The founder of the Glenmary priests, brothers and sisters was Father William Howard Bishop. He was born and raised in Washington DC. As a young priest he was missioned in a small, rural parish. He researched a map of the United States and found that there were over 1000 counties that had no resident priest. He envisioned a plan which was accepted by the archbishop of Cincinnati and endorsed by others. The men's group was founded in 1939. The women's group in 1941.

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'Glenmary' is actually a nickname. Both the men's and women's communities were founded in Glendale which is near Cincinnati, Ohio and we have devotion to Mary under her title 'Our Lady of the Fields'. The formal title of the women's community is 'Home Mission Sisters of America'.

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This is a term coined by the Glenmary Home Missioners to describe the area of greatest home mission need - a swath of territory extending through Appalachia, the South and Southwest. This is where the Glenmary men's community focuses its missionary efforts because it has the greatest concentration of counties meeting the following criteria:

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Glenmarians have special devotion to Mary, Our Lady of the Fields. The origin of this title dates back to the Middle Ages when a teamster had an encounter with a beautiful lady who wanted him to take a message to the people in a nearby town. She wanted them to embrace a God-centered life. In one hand she held sheaves heavy with grain. In 1948 the Glenmary Sisters were given a statue of Our Lady of the Fields. Ever since, it has reminded us that we need to be women of prayer and action. It now has a place of honor outside the Glenmary Center in Owensboro, KY.

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A home missionary may be a priest, brother, sister, deacon or lay person, married or single. All home missionaries work to spread the Gospel message by establishing and deepening Catholic presence in order to serve the spiritual and material needs of communities where the local diocese can not provide pastoral ministers or resources.

The goal of home mission ministry is not to make converts to Catholicism from other Christian churches. It is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the unchurched and to build up the Kingdom of God through ecumenical cooperation and social outreach.

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The founder of Glenmary, Father William Howard Bishop, chose the North American martyrs for the patrons of the community. Their talents, ministry views, dreams and struggles are similar to the Glenmary story. Although no Glenmarian has ever been martyred for their faith, each one is called to witness to the truth - and that's the meaning of the word 'martyr'.

In the middle of the 16th century, there were many explorers who came to the New World. They brought missionaries with them. Many religious communities were asked to join the missionary effort. The Jesuits were centered in what is now the northern part of New York. Then it was the home of the Huron nation. For 24 years they ministered to the people who were beset by greed, violence and disease. Eventually, the whole nation was forced to leave their homeland.

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