Our 53 professed friars of the Mid-America Province serve God's people mainly in the Archdioceses of Denver and Kansas City in Kansas City and the Dioceses of Colorado Springs, Mendi in Papua New Guinea, and Salina in Kansas, but also in many other places. They serve in a rich variety of ways.

Presently, four friars are retired, but even they participate in the Province's special ministry of prayer for the Order, its benefactors, and the Church in general.

Two serve the Church as bishops, shepherding dioceses in Denver and Mendi. One of our friars serves on the international council of the Capuchin Order, and provides consultative assistance to English-speaking Capuchins throughout the world. Still another is serving on an international commission working on a proposed revision of the Capuchin constitutions.

Twelve labor as pastors, associate pastors, and pastoral workers in parishes committed to the care of the Order in Denver and Colorado Springs in Colorado — Lawrence, Hays, Ellis, Victoria, Antonino, Schoenchen, Catherine, Vincent and Walker in Kansas — and Pangia and Pureni in Papua New Guinea. Another is an associate pastor in a parish shepherded by diocesan clergy in Colorado Springs.

Additionally, many of the ordained friars who are not full-time parish priests assist in various other parishes throughout the province, especially on weekends. Several of these weekend parish ministers spend the rest of the week at the Catholic Center in a Colorado Springs shopping mall.

Friars also provide Eucharistic ministry at a shrine in Denver and monthly Eucharistic adoration at St. Patrick's Oratory, Denver. Several make confessional ministry available throughout the Archdiocese of Denver.

One friar works primarily as a college professor in Conception MO, another chaplains groups of lay missionaries working on numerous college campuses, and still another is a chaplain at a secondary school in Hays. One provides chaplaincy services at a university in Lawrence, and two direct Capuchin  formation programs in Denver. There are also several friars engaged in research and writing.

One Mid-American Capuchin is a VA health care chaplain in Topeka, and another chaplains three nursing homes in Hays and Victoria. Three others minister as pastoral and clinical psychologists.

Two friars travels around the country and even go abroad conducting retreats and parish missions. Many friars give parish appeals for mission support, and one promotes support of two social support agencies. Two others run the Capuchin Center for Spiritual Life in Victoria and two run a provincial prayer ministry at Our Lady of the Angel Friary in rural Colorado Springs. Another helped start and continues spiritually directing ecumenical & spiritual enrichment programs for Christian men and women.

In Colorado, one friar chaplains a shelter for the homeless, and two others work there as a case worker and a nurse. Two others minister to prisoners in a large number of federal, state and county prisons and jails.

In many of these apostolates, the friars work with minority groups — Hispanics, Native Americans and Afro-American.

Several of the friars work full- or part-time in fraternal service. They cook and maintain the local friaries and their grounds. They serve as provincial administrators, local facilitators, fund-raisers and ministers to our benefactors, vocational recruiters, communication facilitators, and formation directors. They also serve as spiritual assistants to other orders of the Franciscan family — the Poor Clares and Secular Franciscans — and provide chaplaincies to several other communities of religious women.

Two friars plan and maintain the web site you are currently visiting. One also does communications work aimed at assisting the resurrected Church in Siberia and maintains an in-house mail directory of over 3,100 Capuchins friars and nuns on-line in 95 countries.

Three friars engage in post-novitiate formation, and they and two others are preparing for future ministry by seminary studies. Another friar is doing post-graduate studies in spirituality.

Indeed there are very few ministries in the Church that do not engage one or more of Mid-America's 53 professed friars.

Some websites of ministries involving Mid-American Capuchins

Dioceses
Archdiocese of Denver CO — http://www.archden.org
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas — http://www.archkck.org
Diocese of Mendi PNG — http://www.catholicpng.org.pg/dioc/mendi.html
Diocese of Salina KS — http://www.salinadiocese.org
Diocese of Colorado Springs CO — http://www.diocs.org

Parishes and Shrines
Annunciation parish, Denver CO — http://www.archden/parishes/index.php
Mother Cabrini Shrine, Golden CO — http://www.mothercabrinishrine.org
Sacred Heart Church, Denver CO — http://www.lukeone26.org
St. Fidelis parish, Victoria KS — http://www.stfidelischurch.org
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Colorado Springs CO — http://www.stfranciscs.org
St. John the Evangelist parish, Lawrence KS — http://www.saint-johns.net
St. Joseph parish, Hays KS — http://www.stj-church.com
St. Mary's Church, Ellis KS — http://www.stmarysofellis.org
St. Mary's Cathedral, Colorado Springs CO — http://www.stmaryscathedral.4li.com

Mall ministry
Catholic Center, Colorado Springs CO — http://www.catholichchapelmall.org

Chaplaincies
Capuchin Poor Clares — http://www.capuchinpoorclares.org
Federation of Catholic University Students — http://www.focusonline.org

Education
Conception Seminary, Conception MO — http://www.conception.edu
Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence KS — http://www.haskell.edu
St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver CO — http://www.sjvdenver.org
Thomas More Prep-Marian, Hays KS — http://www.tmp-m.org

Social
Catholic Relief Services — http://crs.org
Christian Foundation for Children and Aging — http://www.cfcausa.org
Samaritan House, Denver CO — http://www.ccdenvr.org/services/samaritan-house.aspx

Spiritual
Capuchin-led Retreats & Missions — http://www.midamcaps.org/calendar.html
Marked Men for Christ — http://www.markedmenforchrist.org

Communication
Capuchin International Web Site — http://www.ofmcap.org
CapsOnLineInternational (for Capuchins only) — http://www.capuchins.org/addEmail.html

Friars
Archbishop Charles Chaput — http://www.archden.org/archbishopMexican
Bro. Mark Schenk — http://justabrother.blogspot.com
Fr. Michael Scully — http://www.frmikescully.com
Fr. Regis Scanlon — http://www.frregisscanlon.com


(Information accurate as of 12 January 2010)

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