmary while in his 50s—with a bad back to boot!

The first Superman newspaper comic strip was also published in 1939. I mention that not to suggest that our founder (or any other re-ligious-order founder) was more than mortal. But what he did have was a super commitment to the cause that inspired his vision.

Thank you for being part of the Glenmary story and for helping us carry his passion for-ward. Know that it is your prayers and support which keep us going. To all our benefactors, let me simply say that I, our priests and brothers, and, most especially, those we serve think you are pretty super as well!


v O L u n t e e r S

Glenmary Farm to close in December Group Volunteer Program continues at Tennessee site

sERvICE: The thousands of volunteers who have passed through the Glenmary Farm participated in a wide range of outreach ministries. Most vol-unteers say they received more from the people of Lewis County than they gave.

[kentucky] After more than 40 years as the site for Glenmary’s Group Volunteer Program, the Glenmary Farm in Lewis County, Ky., will close in December 2014.

But, the closing of the Kentucky volunteer site in no way means the end of the Glenmary Group Volunteer Program.

In the summer of 2013, Glenmary opened a new volunteer site in Grainger County, Tenn., near two of the home mission society’s newest missions: St. John Paul II in Rutledge (Grainger County) and Blessed Te-resa of Calcutta in May-nardville (Union Coun-ty).

The Glenmary Vol-unteers at Joppa Moun-tain, Tenn. (fondly called “Toppa Joppa”), can ac-commodate high school and college-age groups as well as intergenera-tional parish groups.

Joe Grosek, director of Glenmary’s volunteer program, is heading up the program in Tennes-see.

Glenmary started the volunteer program at

Glenmary news & notes

the Glenmary Farm as a ministry to men discern-ing missionary priest-hood and brotherhood. Eventually the program expanded, offering mis-sion immersion opportu-nities to high school and college-age volunteers from across the country.

In the past four de-cades, the Farm has host-ed more than 22,000 short-term volunteers and many Farm man-agers. Volunteers have helped build more than 300 units of low-income housing with People’s Se l f -Help Housing (PSHH) and have taken part in numerous home renovation projects.

Group volunteer pro-

gram participants have also distributed count-less pounds of food to the hungry while assisting at the Lending a Help-ing Hand Food Pantry, Licking Valley Commu-nity Action Program and annual Project Merry Christmas programs.

They have also provid-ed a ministry of presence to many individuals at a local nursing home and at a behavioral health center.

The Farm’s closing is part of Glenmary’s most recent mission plan, as was last year’s return of Holy Redeemer mission in Lewis County to the pastoral care of the Dio-cese of Covington. The

mission community had grown to the point that it was able to stand on its own, which is the goal for every Glenmary mission.

With no mission nearby, the decision was made that the Glenmary Group Volunteer Pro-gram site at the Glen-mary Farm would also close. This year’s Project Merry Christmas in De-cember will be the Glen-mary Farm volunteers’ last outreach effort.

“It’s important that our volunteer program be integrated with a Glenmary mission com-munity and be part of the missionary outreach in a county,” says Father Chet Artysiewicz, president of Glenmary.

The hope for the new group volunteer site, he says, is the same as it has been for the Glenmary Farm.

“We sincerely hope that those who serve with our volunteer program are able to put their faith into practice and leave the program as better Christian people because of their experience.”

FOR MORE InFORMa-TIOn: A celebration of the Glenmary Farm and its volunteers will be held on Saturday, nov. 22, at the Farm in vanceburg, Ky. Former volunteers and manag-ers interested in attend-ing should contact Jodi Mott at 800-935-0975 or [email protected].

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glenmary news& notes c o n t i n u e d


around the Missions Father Mike Kerin, pastor of Holy Spirit mission in Windsor, N.C., re-ceived the Volunteer of the year Award in may from the Bertie Correctional Institute. Father mike has volunteered at the prison since arriving in Bertie County in 2011. He visits with the one to three Catholic inmates on a monthly basis. Visits consist of a prayer ser-vice, spiritual discussion and Commu-nion distribution. Father mike has also served on several Kairos weekends that are similar to Cursillo. He says the Kai-ros experience is “extremely powerful and really changes the men. Those who attend a Kairos weekend are less likely to offend again.”

Dubuque Franciscan Sisters Lene rubly, Joan meyer, Davida Loosbrock and ruth Fagan recently celebrated 60 years as members of their community. The four sisters previously ministered in Glenmary mission parishes in Georgia and Kentucky. Today, they live at mount St. Francis in Dubuque, Iowa.

Father Charlie Hughes, 86, has moved from the Diocese of Savannah to Glenmary Headquarters in Cincin-nati. Before leaving St. mary on the Hill Church in Augusta, Ga., where he was in residence, he was treated to a fare-well party celebrating the 60th anni-versary of his ordination. Father Charlie plans to continue his ministry through writing. A link to his blog can be found at www.glenmary.org/blogs.

Father Steve Pawelk celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination at an outdoor mass in maynardville, Tenn., where he leads Blessed Teresa of Cal-cutta mission. Bishop richard Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville officiated at the mass.

Brother Jason Muhlenkamp received a bachelor’s degree in theology from Brescia University in may. He continues studies toward a degree in social work while preparing for Final oath next year.

A L L S O u L S d A y

Remember loved ones in a special wayNov. 2 liturgy to be celebrated at Glenmary’s chapel

[ohio] A special Mass will be celebrated at Glenmary’s Our Lady of the Fields Chapel in

Cincinnati on the Feast of All Souls.

Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. Although the Church prays for the faithful departed throughout the liturgi-

cal year, Nov. 2 is a spe-cial day of commemoration

when the Church remembers, prays for, and offers Masses for those who have died.

The All Souls Day Mass will be offered on Nov. 2 for the de-ceased family members and friends of Glenmary donors.

Father Don Tranel, director of Glenmary’s Development Office, will preside at the Mass.

FOR MORE InFORMaTIOn: to have loved ones remem-bered at the All Souls Mass, contact donor Services at [email protected] or 800-935-0975. Or complete the secure form found at www.glenmary.org/allsouls.

Our faith tradition... help pass it on with a

Glenmary Gift Annuity

Partner with Glenmary Home Missioners in our home mission ministry by establishing a Glenmary Gift

Annuity today.It’s a secure way to generate a regular income for life and ensure that God’s work continues in Mission Land, USA, after your death.

