After months of deliberations during the pandemic, the USCMA Board of Directors met in March 2022 to decide the strategic direction for the association. The board made three decisions: 
 

1. USCMA has a significant role to play in the Church and should continue to exist. 
2. USCMA is a community of faith leaders engaged in networking, formation, and advocacy for God’s mission. 
3. The board will launch a two-year process to restructure the association, so all its activities align with this new mission. 

As part of that restructuring, USCMA developed Mission Church – a collaborative effort to promote, support, and develop God’s mission as a constitutive element in thriving Catholic parishes. 

Catholic parishes can be “a mission” in their neighborhood, across the country, or around the world. Mission proclaims, witnesses, and serves God’s Reign of love, salvation, and justice. It calls the faithful to leave their comfort zone and cross a border (cultural, linguistic, economic, or political), to dwell among others, for the well-being of “strangers,” with the Gospel as their sole motivaton.

The goals for Mission Church are: 
 

1. Identify faith leaders engaged in God’s mission. 
2. Create formation programs to promote missionary-discipleship, cultivate missionary communities, prepare the faithful for mission, and provide formation for mission leaders. 
3. Advocate for God’s Mission through Go Forth… a weekly podcast that amplifies the call to mission, how mission is lived, and a missionary witness on the Sunday Readings. 
4. Create a national alliance of mission related organizations to coordinate activities and collaborate with each other on common goals. 
5. Provide programs and services for mission leaders mutual support, ongoing formation, and the development of best practices. 

The Board of Directors created four committees – Member Engagement, Programs and Services, Finance and Development, and Governance – to give a structure for the association’s purpose and to stimulate the strategic creativity of its members. In December 2023 the board approved the USCMA Handbook to capture policies and procedures. 

The focus of 2024 is to engage members, and other Catholic organizations, in a substantial conversation about the future of mission in the United States of America. Using A Synodal Church in Mission – Synthesis Report, USCMA held a six-week study session to craft a response from a missionary perspective, to serve as a catalyst for such conversations. Missionary Promise in An Uncertain Age is a three-part webinar, by Fr. Aaron Wessman, to consider the challenges facing mission in a secular, technological, and polarized age. Gathering in Saint Louis (October 29-31, 2024), USCMA will continue the conversation at its national conference on The Mission of the Eucharist – Gather. Unite. Send. 

At its March 2024 meeting, the board stressed the importance of communication and coalition building with other mission related organizations. It approved a response to the Synthesis Report, established a Search Committee for the Executive Director Search, and updated the job description to better align with the strategic direction of the association. The board held a Townhall Meeting on April 3, 2024 to report these developments to the membership and gather feedback.