Mission director hopes to revive Missionary Childhood Association in diocese

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator

The current director of the Catholic Mission Office in the diocese is making an effort to bring back participation in the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA), previously known as the Holy Childhood Association (HCA).

Father Mark Stoll, director of the Catholic Mission Office for the diocese who has served in that position since 2021, pointed out that for many years student involvement in the missions was a tradition.

“In the past, even when I was a student at Spalding Catholic School in Alton and Granville, I remember participating in the programs of the HCA,” said the priest who also oversaw the Mission Club in his first assignment at St. Mary Church and School in Storm Lake. Students involved in the club would help promote an awareness of the missions, collect donations and pay dues to support the missions.

Over the past 10 years or so, Father Stoll said, student participation in the MCA has dwindled.

“We as the Diocese of Sioux City can bring back this great tradition of our youth supporting and learning about missionary activities through the Missionary Childhood Association in grades PK-8,” he said.

With the bishop’s support, Father Stoll and his administrative assistant Audrey Knapp recently met with Patty Lansink of the Catholic Schools Office and Karmer Bower of the Office of Faith Formation to share ideas and discuss how to bring the MCA back to active participation in the diocese.

To further promote the missions, Father Stoll was recently featured in a webinar hosted by the Office of Faith Formation to give parish catechetical leaders more information about this renewed effort.

“The first step in each parish is to establish a mission moderator, a contact person. It could be the DRE (director of religious education) or anyone as long as it’s one person we can send information to,” noted the mission director, who added the hope is to identify a moderator in each Catholic school as well.

Father Stoll mentioned that not only is the Catholic Mission Office in this diocese trying to reignite participation of the children in missions but the effort is also being made at the national level.

“They (the national office) have done some improvements on their side in providing us with some additional information,” he said. “The Missionary Childhood Association provides all sorts of resources – they offer a monthly newsletter that we can share with the mission moderators.”

From these educational materials, parishes and schools can pick and choose what they might want to use in their classrooms.

“They don’t have to reinvent the wheel or try to figure out how to teach the students what the missions are all about,” said Father Stoll.

Through this effort, the mission director said in the classrooms – be it Catholic schools or parish faith formation programs – the students can learn there are people in need throughout the world. Awareness of the missions, he added, can also provide a lesson about the universal aspect of the Catholic Church.

Father Stoll also pointed out that the Missionary Childhood Association is one of four societies that make up The Pontifical Mission Societies. The other three societies include The Society for the Propagation of the Faith (SPF), The Missionary Union (TMU) and The Society of St. Peter the Apostle (SSPA).

Most Catholics, he noted, are familiar with the SPF as it is highlighted each October with World Mission Sunday. On this day, all parishes in the diocese and throughout the world unite to support the missionary work of the Catholic Church as is mandated by Canon 791.

“That is a collection we take up annually. The money we collect goes to the headquarters which then sends it to Rome,” said Father Stoll. “Missionary societies from around the world can then apply for grants and assistance to meet their needs to build a school, dig a water well and other projects.”

In addition, the diocese participates in the SPF’s Mission Cooperative Program that brings 14 groups each year to visit parishes to share news of missionary work and needs.

For the students this year, Father Stoll said the Catholic Mission Office is asking parishes and schools to start small by participating in one charitable giving project to benefit MCA. Then, starting in the next school year, projects could be expanded.

Questions about the MCA or how to send in donations for that association, noted Knapp, may be sent to [email protected].

 “It’s important to start with the young people to ensure they know what the missions are all about,” said Father Stoll, who added it promotes children helping children. “Hopefully some of this information filters down to the parents, too, so they can learn more about the missions.”

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