For more information about Glenmary or for a sample calculation, contact:Susan Lambert, Planned Giving Officer 800-935-0975 • [email protected] Or fill out the form below and mail to: PO Box 465618, Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618

Name __________________________________________________

Address ________________________________________________

City _____________________ State ___________ ZIP __________

Phone ________________ E-mail __________________________

Birth date __ / __ / __ Birth date of second beneficiary __ / __ / __

Amount: __ $5,000 (Glenmary minimum) __ $10,000 ___________ OtherCalculations are not meant to give legal or accounting advice. A donor should seek the guidance of an estate and/or tax professional to under-stand the consequences of a gift. All information is strictly confidential. Glenmary gift annuities are not issued in Hawaii or Alabama.


p A r t n e r S i n M i S S i O n

Father Bishop Legacy Society members attend Mass, lunchAnnual celebration an opportunity to thank those who have established planned gifts, bequests

[ohio] Forty-five members of the Father Bishop Legacy So-ciety gathered in Cincinnati on June 13 for the planned giving society’s annual Mass and lun-cheon.

Begun in 2003, the legacy society honors supporters who have established planned gifts, such as annuities and trusts, and those who have remem-bered Glenmary in their wills.

Father Chet Artysiewicz, president, presided at the morn-ing Mass, which was followed by lunch at the Glenmary resi-dence.

“I always look forward to this event,” says Susan Lambert. “One of the many blessings I

REnEWInG FRIEnDsHIPs: Chuck Lester poses with Father Chet Artysiewicz fol-lowing the Father Bishop Legacy Society Mass on June 13. Chuck and his wife, Margaret (standing behind him), are members of the legacy society and Chuck is a former longtime Glenmary employee.

have in my work as Glenmary’s planned giving officer is the op-portunity to meet and thank our donors for their support. And events like this one give me the chance to do just that!”

Planned gifts are essential to Glenmary, both for meeting an-nual ministry budgets and for providing funds for future mis-sion and ministry development.

In a typical fiscal year, estate and planned gifts make up a significant percentage of Glen-mary’s operating income.

Father Chet thanked those in attendance for their finan-cial and prayerful support and for helping the priests, brothers and lay coworkers make a differ-

ence in the lives of those living in counties served by Glenmary.

Legacy members had the op-portunity to meet each other and to meet Glenmarians who shared stories about the ways their ministries have been im-pacted by donor support.

“Those who make planned gifts are investing in Glenmary,” Susan says, “and are helping ensure Glenmary’s future home mission ministry efforts.”

TO FInD OuT MORE: Contact Susan Lambert at 800-935-0975 or [email protected] for more information about estab-lishing a planned gift or about the Father Bishop Legacy Society.

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8 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g e A u t u m n 2 0 1 4

Glenmary was founded in 1939 by Father William Howard Bishop, a priest of the

Archdiocese of Baltimore. For more than 20 years, he had served as pastor of a small Catho-lic parish in rural maryland.

But he saw needs beyond his parish. He saw what the Church had failed to see—that there were vast areas in the United States where the Catholic Church was not present.

Among his efforts to bring rural America’s plight to the attention of “city dwellers” were publishing and editing several newsletters and being a founding member and president of the National Catholic rural Life Conference. His de-sire to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to rural America culminated with the founding of Glen-mary Home missioners.

His missioners, along with coworkers, have carried forward his vision by establishing the Church and serving the spiritual and material needs of those living in more than 100 rural counties where there was no effective Catholic presence prior to their arrival.

Father Bishop’s initial vision has forged Glen-mary’s unique identity today as the only Catho-lic missionary organization working exclusively in the rural United States.

although 75 years have passed since Father Bishop issued the home mission challenge

to U.S. Catholics, home mission need still ex-ists, especially throughout Appalachia and the South.

Traditionally, this need was tied to the low percentage of Catholics in these areas. But to-day, there are more Catholics living in rural mis-sion areas. They may be among the many Lati-nos now living and working in the rural South. or they may be Catholics from the North who have moved to the South.

A recent study of religious affiliation shows the number of Catholics in the South and West increasing, while the number in traditionally Catholic areas of the midwest and Northeast is decreasing. Therefore, Catholic resources—and most especially pastoral ministers—need to be present in mission Land, USA, to provide a structure to support these Catholics in their faith.

That means new communities need to be called together in areas that have never had a Catholic church. And that means Glenmary’s ministry expertise is needed now more than ever!

Throughout the society’s relatively short his-tory as a religious community, many chang-

es have taken place in both Glenmary and the roman Catholic Church. But one constant has been Glenmary’s dream, forward movement and, at times, struggle to bring the fullness of the Catholic faith to the mission regions of America.

That’s how Father William Howard Bishop (center, hands folded), described the men in his missionary order before his death in 1953. As Glenmary celebrates 75 years of home mission effort, the members of his good company continue to carry forth a ministry shaped by five facets: Catholic nurture, connection to the universal Church, evangelization, social justice/outreach and ecumenism. The following articles are introduced by details taken from Glenmary chapel windows, which represent these facets.

Father Bishop’s vision, mission continues

9A u t u m n 2 0 1 4 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g e

Catholic NurtureKathy O’Brien

Catholic nurture is at the heart of the mission of Glenmary. The members of

a Catholic community need to be nurtured before they can accomplish their mission of reaching out to others. From the start, Glenmary’s founder, Father William How-ard Bishop, let each missioner know that “through a small group of zealous laypeople he (the missioner) can expand his influence and make it felt in many parts of his mission area.” (“Midwinter Letter,” February 1953)

In living out the Glenmary home mission charism, missioners go to areas that have little or no Catholic presence, work to estab-lish a Catholic presence, and gather together Catholics who may not be well educated in their faith. One of the ways the priests, broth-ers and lay coworkers help nurture a mission spirit in those folks is through adult educa-tion and sacramental preparation for chil-dren.

At St. Michael the Archangel mission in Unicoi County, Tenn., where I am the pas-toral associate, the Food and Faith Program encourages adults to grow in knowledge about their faith through discussion groups held regularly at a local restaurant. In addi-tion, the mission has supported four Latino women who are pursuing theological studies through SEPI (Southeast Pastoral Institute).

