SMA missionaries began working in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. The earliest missionaries saw a need to minister both spiritually and physically to the black population, who were underserved by the churches already established here. Reaching out to this neglected group continued the vision of SMA’s Founder, Melchior de Marion Bresillac, a vision that stressed ministry to the “most abandoned” people. Right up to current times, SMA missionaries maintained strong involvement in civil rights and racial discrimination issues in this country.

The American Province was formally established in 1941 with Fr. Ignatius Lissner as its first Provincial Superior. In addition to perseverance during times of racial strife, SMA-USA has also been in the forefront of the Society’s lay missionary programs, having developed an essential theology of laity in mission during the 1980s.

Today, the American Province has 34 priests and more than a dozen lay missionaries who serve in the African countries of Liberia, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. In the United States, SMA missionaries have worked widely in the South, and in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey.