Aaron Wessman, Crispine Adongo and Brother Craig Digmann pose following their Oath Renewal Mass on May 22, 2009.

On Friday, May 22, 2009, three men renewed their Oaths as Glenmary Home Missioners. Glenmary’s president, Father Dan Dorsey, presided at the Oath Renewal Mass and witnessed as Aaron Wessman of Cokato, Minn., Brother Craig Digmann of Scotch Grove, Iowa, and Crispine (Cris) Adongo of Ulanda, Kenya, pledged their second Oaths with Glenmary, recommitting to the practice of poverty, chastity, obedience and prayer. The Mass was celebrated in Our Lady of the Fields Chapel at Glenmary Headquarters in Fairfield, Ohio, with Father Mike Kerin, Glenmary’s second vice president, delivering the homily.

As Glenmary Home Missioners, the three also recommitted themselves to their fellow missioners and to the proclamation of the Gospel in rural areas and small towns of the United States. The last sentence of the Oath states, “Thus bound in a covenant with the other members in the Glenmary community, I ask for their support and loyalty and pledge to them my own.”

These men may renew their Oaths three times before professing their Perpetual Oaths. Aaron, Brother Craig and Cris have completed four years of Glenmary formation. They will be involved in a variety of learning and service experiences this summer and will continue their studies this fall.

Aaron, 27, a former member of St. John Church in Darwin, Minn., is preparing for missionary priesthood and will start his second year at St. Meinrad School of Theology in the fall. He first became aware of Glenmary’s work in the home missions after meeting Glenmary Father Jerry Dorn, a fellow Minnesota native. “Meeting Father Jerry was an appointment set up by God,” Aaron said. Last summer he worked at Glenmary’s mission in West Liberty, Ky. This summer Aaron is doing directed study and research on ecumenism with the guidance of Glenmary Father Frank Ruff. In addition, he will attend the Institute for Ecumenical Leadership sponsored by the Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers.

Brother Craig, 51, refers to himself as the “old man” of his class. The father of two sons and former member of Sacred Heart Church in Monticello, Iowa, Brother Craig will start his second year at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky., this fall. He says he feels honored to be part of a religious society that ministers in areas where there are so few Catholics and looks forward to working with the people of the missions and mission counties. In the summer of 2008 he assisted at the Glenmary mission in Chapmanville, W.Va. This summer Brother Craig is working with the chaplain staff and patients at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Fort Thomas, Ky., as part of his Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).

Cris, 29, from the Diocese of Homabay in Kenya, began discerning about Glenmary with Father Steve Pawelk in 2004 and attended the annual Glenmary retreat held in Kenya the following year. Now pursuing missionary priesthood, Cris will also begin his second year at St. Meinrad School of Theology in the fall. He says he became interested in priesthood with Glenmary because of the influence of the Comboni missionary priest who served in his home parish. “He planted something in my head,” he says. “I became attracted to mission work in a different culture.” Last year Cris assisted at Glenmary’s Idabel, Okla., mission and spent time in Kenya. This summer he will work with Sister Alies Therese at Glenmary’s missions in Ackerman and Eupora, Miss., and will take a Black Approach to Theology course at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Earlier in the day, the three men shared with employees at Glenmary Headquarters their stories of discernment and faith. They also talked about the highs and lows of formation and schooling, the importance of their friendship and their reliance on one another for support and camaraderie.