Adult retreats are also nurturing events. A recent bilingual retreat drew together

That’s how Father William Howard Bishop (center, hands folded), described the men in his missionary order before his death in 1953. As Glenmary celebrates 75 years of home mission effort, the members of his good company continue to carry forth a ministry shaped by five facets: Catholic nurture, connection to the universal Church, evangelization, social justice/outreach and ecumenism. The following articles are introduced by details taken from Glenmary chapel windows, which represent these facets.


37 members of St. Michael. Such a retreat shows the need to create new ways of ministry in multicultural and multilingual communities.

Sacramental ministry and RCIA are part of every Glen-mary mission area, too. For ex-ample, in the last year at least five marriages have been conval-idated at St. Michael. And over the years, many new Catholics have been welcomed into mis-sions through the RCIA process.

Glenmary missions also work to nurture young people through youth ministry programs. In re-cent years, because of the influx of Latinos to U.S. rural areas, this ministry has become more important due to the growing number of young people living in the mission counties Glen-mary serves.

Programs, activities and re-treats at both local and dioc-esan levels help nurture and form these youth in faith, and as a result, they are becoming leaders within the Church. Re-cently, for example, two young

people from St. Michael have been accepted to serve on the diocesan Youth Ministry Ad-visory Council in Knoxville, where they will receive train-ing and expe-rience in lead-ership. They will then share those skills with members of the parish youth group.

Missioners also try to nur-ture a strong Catholic identity in the children through faith formation. This nurturing will ultimately help form the whole family in the faith.

As community gathering and mission formation take place, the mission develops a strong sense of being an inclusive com-munity that welcomes all.

Nourished by the sacraments, the Word of God and formation in faith, the zealous small group of laypeople in the mission can begin reaching out in ministry to promote ecumenical activ-ity, evangelization of the un-churched, social action and con-cern for the universal Church.

Kathy O’Brien came to Glen-mary as a vol-unteer in 1971. She joined the Glenmary Lay Missioners in 1974. She holds a master’s de-gree in religious

education and wrote her dis-

Connection to the Universal ChurchFather Bob Dalton

since God is love, God is the first missionary. “God so

loved the world that he gave his only Son.” (Jn 3:16) Jesus re-veals the mission of God by for-giving and healing throughout his life, by his reconciling life and death, by proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of God, and by sending the Holy Spirit to continue this saving action through us, the Church. There-fore, Vatican Council II taught that “the Church is missionary by its very nature.”

In 1948 Glenmary’s founder, Father William Howard Bish-op, wrote: “Our quest for the neglected and forgotten takes us out beyond the boundaries of where the Church is at pres-ent established.” The missionary

sertation on forming the laity for their missionary role in the home missions of America. To-day she serves as pastoral associ-ate at St. Michael the Archangel mission in Erwin, Tenn.


rated brethren.” The Decree on Ecumenism teaches that “Cath-olics must gladly acknowledge and esteem the truly Christian endowments from our common heritage which are to be found among those separated from us.”

The missionary can be en-riched by the evangelical Chris-tian culture of the South and Ap-palachia while also appreciating how much the Catholic Church has to offer the Bible Belt.

Many people in mission ar-eas whom the Catholic minister encounters daily share a deep personal relationship with the Lord, which can challenge him or her to strive for a deeper dis-cipleship and a stronger rela-tionship with God.

The exchange between Glen-mary’s home missioners and the people they serve has taken on a new complexity and depth in re-cent years. Catholic immigrants from Asia and Latin America have expanded our horizon to see the Holy Spirit at work in the deep faith and trust in God shown by simple people with a rich devotional life.

Father Bob Dalton joined Glen-mary in 1958 and was or-dained in 1962. He has served missions in Ken-tucky, Pennsyl-vania, Virginia, Alabama and Mississippi as well as in ad-ministrative roles including vice president and president of Glenmary and director of the society’s lay ministry program. Now a senior member, he lives and ministers in Mississippi.

perspective is always a differ-ent and challenging gift to the Church precisely because it is a view from the frontier.

Since Glenmary’s founding in 1939, missioners have worked to connect their missions with the universal Church and the uni-versal Church with their mis-sionary charism.

For those Catholics who live in areas with so few Catholics, it’s essential that the missionary find ways to connect them with the universal Church through regional gatherings and dioc-

your mission area as your own. Christ died for every one of them.” This view from the bottom of the social ladder is another gift from the missionary to the Church. It is a reminder that Jesus was al-ways seeking out the lost sheep.

The missionary can breathe new life into the Church by shar-ing his or her love for the un-believer, the marginalized and the forgotten and by providing national leadership in develop-ing and communicating home mission theology. However, the missionary also needs to breathe

esan events. This is especially true for the young people, many of whom are members of small Catholic minorities in their school settings.

Father Bishop’s view of the mission task was far more than the “neglected regions of Amer-ica.” His concern was always the neglected people. Again, in 1948, he challenged Glenmarians: “Love the poor, the sick and help-less and attend to them. They are God’s influentials. They are his aristocrats. He loves them.”

Father Bishop’s admonition was to “adopt all the people of

deeply from the wealth of gifts and graces of the Spirit bestowed on the established Church.

Living on the boundaries of the Church requires a solid at-tachment to the rich, spiritual, life-giving sacraments; long theological tradition; and wis-dom of the Church at the center. Breathing in and breathing out are essential for all. The mis-sionary must know and love the Church deeply and share that commitment passionately.

Vatican II helped us expand our vision of Church, the People of God, to include our “sepa-


evangelizationBrother Craig Digmann

Go, therefore, and make dis-ciples of all nations” (Mt

28:19) is quite a commission that Jesus gave to his disciples. Now 2,000 years later, Pope Francis continues to encourage all Catholics to carry out this great commission in our world. For 75 years the members of Glenmary Home Missioners have been answering Jesus’ call to evangelization in traditional and creative ways.

For Glenmary priests, broth-ers and coworkers, each person living in the counties we serve is important to us, as is finding ways to make ourselves known. Some of the ways we’ve accom-plished this goal in the past have included tent and street preach-ing, radio programs, newspaper columns and door-knocking ministry. Missioners continue to use many of these forms of evangelization today.

