Our mission
The mission of Serra Atlanta is to foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic Church as a particular vocation to service; to develop an appreciation for the ministerial priesthood and for all religious vocations in the Church; and to further Catholicism by encouraging its members, in fellowship and through education, to fulfill their own Christian vocations to service.
- To foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church, and to support priests in their sacred ministry.
- To encourage and affirm vocations of men and women to consecrated and religious life in the Catholic Church.
- To assist Serra members in recognizing their own vocation, individually and as a group, responding to God’s call to holiness in Jesus Christ, with and through the Holy Spirit.
Serra Atlanta performs all of its work under the protection and patronage of Mary, Mother of the Church, and Saint Junípero Serra.
Our history
In 1934, four Catholic laymen in Seattle, Washington, decided to meet in fellowship to grow in their faith and contribute to the mission of the Church. They chose the support of seminarians as their primary purpose: “to assist in the education of young men to the priesthood.” Serra’s purposes have grown over the years in response to the needs of the Church, especially in light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. Responding to Christ’s call to “pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), Serra has made the encouragement of Church vocations its hallmark.
Since its founding, Serra has worked closely with the bishops in building the Church. The Serra Club of Atlanta was chartered on May 12, 1955.
Serra today
Serra is a voluntary organization of Catholic men and women of various ages, races and backgrounds — more than 12,500 Serrans in 35 countries on six continents, with some 195 clubs in the United States. In 1986, Serra International voted to welcome women as full members, and women are very important contributors to Serra’s work. Here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, nearly 50 Serrans are active today.
Serra Atlanta is a member club of Serra International, the global lay apostolate for vocations in the Catholic Church. Meet our trustees and chaplain.
Saint Junípero Serra, our patron
Serrans take their name from the Franciscan missionary Saint Junípero Serra, founder of the California missions. Born on the island of Majorca, Spain, in 1713, he became a Franciscan friar and held the Duns Scotus chair of philosophy at Lullian University in Palma, where he taught for twelve years.
Moved by missionary zeal, he left a comfortable scholarly life for “New Spain” in 1749. After a year of training in Mexico City, he spent the rest of his life traveling — mostly on foot — founding missions up the coast of California. The missions were centers of catechesis for the indigenous peoples and of training in agriculture, and Serra spoke for their needs and rights before Spanish officials. He died at the Carmel Mission in 1784, at the age of 70, and was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 2015.
Photo credits
- Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo — Ligocsicnarf89, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Portrait of Saint Junípero Serra — Detroit Publishing Company, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Chalice, Hungary, 15th century — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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