For many years, the Marist Brothers and Lay people around the country were in discussion on how to grow the Marist family and perpetuate St. Marcellin’s vision of making Jesus known and loved. In the summer of 2018, seventy-five Lay Marists gathered in Long Branch, NJ for the first-ever USA Lay Marist Assembly. The retreat-style assembly was guided by guest speakers Pep Buetas from Spain who was the Co-Director of the Secretariat of the Laity for the Marist Institute, and Patti Rios, a Lay faculty member at a school in Tijuana, Mexico. From the Lay Retreat, a steering committee was selected to devise a plan for the Marists of Champagnat. The committee spent 2018-2019 surveying lay men and women and Brothers in order to construct a proposal to the Marist Brothers in an organizational model for the Lay and Marist community to move the Marist Mission into the future. In the spring of 2020, Maureen Hagan was hired as the director of the Lay Marists, and a council of Lay and Brothers was formed. This council has worked to build the foundation of the Marists of Champagnat to provide growth in Marist spirituality and mission together. In 2021, the Marists of Champagnat were officially established with the first cohort of 42 laypeople who made their commitment on June 6th. In 2022 and 2023, there were 62 Lay Marists who formally committed themselves as Marists of Champagnat. Each cohort journeyed together, along with a dedicated group of Marist Brothers, during a 6-month formation period that led to their commitment ceremonies. In July 2023, the first Marists of Champagnat Assembly took place in Long Branch, NJ with over 65 Marists of Champagnat attending from across the country. The group recommitted themselves to the mission of making Jesus known and loved through spirituality, service, and shared life. Led by Lay Council members Matt Fallon and Maureen Hagen as well as Br. Sam Amos, Br. Peter Guadalupe, Mary Beth Martin, and Jan Ann Carvalho, the assembly provided opportunities for faith-sharing through Mass, liturgies, and enriching breakout activities. It is the hope of the USA Marist Brothers Provincial Council and Lay Marist Council that more and more Lay Marists will feel the calling to deepen their Marist spirituality and join the Marists of Champagnat.