By Jay Sorgi • Posted January 15, 2026

The Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Ambler are inviting junior high school-aged young men to experience a day of faith and fun to discern God’s calling in their life.

The seminary is hosting its annual Brothers of Borromeo Vocation Camp, a one-day camp experience which since 2007 has brought sixth- through eighth-grade boys to share a day of activities and games, faith and camaraderie-building that humanizes the journey of a seminarian and a priest.

“It’s just a really fun day. It’s energizing. It’s dynamic,” said Assistant to the Vocation Director Susan Matour, who has been part of many BBVC camps over the years.

“I was in an interim position last year when I attended it and we got to see it for the first time. There’s dozens and dozens of kids, and they were just having fun the entire time from the moment they got there,” said Father Sean English, the director of the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood.

“A lot of them remember each other from the year before, and they remember their seminarians. It’s exciting connections that they’re making at the seminary in a fun way.”

The 2026 camp is themed “Everything I Have Is Yours.” It happens Saturday, March 28 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the new seminary grounds at 1400 Evans Road in Ambler. The entry fee is $25, a price that organizers have held steady for years. People can find a link to sign up here.

Organizers make it a point to invite not only boys from Catholic schools, but any Catholic boys of that age group to participate. Since many campers return for the annual experience, the program gets a refresh each year.

“It may have similar components in terms of a holy hour, confession, a talk and lunch, but they’re different every year,” Matour said.

She adds that few young people take the opportunity to explore what seminary life entails, so the camp becomes a door-opener for them to  meet seminarians and understand priestly commitment.

“A lot of the kids have never been to the seminary before or even necessarily understood what a seminary is. They’ve maybe never even said the word,” Matour said.

The BBVC has planted the seed for numerous campers to begin exploring where God may be leading them in their life, at a time before they begin planning future college or career options.

“It in many ways has been like a launching pad for a lot of kids. They continue into high school, into college and further on into an awareness of what the vocation office offers and into discernment,” said Matour.

“Sixth graders are not discerning the priesthood, but many will then say, ‘I’ve continued to stay associated with the vocation office, or I came to the Quo Vadis camp because I had such a great time at BBVC.’”

A current deacon at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary saw his pathway toward the priesthood hit higher speed through BBVC.

“As a little kid I always wanted to be a priest. As I progressed through middle school, the desire was starting to weaken. I will never forget when I was brought to BBVC in the midst of this time, around fifth grade,” said Deacon Declan Cole.

“I remember like it was yesterday, standing in the choir loft of Immaculate Conception Chapel at the end of the day. I was so full of joy from the camp that I felt God asking me to follow this vocation and so I promised God at that moment that I would be His priest.”

Matour cites a study by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that showed that age 11 — just about Deacon Cole’s age when he attended BBVC — is when the thought process about the priesthood, married life or single life begins for many young people.

“It showed that young people begin to first think about their vocation at two critical time points. One, when they’re around 11 years old, which is around sixth grade, or two, eventually in 11th grade,” said Matour.

“That is when many dioceses around the country began to look at that and say, ‘What is it that we can do to help junior high and high school men during that time when they’re already thinking about a possible vocation, not necessarily thinking, ‘I want to be a priest’ or ‘I want to be married,’ (but) ‘I’m beginning to think  there is something that God is calling me to.’”

Father English’s life even reflects the fruits that can come from seeds being planted in a young person’s mind.

“I remember where I grew up in Delaware County, we would drive by the old seminary on City Line Avenue. My parents would point it out, but it was just this big, impressive building,” he said. “You look behind the walls and you wonder what’s going on in there. Once you visit for the first time, you see guys that are just like you.”

That realization is exactly the outcome that organizers hope the BBVC Camp experience becomes, one where seminarians play football with junior high boys, and share their journeys of how God is working within their lives.

Matour describes it simply: “It’s just a day of fun and faith.”