Father William Howard Bishop, Founder of Glenmary: 1886-1953

Resources Available

There is so much more that could be said—should be said—about Father William Howard Bishop than is available on our Web site at this point. Unfortunately, that “more” is not very easy to find. Given the nature of the men attracted to follow in Father Bishop’s missionary footsteps, mission has always been their primary focus with little attention given to memorializing the founder.

A biography by Christopher Kauffman (Mission to Rural America: The Story of W. Howard Bishop, Founder of Glenmary) was written in 1991 and published by Paulist Press. It is out of print, but Glenmary has some copies available. If you are interested, send a donation to cover shipping and handling to the address in the upper lefthand corner of this Web page.

During this 50th anniversary year of Father Bishop’s death, efforts are underway to make additional resources available. Father Dan Dorsey’s 1983 master’s thesis on Father Bishop’s charism is now available on this Web site. Also being discussed is the publication of excerpts from Father Bishop’s diaries and letters.

Then there are the personal memories of Father Bishop. A few from Glenmary priests and brothers are featured in "William Howard Bishop: Fifty Years After His Death, Glenmarians Share Memories of This Man on a Mission." This article was published originally in the June 2003 Glenmary Challenge.

Readers are invited to share a memory as well. Just e-mail me, khurley@glenmary.org, and your contribution will be added to a special Web page featuring additional memories and comments on Father Bishop.

Father Bishop is also the founder of the Glenmary Sisters. They plan to add information about Father Bishop to their Web site during this coming year. Check it out at www.glenmarysisters.org. I think Father Bishop, a savvy communicator, would be delighted we are celebrating his home mission dream not only in the magazine he founded (Glenmary Challenge) but also on the World Wide Web!