Carl Mossberg remembers the first time he heard the term “Mission Circle” like it was yesterday.
It was after a visit in 2015 to St. Bernadette’s Children’s Mission in Lima, Peru, that Mossberg, a parishioner at St. John Fisher Church in Palos Verdes, knew God was calling him to contribute something more than a one-time donation.
“I went to our pastor at the time and said, ‘How do I start a nonprofit organization for this?’ ” Mossberg said. “He says, ‘I got this thing called Mission Circles. I think that’ll fit perfect.’ ”
Mission Circles, his pastor explained, were part of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which help provide aid — both financial and spiritual — to missionary work happening in the U.S. and the world. The individuals who make up the Mission Circles at specific parishes are able to help communities in need, grow in spiritual development, and create an interest locally in missionary work happening globally.
Mission Circles are officially part of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, a branch of Pontifical Mission Societies, and are described by the group as a practical way for Catholic laity to “stimulate, spiritualize, and systematize” mission aid in their communities.
“It’s very helpful because a lot of this money is going overseas,” said Nicole Vasquez, bookkeeper and administrative assistant at the Pontifical Mission Societies in Los Angeles. “It works better with coming from our office than having to go through the books of the parish office.”
The Mission Circles first began in 1956 as a way to support Msgr. Anthony Brouwers with the Lay Mission-Helpers.
“Msgr. Brouwers started the Lay Mission-Helpers to have lay people go out with special qualities like doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers to do missionary work,” Vasquez said. “They found that to keep these things going, they wanted someone to fundraise for them year-round, so that’s where a lot of these circles started.”
For Mossberg and St. John Fisher, their Mission Circle began with simple pamphlets.
“We got permission to sit out in front of the church and I would just walk around and pester all the different parishioners,” Mossberg said.
In the decade since, those pamphlets eventually turned into small fundraising events and then larger gatherings, such as their annual Peruvian Mission Festival.
“Last year, we had 140 people who came to our festival,” Mossberg said. “Most of them were from our parish, but we get quite a few people that come from other parishes.”
The festival, which hosts traditional Peruvian performances and cuisine for attendees, is one of the ways the group has gone from raising $10,000 in their first year to a little over $60,000 in 2025, according to Mossberg.
“The generous donations that we receive from them have enabled us to be able to continue the work that we do,” said Father Tony Coney, founder of St. Bernadette’s Children’s Mission in Peru. “Beyond donations, the friendship with the group and visiting them every year is a moment I cherish because I am now with a group of people whom I consider to be friends.”
Despite the success of St. John Fisher’s Mission Circle, the groups have diminished drastically across the archdiocese. Even though the remaining Mission Circles are thriving, the team at the Pontifical Mission Societies is looking for ways to spread the word.
“At one time, almost every parish in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had a Mission Circle,” Vasquez said. “Now, we have probably five active Mission Circles. It has really dwindled down.”
Today, Mission Circles can support any mission within or outside the United States and require a simple application process, a group of at least six people and approval from the pastor.
“From a business side of the organization, I think the Mission Circle takes that burden off of you,” Mossberg said. “It costs us $25 a year to send money. [They] provide us with a spreadsheet once a month so we can see exactly how things are going financially.”
For Coney, who describes the Mission Circle as “invaluable,” he has seen the mission expand from a temporary safe haven for children in 1995 to serving about 1,300 children through their residential home for sexually abused children and school for students with learning difficulties.
Beyond its direct assistance, St. Bernadette also ministers to about 4,000 children through educational resources, he said.
“I think it’s very much a case of God guiding us all and to mutually support each other and mutually allow our growth as Christians,” Coney said. “That is evident in the way that the Mission Circle is responding to God’s call.”