Catholics often become anx-ious when they hear the term evangelization, but evange-lization is simply living out and sharing the Catholic faith through words and actions in

daily life. This type of evange-lization is as important to our overall mission today as it was 75 years ago. Everything I—and all Glenmarians, coworkers and Catholics living in mission counties—say and do makes an impact on how the native folks view Catholics and the Catholic Church.

In the early days of tent preaching, Glenmarians would go door-to-door inviting folks to a week of gospel singing, re-ligious movies and explanations of the Catholic faith. Some who attended these meetings would gather under the tents, but many preferred to stay a com-fortable distance away to hear “those Catholics.”

I began knocking on the doors of known Catholics after my ar-rival in East Tennessee in 2011. Some were attending Catholic churches outside their counties, and others had become inac-tive. My goal was to introduce myself and invite them to attend Mass at our new storefront mis-sions in Maynardville and Rut-ledge. As a result, a number of inactive Catholics have returned to the Church, while many active Cath-olics who were attending other churches in the re-gion have now be-come members of the new missions.

My Cathol ic presence ministry is a simple and effec-tive form of evan-gelization. I find ways to meet and be present to the lo-

cal residents at the athletic fields, nursing homes, senior centers, festivals—and most importantly, their churches.

Since 2011, I have received invitations to attend services at 94 Protestant churches (mostly Baptist). Each Sunday after early Mass, I set out to attend a service at a neighboring church—and oftentimes I’m the first Catho-lic ever hosted by the congrega-tion! Through my efforts, I can see that Protestants are gaining a better understanding of Catho-lics and the Church.

For hundreds of years, Chris-tians have used the lost sheep parable (Lk 15:4-7) to describe evangelization. In the parable, the shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to find the one that is lost.

I, too, use this image, but I like to add a twist to the story when I visit other churches or lead Bible studies with Protes-tants. I am leaving the 1 percent of the county population who are Catholic to go out and share the Catholic faith with the 99 percent of the population who are Protestant or unchurched!


social Justice/OutreachFather Tim Murphy

In 1971, the World Synod of Catholic Bishops endorsed this

declaration: “Action on behalf of justice is a constitutive dimen-sion of preaching the Gospel.”

Father William Howard Bishop, the founder of Glen-mary, died 18 years before that 1971 meeting. Yet his vision for a home mission society and his ministries as a pastor and reli-gious superior were consistent

with that statement. Before founding Glenmary,

Father Bishop was a leader in the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, a group concerned with economic improvement and faith development among rural families. While reinforcing the necessity of prayer, it also upheld the need for action to resolve so-cial and economic problems.

From the beginning, Father Bishop encouraged the members of his new religious society to create a more just and equitable local community and society.

In 1969, Glenmary’s General Chapter revised the Glenmary Constitution and included a sec-tion stating that it’s the duty of missioners to “cooperate to the best of our ability with all sin-cere people in projects which apply the Gospel to social life, to the afflictions of our time, and to the general betterment of the hu-man race.”

For the past 75 years, Glen-marians have continued to walk with the oppressed and power-less in their struggles for justice, both through individual min-istries and through Glenmary’s Commission on Justice.

The primacy of action inspired by faith is the foundation of the Commission on Justice. It has in-tegrated the spirituality of bibli-cal justice with the imperative of Vatican II to know “the joys and hope, grief and anguish” of the “poor or afflicted.”

For over 35 years, the com-mission has worked with local community groups and national coalitions to address racial rec-onciliation, economic exploita-tion, restorative justice and im-migration reform.

Commission staff were among the most visionary and influen-tial religious leaders in the years after the Second Vatican Council. Father Les Schmidt, a convener for over 25 years, is a nationally recognized strategist.

The commission has also been blessed with coworkers who have made what theologian Rosemary Haughton describes as “the of-ten lonely choice for justice and peace.”

This stance is exemplified by Benedictine Sister Evelyn Det-tling and Dominican Sister Mary Priniski, former commission di-rectors, who are trusted friends of many of the South’s bishops and welcome guests in diverse Christian communities.

The devotion of these three former commission members to solidarity with the poor and their willingness to commit their lives to the work of justice have re-sulted in transformative events.

They were instrumental in the development of the landmark

As I look to the next 75 years, I believe the Spirit will continue in-spiring Glenmarians and cowork-ers to find new, creative ways to share the good news of our faith with all those we encounter.

Brother Craig Digmann joined Glenmary in 2008 and made his Final Oath in 2011. He has served missions in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.


ecumenismFather Frank Ruff

I came to Glenmary five years after Father William Howard

Bishop died. But his spirit reso-nated in the Glenmary priests and brothers who trained me to be a missioner. I learned that missioners serve everyone living in the mission counties, not just Catholics, and that we should give special attention to the “separated brethren.” We were to be also particularly close to the poor, so they would know us as their friends.

I followed Father Bishop’s principles when, as a newly or-dained priest, I was assigned to start a new Catholic community in Cleveland, Ga., in 1963.

I, like other Glenmarians and coworkers, began by reach-ing out to all segments of White County—rich and poor, black and white, and rural and town folks. I was thrilled when Vati-can Council II published the De-cree on Ecumenism on Nov. 21, 1964. It put an official stamp of approval on what I had learned from Father Bishop’s instruc-tion. And it challenged me to go even further.

Baptized members of other churches belong to the same Body of Christ as I, and I was to “embrace them as brothers, with respect and affection.” (par. 3) The Council fathers said that “Christian unity is the concern of the whole Church, faithful and shepherds alike” (par. 5), and that we must get to know members of other churches by studying their doctrines, their history, their spiritual and litur-gical life. (par. 9)

The Baptists, Methodists, Holiness, and Presbyterians of White County knew almost nothing about Catholics, and I knew less about them. A godly Presbyterian pastor in another Glenmary mission county, Rev. Lowell Sykes, gently tutored me for hours.

Learning about the Presbyte-rian faith and life from a Pres-byterian was exciting to me and built up my confidence. Catho-lics were considered strange

pastoral letters on Appala-chia, This Land Is Home to Me and At Home in the Web of Life. Instead of being “experts” at so-lutions, they modeled the need for “expert listening” as the first action of faith. This approach led to forums on the experiences and insights of people from var-ied racial, cultural and religious traditions.

Often for the first time, the commission helped bring the voices of women, Native Ameri-cans, African Americans, Latinos and residents of Appalachia to members of Glenmary and the Church. Similarly, the ministries of hundreds of religious workers were transformed by commis-sion-sponsored “Undoing Rac-ism” workshops in New Orleans under the direction of Barbara Major.

