SALISBURY — The Diocese of Charlotte celebrated another leap for vocations Friday as 10 young men entered St. Joseph College Seminary.
“It is a huge blessing,” said Father Brian Becker, the diocese's vocations promoter. “It all ties into the growth we have had as a seminary and a diocese. This was the 10th anniversary of St. Joseph. We ordained 10 men to the priesthood this year, and now 10 new men to the seminary.”
Priests, deacons, consecrated religious and seminarians from all corners of the diocese came together for Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury to celebrate the new seminarians: Jonathan Azamar (Our Lady of Lourdes, Monroe), Matthew Belanger (St. Barnabas, Arden), Michael Grant (St. Ann, Charlotte), Darrell Keller III (St. Mary, Help of Christians, Shelby), Mark Pressley (St. Mark, Huntersville), Anthony Quintero (St. Gabriel, Charlotte), John Townsend (St. Ann, Charlotte), Dominic Vogelbacher (Our Lady of the Mountains in Highlands), and Andrew Weyrauch and Ethan Winborn (both from St. Bernadette in Linville).
The 10 new men of “Kilo class” join 17 others already enrolled at the college seminary.
Established in 2016, St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly offers undergraduate men the opportunity to discern a possible vocation before taking the step of enrolling in a major seminary for specific formation to the priesthood for the diocese. Students pursue a bachelor’s degree at nearby Belmont Abbey College while experiencing a Benedictine-style communal life on their path of discernment.
‘What God has in store for you’
Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., offered the Mass for the opening of the seminary year, jumpstarting the men’s discernment process with his homily.
During the Mass, offered on the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, he invited the men to embrace their new path.
“Just maybe, like Ignatius, the thing you thought you would be doing may not necessarily be the thing you are doing,” he said. “What God has in store for you no one else can imagine…You are not in this world by yourself, you are part of something larger.”
He told them to approach this process with open eyes and hearts.
“In order for you to be able to stand on this altar, to be here in this priesthood and serve, as you have been called to serve…you need to take time to dig more deeply into who each and every one of you are.”
He went on to say that the world’s values are often not aligned with what Christ is calling them to do.
“Christ gives us the crucifixion,” Bishop Martin said. “You are not only called to embrace it, you’re called to tell the rest of us to embrace it. To do that you better be willingly to deny yourself completely all the things that you dreamt of, and of the things you imagined yourself doing. You've got to let it go. The seminary can only do so much, you have to do the rest.”
He told them not to be afraid that they don’t have what it takes because, he said, “the Holy Spirit does.”
‘Keep doing what you’re doing’
After Mass, hugs and laughter were contagious as everyone reunited on the church steps.
Vocations Director and Sacred Heart's pastor, Father John Eckert, said this large class is the result of God working though the prayers of the diocese.
“God is good and we are very blessed,” Father Eckert said. “The good people of the Charlotte diocese, please keep doing what you are doing, praying for vocations and all our young men and women discerning vocations.”
Proud dad Adrian Quintero stayed back in the church, watching his son Anthony stand next to the bishop.
“It is a joy to be able to know that your child has encountered the Lord so profoundly with a desire to respond to the calling – to step out in faith and trust,” he said.
After Mass the Townsend brothers broke bread with family and friends, adding an additional last name to the growing list of siblings pursuing vocations in the diocese.
“I feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement. I am starting a new chapter,” new seminarian John Townsend said. “A couple of years ago, I felt the call to come to the seminary. I fought it for a few years, but eventually God won, like He always does, and now I am here.”
His brother, Father Peter Townsend, pastor of St. Joseph of the Hills in Eden and Holy Infant in Reidsville, gives God all the credit.
“I didn’t do anything, it was all the Lord that has placed this desire in his heart to discern the priesthood,” Father Townsend said. “It is very exciting to see your younger brother go and follow the same seminary path.”
Seminary rector Father Matthew Kauth couldn't stop smiling as he credited the prayers of the diocese, the homegrown seminary and a strong support system for the continued boom of men called to priestly ministry.
“I would do the entire enterprise again just for 10 guys total,” Father Kauth said. “Over these 10 years we have had so many. To have our largest class after 10 years is a great sign of God’s blessing and fidelity of what we attempted to do.”
Enrollment in the diocese's 2026-’27 vocations program also includes 16 men who are studying in major seminaries in Ohio or Rome, or taking a pastoral year to teach – bringing the total number of seminarians who are in priestly formation for the diocese to 43.
— Lisa M. Geraci. Photos by Fredrik Akerblom.
