Modeled in ancient Celtic history but quite different from later religious, monastic communities, abbeys are centers of craft and trade, worship and outreach, counsel and guidance, teaching and training, hospitality and rest, love and healing. Abbeys are havens of refuge and peace, not only for family and friends, but also for strangers and outcasts.

Abbeys are led and guided by an Abbot, a spiritual father who seeks to protect and cultivate the welfare of the community. Father Chris Sorensen was commissioned as the Abbot of the Mission Abbey by the Most Reverend Doctor Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America.

The Mission Abbey is comprised of three parishes: Mission Chattanooga, Mission Red Bank, and Mission Cleveland.