Betsy Dwyer, the current di-rector, continues action on be-half of justice. This action leads the commission to places like the claustrophobic private, for-profit prisons that dot the South, isolat-ed fields where migrant laborers are still exploited, and merciless border crossings.

Generations of Glenmarians, coworkers and parishioners have joined their prayers with the necessary action of justice. It is a journey of faith, leading to the Gospel’s privileged place with God’s suffering people.

Father Tim Murphy joined Glen-mary in 1992 and was ordained in 1993. He cur-rently ministers in Mississippi and is director of Camp Glenmary.


woman chaperoned and a vol-unteer Catholic college student directed. We met at the Method-ist church center, and the youth elected a girl from another Bap-tist church as president. Ecu-menism not only worked, but it was also fun.

In 1966, a Baptist pastor in-vited me to attend the annual Southern Baptist Convention. I did not realize there would be 15,000 Baptist messengers there, but their enthusiastic faith in Jesus and their desire to share him with the world in-spired me. A Glenmary mission-er has represented the Catholic Church at 46 of the last 48 con-ventions.

Ecumenism is part of my everyday life. St. John Paul II taught that “ecumenism is not just some sort of appendix” add-ed to the Church’s ministry, but “an organic part of her life and work.” It is a privilege to live Je-sus’ prayer “that all may be one.” (Jn 17:21)

Father Frank Ruff joined Glen-mary in 1959 and was or-dained in 1963. In addition to serving missions in Georgia, Ken-tucky and Ten-nessee, he has also served in administrative roles including two terms as president of the society, seven years as director of the lay min-istry program and 24 years as Glenmary’s ecumenical worker. As a senior member, he serves as a member of Glenmary’s Com-mission on Ecumenism and lives in Kentucky.

‘a task yet undone’ Brother David Henley

The prophetic words of Father William Howard Bishop more than seven

decades ago are still true today: “There was never a time when missionary activ-ity was more needed in our beloved land than it is today.”

Glenmary’s ministry of serving the “un-attended” and “neglected” mission areas of America has not been completed. “It is the challenge yet unmet, a task yet un-done,” according to Father Bob Dalton, past president of Glenmary.

Despite 75 years of Glenmary effort, a recent study indicates that there are 176 counties in the United States that still lack a Catholic presence—no Catholic faith community, no Catholic church building, no weekly Catholic worship, no Catholic minister.

In almost 1,000 counties, mainly lo-cated in Appalachia and the South, the Catholic population remains less than 3 percent of the total, while the percent-age of people living below the poverty line remains consistently higher than the national average.

In Glenmary mission areas, missioners have been told, “you are the first Catho-lic I’ve met around here.” County officials have even said, “There are no Catholics here; your services are not needed.” oc-casionally missioners and coworkers have been unable to rent storefronts once the owners realize their properties will be used for Catholic worship.

Isolated Catholics comprising a small minority might hesitate to share their faith with neighbors or tell their employers they are Catholic for fear of losing their jobs. In some areas, pastors of other Christian de-nominations still preach anti-Catholic ser-mons in their churches and on the radio.

In 1989, Father Frank ruff, another past president of Glenmary, stated that to address the future needs in these Catho-lic mission counties, we “need a vision of the Catholic Church in the South and of the South—one that comes to birth from Southern culture.”

The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin,

since we were only 0.1 percent of the population (seven persons in a population of 7,000).

My next step was to confess to the Methodist pastor that I knew nothing about the Methodist Church and would like to learn. And, since there were 30 Baptist churches and a Baptist college in the county, I also went to the col-lege library and obtained books to aid in my study of the Baptist Church.

I learned that the more we know about other churches, the more we can appreciate and re-spect them and, at the same time, value the Catholic Church more.

Father Bishop and the Sec-ond Vatican Council also taught us to work together to address the spiritual and material needs of people.

Since none of the individual churches in White County had an adequate youth program, we formed the United Youth of White County, which a Baptist


himself from the South, reiter-ated this belief by saying at Glen-mary’s 50th-anniversary celebration in 1989: “Simply trying to implant a Northern vision of the Church in Southern soil will not work. It won’t

take root here, except among the Northern transplants who have mi-grated here. A vision of the Church in the South must face the reality of Southern life and culture.”

In his apostolic exhortation, Evan-

gelii Gaudium, pope Francis stated: “each Christian and every commu-nity must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zones in order to reach all the peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel.”

Glenmary continues to seek men who are willing to respond to this vo-cational call and is preparing them to address our current and future home mission needs—to reach the “periph-eries” of mission Land, USA.

The vision and passion of Father Bishop to serve mission Land, USA, has inspired men for 75 years. They have been impelled by the love of Christ to be Catholic missioners to the neglected regions of America. And this challenge still remains our future.

Brother David Henley joined Glen-mary in 2003 and made his Final Oath in 2006. He has served mis-sions in Arkansas and is currently serving as vocation director.

A good company of priests, brothers and coworkers in 2011


Celebrating the last 25 years of Glenmary’s mission and ministry

THEn: 1990-2014

Expanding and experimenting

T hroughout the year, this section of Glenmary Challenge has been devoted to celebrating, in photos,

the society’s 75th anniversary in 25-year increments. From 1990 to 2014, the so-ciety began to reexamine its missionary charism, develop new ways to share the home mission message with the larger Church, and use personnel in the most ef-fective ways. Some experimental outreach ministries were short-lived, but while in existence, they impacted the lives of those who were served and helped establish the Church more firmly in mission counties. Others, like the lay pastoral coordinator program, continue today.

1992: Glenmary began a program to train and support qualified lay minis-ters to establish and lead Catholic com-munities in home mission counties. As a result, in the past two decades, seven missions were established by lay pastoral coordi-nators in counties where there was previously no Cath-olic presence. Fa-

ther Frank Ruff (back row, left) poses in 1999 with a group of lay pastoral coordinators that includes (clockwise) Paul Witte, Ginny Witte, Sister Maria Goretti Browne, Sister Florita Rodman and Sister Edna Maier.

