COR Expeditions Launches the St. Jogues Seminarian Project (JSP), a 10-Week Summerlong Program For Seminarians
This year, Wyoming Catholic College’s one-of-a-kind outreach program, COR Expeditions, is launching the St. Jogues Seminarian Project (JSP), an intentionally-crafted program designed to address the Church’s growing need to nurture priestly hearts devoted to the service of Christ. Drawing inspiration from St. Isaac Jogues, the heroic priest martyr of the North American wilderness, the project strives to support vocation directors and seminary formators in cultivating men who are strong, humble, and prayerful—a potent force for Christ in America.
“As I have often remarked,” says the College’s president, Kyle Washut, “all throughout the history of the Church, the wilderness has always been the place of renewal; the place where you go to start the process of healing and of self-education and self-understanding. We have seen extraordinary fruits stemming from our students’ time in the backcountry—their confidence, their leadership, their ability to access risks and overcome challenges, and much more—and the opportunity to offer these same benefits to the future priests and leaders of our Church is tremendously exciting to all of us here at Wyoming Catholic!”
It is precisely through this kind of leadership training, through personal development in the backcountry, and through practical opportunities for ministry that COR aims to help the program’s participants to develop the physical endurance, intentional brotherhood, mental tenacity, and rich experiences that facilitate human formation. With the St. Jogues Seminarian Project, COR hopes to contribute to the Church by helping to prepare seminarians to embrace the daily self-sacrifice of the Catholic priesthood.
In a recent Catholic News Agency piece on the new program, Dr. Tom Zimmer (who heads up the College’s outdoor program and is Executive Director of COR Expeditions) told writer Martin Barillas that COR is uniquely suited to providing this program. “We are the only Catholic program that is nationally accredited and the only one connected to a Catholic college that’s for credit,” he said. “There are a few programs that do short trips, here and there, but in the Catholic world of outdoor ministry, we’re the biggest program doing things like this.” As a result, participating seminarians will have the opportunity to receive college credits from Wyoming Catholic College for courses in theology and philosophy that will be applicable to their seminary studies!
The project will begin in early June and finish by mid-August, with options for a flexible schedule depending on diocesan and seminarian requirements. Up to a dozen seminarians will travel to the College’s headquarters in Lander, in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains. Following their arrival, these men will embark on a 3-week wilderness expedition designed exclusively for the seminarians partaking in the summer project. They will live in community and form an intentional brotherhood, as they join COR missionaries on adventure retreats serving high school students, families, and young adults and attend a week-long mission trip with Christ in the City, a Denver-based apostolate to the homeless.
No prior experience with camping or any of COR’s adventure activities is required for participation in the JSP, since COR’s professional instructors will teach participants everything they need to know to participate in each activity safely and not only survive, but thrive in each wilderness environment. Further details on the program can be found HERE, along with application information.
