USCMA Announces Release of the 2014 Mission Survey

Washington, DC: The United States Catholic Mission Association released the 2014 Mission Survey to Mission Sending Organizations as it continues its dedication to promoting mission and global solidarity. Since 1950, USCMA and its predecessor organizations (The Mission Secretariat and the US Catholic Mission Council) have compiled statistics on the US Church's missionary activity from data forms received from mission-sending groups and home dioceses. The Mission Survey is a biennial survey that looks at the long-term international and cross-cultural mission activity of US missioners (citizens by birth or naturalization) and includes all those Catholics who are sponsored by Catholic mission-sending agencies, even if they work for projects not sponsored by the Catholic Church. This survey is critical to USCMA's work in promoting the US Church's missionary activity and global relationships with (arch)dioceses and parishes around the world.

USCMA will release the results of the Mission Survey later this year and will provide an overview of mission activities engaged in by missioners and volunteers sent from US congregations and organizations. Fr. John R. Nuelle, MS, the Executive Director of USCMA, announced that the Mission Survey can now be completed electronically through a new downloadable form on the USCMA website. "This survey is of great importance to mission-sending organizations, archdioceses, and dioceses in the United States," Fr. Nuelle said. He went on to add that "USCMA is dedicated to increasing the US Church's understanding of the many Mission Activities not studied by the current Mission Survey." Fr. Nuelle announced that USCMA is in the process of creating a new Mission Activity Survey that will address other kinds of missioner activity, including Twinning Relationships, Short-Term Mission Trips, Immersion Trips, and other activities. Information on the Mission Activity Survey will be released with the publication of the 2014 Mission Handbook Executive Summary later this year.

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The United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA) is the only association of US Catholic mission-sending and mission-minded organizations and individuals. USCMA supports the activities and efforts of US-based home and international missionary groups by providing opportunities for these groups to gather, share, and learn from one another. USCMA strives to be a catalyst for fresh insights, broad involvement, creative approaches, and alternative structures, methods, and techniques for promoting mission.