1999: The building in Nashville, Tenn.—which then housed the Department of Pastoral Services, the Glenmary Research Center, the Lay Pastoral Coordinator Program and the Co-Missioners—be-came known as the Robert C. Berson Center in honor of Father Bob Berson (left), pictured with Father Wil Steinbacher at the center’s dedication. As president of Glenmary in the 1960s, Father Bob saw a need for professionals to provide ministry re-sources and support for missioners. That idea grew into what is now the Department of Pastoral Minis-ters and Pastoral Services, which continues to offer services to the missions as well as to the larger Church in the area of rural ministry.

2000: The Glen-mary Research Center published the 2000 Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States study. Glenmary has been collecting the Catholic data for such studies since the 1960s. It was the publisher of studies released in

1971, 1980, 1990 and 2000 and was a key stake-holder in the 2010 version.

2004: Father Mike Langell (right) and Brother Virgil Siefker opened new mission territory when they called together the Catholic Community of Bertie County in eastern North Carolina. This mission community continues to worship at the local Methodist church and is now known as Holy Spirit mission.

Fathers Jerry Dorn and Bob Hare celebrate 50 years since professing First Oath

Two mark ministry milestonesGOlDEn JubIlaRIans / Jean Bach

For more than 15 years, Father Jerry Dorn was officially assigned to promote vocations to Glenmary. He has served as a vocation counselor and directed the vocation department, the Glenmary Discern-

ment House and the Glenmary House of Studies. But he has never really stopped promoting mission-ary priesthood and brotherhood in any of his assignments in Kentucky and Arkansas, as a two-term president of Glenmary, or even now as a senior member living in Kingsport, Tenn.

It was under his direction that in 1985 the vocation department won the John Paul II Award from the Central Religious Vocation Directors Association for “unique contribution to vocation ministry” for the volunteer program at the Glenmary Farm. Father Jerry first entered Glenmary brother-hood and later discerned a call to priesthood and was ordained in 1978. While in seminary, he spent summers at the Farm, working with volunteers, helping promote the volunteer program, and walking with those who were discerning a Church vocation.

His zest for life and his connection with young people with whom he worked was summed up by a father of three sons who volunteered with Glenmary: “He has an almost uncanny ability to talk to kids who are interested in researching their own values. I thank God my family has had the privilege of associating with him.”

Father Jerry first became aware of the home missions and Glenmary while in high school in Adrian, Minn. It was diffi-cult for him to imagine that there were areas of the United States without a Catholic Church presence. So he decided at 18 to join Glenmary. Since then, he says, he’s been given opportunities to do things he never thought of doing as a Minnesota farm boy.

“I thank God for all the things I’ve been part of and all the lives I’ve been blessed to touch in some fashion. It’s been marvelous.”

of Ministry50 Years

of Ministry50 Years

Father Bob Hare has been involved in a variety of ministries since entering Glenmary. He served as associate pastor of two Mississippi missions and has pastored missions in both Mississippi and

Alabama. He later helped lead Glenmary’s novitiate program before moving to Nashville in 1994, where he lived for 17 years—serving as personnel director and then house director of the Nashville residence, and later, as office manager at the Department of Pastoral Services.

No matter the ministry, Father Bob has promoted ecumenical cooperation, beginning with his work as a student with the West Virginia Mountain Project in the summer of 1967, when he served as

a counselor for two camping programs and two local Bible schools. The director of this Pres-byterian Church, USA, project wrote that in an area with a history of anti-Catholic prejudice, “His presence was very disarming...people began to think differently about relations with the Roman Catholic Church. Quite a number of new possibilities in ecumenical cooperation are now opening up for us.”

While pastor of Good Shepherd mission in Alabama, Father Bob helped lead the construc-tion of a building to serve as a church. The community had been worshiping at the local Methodist church. As a result of that connection, the two church communities cosponsored annual events.

“I think one of the more significant things to come out of Vatican II was the encouragement to enter into religious dialog with the rest of the world,” he said prior to his 1970 ordination.

Father Bob took senior membership in 2011 and has returned home to Cincinnati to care for his 92-year-old mother. “As I look back, I realize that the hopes and dreams I had as a young mis-sioner have been fulfilled through all the ministries I’ve been associated with,” he says.


Overcoming Challenges

On Thursday, June 5, Patrick Muriithi became the newest member of Glenmary after taking his First Oath during

a special Mass at the annual Gen-eral Assembly held in Charleston, W.Va.

“Having the Glenmary com-munity gathered to offer their prayers and witness my Oath had a huge impact on me,” says Pat-rick, 35.

“It was a moment I had waited for, and I am very excited and happy to finally become a mem-ber of Glenmary as I continue my discernment. To me it means giving myself to Glenmary’s way of life—putting Christ ahead of everything, and showing that to others by becoming a disciple.”

A native of Embu, Kenya, Pat-rick completed his first year of theology studies at St. Meinrad Seminary during the 2012-13 academic year.

In addition to dealing with the challenges that Glenmary’s Afri-can and Mexican students face in leaving home and adjusting to a new culture, Patrick had to overcome an even bigger hurdle that first year: a cancerous lump on his shoulder.

“I had successful surgery and recovered well,” he says. “I will not forget how the entire Glen-mary community prayed for me.”

He began that summer with “a valuable learn-

FIRsT oAth

FIRsT OaTH: Father Chet Artysiewicz, president of Glenmary, blesses Patrick Muriithi during the First Oath Mass held at the annual Glenmary Assembly in June. Patrick, who is pursuing mis-sionary priesthood, became the newest missioner to dedicate his life to serving the home missions.

By Dale Hanson

ing experience”—a placement at two missions in Georgia. Then in the 12 months preceding his Oath, he participated in the three-part no-vitiate program. The first part in July and Au-gust 2013—led by novice directors Fathers Dan Dorsey and Tom Kirkendoll—included classes on spirituality, the history of Glenmary and the

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Patrick Muriithi is ‘very excited and happy’ to give himself to Glenmary’s way of life and to put Christ ahead of everything


United States, documents of the Church, and Father Bishop (Glenmary’s founder).

From September 2013 to January 2014, Pat-rick served at the Lafayette and Celina, Tenn.,

and Scottsville, Ky., mis-sions. “One major minis-try was working four days a week with a parishioner who does free home re-pairs for county residents in need,” he says. “It was a great way to meet the people and encounter the culture.”

