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Glenmary
Facts and Figures
Glenmary
Home Missioners
(aka The Home Missioners of America Inc.)
A society of Catholic priests and brothers committed to serving
rural America. The name is derived from Glendale, the
Cincinnati, Ohio, suburb where the group’s headquarters
was located until 1971; and Mary, the society’s
patroness.
Purpose
and Ministry
The purpose of the society is to establish the Catholic Church
in rural regions of the United States, nurturing the
Catholic minority, and reaching out to the unchurched and the poor. Ecumenical cooperation is a hallmark of Glenmary's style of home mission ministry.
History
Glenmary was founded in 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Father
William Howard Bishop, a rural pastor from the Archdiocese
of Baltimore, who acquired the sponsorship of Cincinnati Archbishop
John T. McNicholas.
Coworkers in Mission
Lay men and women partner in many ways with Glenmary members
to carry out Glenmary’s mission to rural America.
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Lay
Pastoral Coordinators currently staff eight missions
in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Virginia.
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Lay
men and women join Glenmarians to staff Glenmary’s
Department of Pastoral Ministers & Pastoral Services and Glenmary’s Research
Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Mission
Facts
Glenmary
currently staffs over 50 missions and ministries in the small towns
and rural areas of Appalachia, the South and the Southwest.
They minister to the spiritual and material needs of
people in the dioceses of:
Birmingham, Ala.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Covington, Ky.
Jackson, Miss.
Lexington, Ky.
Little Rock, Ark.
Nashville, Tenn.
Owensboro, Ky.
Raleigh, N.C.
Richmond, Va.
Savannah, Ga.
Tulsa, Okla.
Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va.
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Nearly
1.5 million people live within Glenmary’s mission
territory. Of these, just under 11,000, or 0.7 percent,
are Catholic.
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A
significant percent of the total population is unchurched
(that is, does not attend any church on a regular basis).
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The
poverty level within Glenmary mission areas is almost
twice the national average.
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In
the southern United States, 173 counties have no Catholic
congregation. Another 196 have a Catholic congregation
but no resident pastoral minister.
Membership
Priests — 43
Brothers — 14
Men in Training —
12
For
more information, contact Jean
Bach, assistant communications director.
November 2006
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