You can Adopt a Glenmary Mission, Missioner or Student Today!
Holy Family Catholic Church in Blakely, Ga. is available for adoption.
Glenmary’s Adopt-A-Mission Program invites you to share what you have received (Mk 4:31-32) by joining in the evangelization effort of the Catholic Church. Through Adopt-A-Mission, you—or your parish community, coworkers, friends or family—can lend prayers and financial support to your sisters and brothers in Mission Land, USA.
“Home Missions” is the name for dioceses and parishes in the United States which cannot provide basic pastoral services to Catholics without outside help. Basic pastoral services include Mass and the sacraments, religious education and ministry training for priests, deacons, religious sisters, brothers and lay people.
Adopters, by their spiritual and financial donations, help Glenmary provide these basic pastoral services and further the missionary effort of the Catholic Church in the rural areas and small towns of the United States.
St. Paul originated the idea of communities assisting one another. The gifts of the Greek Church were carried to the struggling and persecuted Church in Jerusalem. Glenmary continues this ancient practice. Through the Adopt-a-Mission Program, established parishes, organizations or individuals assist the missions.
While designed to aid Glenmary’s mission work by providing support through prayer, financial donations and mutual encouragement, this program also provides an enlightening and rewarding experience for the people of the adopting parish, organization or individual.
Who Will You Adopt?
Glenmary missioners—including students—are waiting to be adopted. Priests and brothers serving as pastors and outreach ministers, respectively, are stretching every dollar to effectively establish a Catholic Church presence in the home mission counties they serve. The donations they receive from their adopters help them do even more to share the gifts of the Church with those they serve.
Glenmary missions come in a variety of sizes. Some are recently established churches in the earliest stages of development. Others have longer histories and deeper roots in the local cultures of Appalachia and the South.
But in all cases, these missions need your help to keep the doors open and the lights on. The members of the mission communities not only serve the needs of the Catholic minority but also reach out and serve the spiritual and material needs of the unchurched and the poor.
Getting an Adoption Started
- Contact Glenmary’s Mission Education and Ministry Office at 800-935-0975.
Develop a Glenmary mission awareness:
- Distribute brochures provided by Glenmary in your parish.
- Use your parish bulletin to include information about Glenmary.
- Invite a Glenmary missioner to make a presentation.
Establish priorities and expectations:
- What will you commit spiritually, financially and in personal involvement?
- What do you expect to receive?
Request a mission profile for consideration. Profiles include:
- The description of a mission.
- The area in which the mission is located.
- The needs of the local community.
- Information about the pastoral staff.
Develop a covenant:
- Assess compatibility by writing, calling or visiting the mission being considered.
- Work out mutual expectations.
- Celebrate the adoption at Sunday Liturgy when their covenant is formally signed.
What’s Expected of Adopters and Adoptees
Prayer
- Both parties pray for each other’s mutual benefit as specified in the covenant document.
Communication
- The development of the relationship through an exchange of photos, letters and mutual prayer is vital to the adoption.
Financial Commitment
- There is a minimum commitment of $2,400 per year to adopt a mission, and $1200 per year to adopt a missioner. Although Glenmary asks that checks be mailed to Glenmary headquarters for recording purposes, the checks may be made out to the adopted mission parish. Glenmary will then forward them to the mission parish.
Acknowledgments/Updates
- The mission parish will acknowledge all gifts received and will provide the adopting parish with news of the mission, its needs and growth.
Visits
- If desired, the mission pastor or his representative may meet with the adopting parish community annually and the adopting parish may reciprocate.
Cooperative Mission Programs
- Pastors of both churches must agree when on-site visits are appropriate. Volunteers (usually at least 18 years of age) can then visit the mission parish and will be briefed by the mission staff on the social, economic and religious environment of the mission area being served.
Ongoing Support/Mission Education
- Glenmary’s Mission Office facilitates each adoption by bringing the parties together and providing any further assistance as needed to ensure the success of the program. Glenmary also provides bulk copies for the parish of our quarterly magazine, Glenmary Challenge.
Expectations Reviewed
- Growth of a mission parish from infancy to maturity is a slow process that sometimes takes decades. Both parties must realize that mutual expectations may change as the mission parish grows and changes.
Covenant Renewed
- Annual renewal of the covenant is recommended. Changes in expectations can be formalized at this time.