For his last five months as a novice, he returned to Glenmary Headquar-ters in Cincinnati to pre-pare for First Oath with his directors’ guidance. He studied Glenmary’s constitution, charism and Oath; prayed and wrote reflection papers on the promises of poverty, chastity, obedience and prayer; volunteered with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; and participated in three retreats.

Patrick says his var-ied hands-on ministries

at missions, his conversations and interactions with missioners and mission members, and his work with his novice directors led him to a clearer understanding of Glenmary’s mission ministry and his calling. “What matters is not the title but actually learning to live the life of a missioner—making Christ visible in me and bringing Christ to others.”

Growing up in Kenya, Patrick was guided in his faith journey by a missionary pastor and

the parish catechist, a mis-sionary sister. He first felt called to priesthood at age 7. Both individuals were “ma-jor influences” in his desire to be a missionary.

In 2003, he entered the diocesan seminary and earned a degree in philoso-phy. He later left to further discern his vocation, and also became a teacher. He still had a “burning desire to be a priest,” but he wanted to be a missionary priest.

Finally in August 2011, he found Glenmary on the Internet. “I was attracted by Glenmary’s passion for rural and small-town home mission work. And the or-dination (in 2012) of Fathers Cris Adongo and Aaron Wessman also had an impact on me.”

In particular, Glenmary’s 2012 retreat in Ken ya “was a major milestone in my discernment. The two Glenmarians presented a strong picture of Glenmary and moved my spirit.” Soon after, Pat-rick entered the formation program.

This past summer, he volunteered at a food pan-try and with a group that provides services to the elderly. He also assisted at Glenmary Headquar-ters and completed a follow-up round of medical treatments before returning to seminary.

Patrick, healthy and eager for the future, now looks forward to being a “good and humble priest, missionary and servant in Glenmary missions.”

brother levis, brother Jason Celebrate Oath RenewalsBrother Levis Kuwa and Brother Jason muhlenkamp renewed their Glenmary oaths this past spring and are continuing their progress toward Final oath.

Brother Levis, of ol’kalou, Kenya, renewed his oath for the fourth time on April 23 at Holy Family mission in Lafayette, Tenn. After completing his mission placement there, he returned to the Uni-versity of Cincinnati in may to continue his work toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing and certification as a nurse practitioner.

Brother Jason, a native of maria Stein, ohio, renewed his oath a second time on may 22 at our Lady of the Fields Chapel at Glenmary’s Cincinnati Headquarters. This summer he completed a Clinical pastoral education program (Cpe) at a hospital in Huntington, W.Va. He will return to the Glenmary House of Studies in St. meinrad, Ind., this fall to complete a second bachelor’s degree—in social work—at nearby Brescia University and an internship with Catholic Charities in the Diocese of evansville, Ind.

Glenmary Oathof my own free choice, I _____, a member of the Glenmary Home missioners, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, do solemnly promise and swear before God to dedicate myself for my whole life to the missionary apostolate in the rural areas and small towns of the United States and to the Glenmary way of life according to the Glenmary Constitution and Directory.

I am aware that the Glenmary way of life commits me to a special practice of poverty, chas-tity, obedience, and prayer. Thus bound in a covenant with the other members in the Glenmary community, I ask for their sup-port and loyalty and pledge to them my own.

Brother Levis

Brother Jason

CElEbRaTInG: Patrick, with novice director Father Dan Dorsey, cuts his cake at the reception that fol-lowed his First Oath Mass.


Collaboration spanning six-plus decades continues to impact ministries, outreach

Fraternity supports ‘kindred spirit’PaRTnER In MIssIOn / by Dale Hanson

GRaTITuDE: Father Dominic Duggins accepts a 2012 donation from then-Theta Phi Alpha Foun-dation chairperson Patricia Rankin Marmaduke.

In 2014, for the 19th consecutive year, the Theta Phi Alpha national women’s fra-ternity financially underwrote the sec-

ond one-week session of Glenmary’s Camp Friendship in Mississippi. (Theta Phi Alpha was founded in 1912 as a college women’s fra-ternity, like others at the time, since the word sorority was not in common use.)

The annual summer camp—for northeast Mississippi children (ages 8-11) of all rac-es from low-income households and foster homes—was established by Glenmary in the 1970s. The fraternity’s generosity has meant that, since 1996, twice as many children have been able to participate, and twice as many lives have been touched.

This support is the latest example of the 64-year-old partnership between Theta Phi Alpha and Glenmary.

“It has been a wonderful collaboration,” says Karen Rubican, fraternity alumna, board of trustees member and national historian. Glenmary’s liaison to Theta Phi Alpha, Father Dominic Duggins, agrees: “Their faithful sup-port has been a real constant.”

The fraternity has always recognized the importance of charitable efforts, and each chapter takes on projects to assist

people locally. But according to the fraternity’s statement in a 1959 Glenmary Challenge, “We began to feel the need for a charity which all our members could support on a national ba-sis and which would become an integral part of Theta Phi Alpha. In 1950, after considerable research, we chose Glenmary....”

Karen says she believes “our women at the time found a kindred spirit in Glenmary.”

While the fraternity was established as a Catholic organization, it began accepting members regardless of religious affiliation in 1960. “Theta Phi Alpha’s respect for and sup-port of Glenmary continued and grew because of the home mission society’s outreach to those in need no matter what their religious beliefs,” Karen says.

Other examples of ways the fraternity’s foundation and chapters have supported Glen-mary’s efforts include monetary and in-kind

donations for those in need; contributions to-ward expansion of the society’s headquarters/seminary in the 1950s and ‘60s; publicity in Theta Phi Alpha’s magazine; and collegians’ volunteer service with Glenmary.

Father Tim Murphy, Camp Friendship di-rector, says that “we couldn’t have expanded our program without Theta Phi Alpha’s sup-port. It’s made a tremendous difference.

“About 20 Theta Phi Alpha students have volunteered as counselors, too. They’ve been very service-oriented leaders.”

Fraternity chapters and alumnae associa-tions also ship Father Tim needed supplies—from swimsuits and summer clothing to sports equipment, art supplies and much more.

“We’ve really valued having a Glenmarian at Theta Phi Alpha’s annual national gather-ings,” Karen says. “Since 1999, for instance, Father Dominic’s presence and talks about Glenmary’s work have had a real impact on our collegians and alumnae.”

