September 15, 2024 - They met on zoom at 6pm, at the annual "Come and See" meeting. This meeting starts the first official meeting of the new year and starts the process of these men to become sons of St. Columba.
The topics covered were less than interesting, but necessary. From formation materials to traditions of the Order, no stone was left unturned in the Br. Bartimaeus's hopes to bring the proper information to all concerning the Order and its mission. While men are not formally required to send their letter of inquiry to become brothers in the Order until January, three of the five originally interested have already sent in their requests to formally join the Order, one of which is still discerning his place.
The Order was founded in 2017 when Br. Bartimaeus took his private vows to live the rule of St. Columba. Now, seven years later, he welcomes his first three men to follow him on the journey of a lifetime to build missions, train the clergy and provide chaplaincy to much needed areas. The mission? Bring the Gospel to the nations. With this new institution forming, it has already started three missions and hopes to start two more by the end of next summer. With locations in Cleveland, GA; Cumming, GA; Ellabell, GA, Br. Bartimaeus hopes to have two more missions in Pembroke/Lumberton, NC and McColl, or Latta, SC by the end of next summer.
To meet these demands, the Order is putting together an aggressive funding campaign to help alleviate the costs. It costs money to build missions, it costs money to train men, it costs money to clothe them, house them and feed them, to send them on retreat and to provide them advanced training opportunities. A single mission can run anywhere between $50,000 - $100,000 a year to get up and running and each man costs about that if they wish to work in true missionary apostleship.* The Prior is advising all brothers and companions of the Order to raise money for the Order through various fundraising efforts so as to help the Order in its mission.
The Lord has provided us workers in the vineyard of the Lord to spread our Catholic faith, let us work to support them and provide for their needs as they go out into the world to spread the Gospel of the Lord.
*The Order uses a pay model depending on years of service to determine pay. Each Brother is given a stipend to offset the costs of his living expenses as money allows. All donations gathered are tax deductible under 501(c)3 status under the "Catholic Mission to the Carolina Indians".