Holy Rosary Mission
BIMO funds were used during the grant period for general operating expenses of Holy Rosary Mission, including supporting Angie Stover’s salary. Angie Stover is a commissioned Lakota Lay Minister and Office Manager at Sacred Heart Church in Pine Ridge, SD, within the Holy Rosary Mission Parish, where she has been employed for 20 years. This parish includes the Pine Ridge Reservation, where Angie plays an essential role building relationships within our Catholic community. In addition to her lay ministry responsibilities, Angie transitioned into serving as an Operations Associate on our new Operations Team in Summer 2023 – not only supporting Sacred Heart but also the other nine churches that make up our Lakota Catholic Community in the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Angie’s activities over the past year have been instrumental in bringing a ministry of healing and reconciliation that is grounded in respect for the Lakota culture. The core of this work reflects Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud’s mission to build and sustain a Lakota Catholic community that welcomes everyone—and one that honors the power of Lakota spirituality and culture in all that we do. More than 900 families on the Pine Ridge Reservation were served directly and indirectly through Angie's administrative and lay ministry work in the past year.
Activities Angie engaged in include efforts to expand communications across the Pine Ridge Reservation to help families coordinate wakes, funerals, memorials, and family gatherings; delivering food and supplies to homebound parish elders; regularly checking on the well-being of elders and parish members; and providing coordination to allow six attendees from Mahpiya Luta – members of the Sacred Heart (Pine Ridge) and Our Lady of the Sioux (Oglala) Kateri Circles – to travel to the 84th Annual Tekakwitha Conference in Bloomington, MN, which is attended by American Indian Roman Catholics. A gifted administrator, Angie also helped to organize and schedule a Reservation Mass attended by Bishop Peter Muhich on May 7, 2023.
The many activities, outreach efforts, and collaborative events Angie engages in are about growing lasting community bonds to help build a strong parish family. She humbly continues this work by being available to parish and community members for conversation and prayer, bringing an open mind to listen to their concerns.
Angie says of her work at Holy Rosary Mission, “My experience and knowledge continue to help me reach out to parish members and our benefactors to show them the face of Jesus among my own people. Many of my own people find it difficult to reconcile their Lakota Self to also being Catholic. It is a work in progress for us (Lakota who are Catholic) to heal enough that we have the freedom and comfort to include our faith in Jesus in our personal spirituality and really be okay with that. Being present to my own community as a part of a Catholic parish helps those in my community feel supported in their own journey of healing.”