Father Dominic adds that he’s “been fortu-nate to meet many Theta Phi Alpha members and witness their dedication to their fraterni-ty’s ideals and Glenmary’s ministry. We thank them from the bottoms of our hearts.”

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Thoughts on previous issue, 75th anniversary, the Farm, and Father Charlie Hughes

Thanks and memories sharedFInal WORDs / from our readers

very special memoriesgood to see your mention of Father Wuest (“Then & Now,” Summer 2014). He was our par-ish priest here at Pond Creek and Otway (Ohio) for some time and was well thought of.

My parents, Ed and Clara Si-mon, often had the Glenmary men here for a meal and visit after special church services. They may have included Fathers Bishop, Sourd, and Borchers or Brothers Vincent and Tom. These are very special memo-ries. Glenmary and our com-munity fit together so well.

John R. SimonWest Portsmouth, Ohio

changing the picturegod’s blessings on your 75th jubilee. Back in 1941 my dad, a civil engineer, had a job offer at Murphy, N.C. He went down to check it out and declined the job, feeling he couldn’t raise the fam-ily Catholic there at that time.

Later, Glenmary went to Murphy (to establish a mission) and the picture changed. And you keep doing that over and over. May the Lord guide you on.

Father Meinrad DindorfCollegeville, Minn.

much needed articlei am writing to thank Father Chet Artysiewicz for an inspir-ing and much needed article in Glenmary Challenge (“Celebrat-ing Consecrated Life,” Summer 2014). This message is so need-ed today and I wish it could be shared throughout the world.

I am celebrating 65 years as a Sister of the Humility of Mary surrounded by beautiful, dedi-

cated women who have start-ed hospitals, orphanages and schools. We also have a sister who is a nurse in Haiti.

May God bless the Glenmary community in all that they are doing.

Sister Susanne Gill, HMUniontown, Ohio.

clear message presented i just read “Care of Creation” by Father Neil Pezzulo in the Summer 2014 issue of Glen-mary Challenge, and I must tell you how overjoyed I was to read this article.

I am so encouraged by the Church’s speaking out on behalf of the environment—God’s cre-ation. I must keep a copy of this article. I am so tired of some of our politicians who claim to be Catholic and Christian but who support the destruction of God’s creation by pollution, abuse and thoughtless planning.

God bless you and Father Pez zulo for the clear message you have presented in Glenmary Challenge.

John J. CollinsRaritan, N.J.

glenmary farm inspirationi wanted to take this opportu-nity to do a shout-out for Glen-mary. I’m sad to see the Glen-mary Farm close, but happy the area has grown enough to be returned to the diocese.

I was a summer cook at the Farm in 1985 and a Farm manager the following winter. The Farm experience has been such an inspiration in my life. It helped form my life and my vocation.

I met my wife, Colleen,

through a mutual friend, (Glen-mary) Brother Joe Steen. She had worked as a volunteer in Vanceburg a few years prior to my volunteer year and became friends with Brother Joe.

During my volunteer year, I spent much time and devel-oped a friendship with Brother Joe. He claims we are his only vocation. He did very well, as we celebrated 27 years of marriage in June!

Don AllenBrewster, Kan.

father charlie: a treasure(editor’s note: This note was received following Father Char-lie Hughes’ move to Glenmary’s Cincinnati Headquarters.)you (father charlie) are a great treasure to the Di-ocese of Savannah and your leaving will be a loss. But your inspiration and exam-ple to others will linger on here.

Through the years, I enjoyed reading your excellent blogs. (www.glenmary.org/blogs) You were an early adopter of the best use of technology. I hope the next chapter of your life brings you happiness and more oppor-tunities for service.

Barbara KingCommunication DirectorDiocese of Savannah

REaDERs’ vIEWs WElCOME! Send comments to: editor, Glenmary Challenge, p.O. Box 465618, Cincinnati, OH 45246. Fax: 513-874-1690, e-mail: challenge@ glenmary.org. Comments are printed at the discretion of the editor and may be edited for clarity and space. please include a postal address.


DEPaRTMEnTs

t h e w e b s i t e o f C at h o l i C m i s s i o n e r s t o r u r a l a m e r i C a

online contents

WHaT’s nEW

bilingual Retreat Helps unify MissionSt. Michael the Archangel mission in Erwin, Tenn., recently developed and used a bilingual retreat model that made pa-rishioners feel more a part of the mission and brought them closer to each other. glenmary.org/bilingualretreat

Ways to GiveThere are many ways to donate to the Missions and Minis-tries Endowment. Find out how. glenmary.org/endowment

about usDiscover the many ways to join in the celebration of Glen-mary’s 75th anniversary. glenmary.org/75years

volunteer Opportunities After four decades, Camp Friendship is still changing the lives of children who attend. glenmary.org/changinglives

Connect using social Media Connect with the leader in home mission ministry via Face-book and Twitter. glenmary.org/social-media

Retreat

Endowment

FEaTuRE sTORy

serving and supporting behind the scenes Father Neil Pezzulo has come to realize he’s right where God wants him to be, serving as a vice president on Glenmary’s Executive Council. glenmary.org/pezzulovp

serving, supporting

anniversary celebration

vocationsDiscerning a vocation with Glenmary? Sign up for one of three mission trips this fall. glenmary.org/comeandsee

w w w.glenmary.org

Christmas cards

2014 Christmas CardsGlenmary’s 2014 Christmas cards will be available soon. Pre-order today to share our home mission ministry with friends and family this Christmas. glenmary.org/christmascards


Catholic M

issioners to Rural A

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Glenmary Home Missioners P.O. Box 465618 Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618

NoNproFIT orGANIZATIoN

U.S. postage pAID

Glenmary Home missioners

Father Don Tranel, director of development, was interviewed by Jim Ganley and MJ Krauter on Catholic Radio Indy’s Faith in Action in July. The weekly program focuses on how people integrate faith

into their daily lives. Father Don shared his vocation story with the hosts and gave an overview of Glenmary’s home mission ministry, home mis-sion need and the society’s 75th-anniversary celebration being planned for October. The central-Indiana radio station broadcasts both local and national Catholic programming. To listen to a podcast of Father Don’s interview, visit www.glenmary.org/tranelradio.

GlEnMaRy GlimpSe / On the radio

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Glenmary Challenge, Autumn 2014

Documents

Transcript of Glenmary Challenge, Autumn 2014