St. Jogues Seminarian Project

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St. Jogues Seminarian Project. Forming heroic, masculine hearts for a renewed priesthood through the intensity and challenge of the wilderness.

What’s Included

About

The St. Jogues Seminarian Project is 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. Through leadership training, personal development in the backcountry, and practical opportunities for ministry, COR aims to develop physical endurance, intentional brotherhood, mental tenacity, and 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 priesthood.

  • Regular Prayer and Sacraments

  • Leadership and mental tenacity training

  • Intentional fraternity and deep brotherhood

    Specific to the 10 week summer program:

  • Young adult, high school, and family ministry opportunities

  • Extensive leadership opportunities and human formation

  • Relational ministry with the poor of Denver

Who is a good fit?

Seminarians promoted by their diocese who desire deep and intentional human and spiritual formation experiences. The summer project is designed and directed towards college seminarians or seminarians entering their first years of formation. Seminarians must be prepared to endure rigorous physical challenges in wilderness environments, practice extreme mental tenacity, and intentionally pursue Christ in their spiritual life.

Spiritual Formation

  • Intentional discussions surrounding leadership, brotherhood, the role of beauty in evangelization, and identity as beloved sons of the Father

  • Daily Mass and sacramental life

  • Silent retreat day in the wilderness

  • Spiritual direction and conversation with multiple COR chaplains attending trips

  • Deep groundedness in identity formation

OPTION 1

21-day Backpacking Course with Seminarians

June 11th - July 5th, 2026

Three weeks in the wilderness with seminarians from across the country who desire to be forged by the fire of the Father’s love, and to receive more deeply the gift of their identity as beloved sons.

OPTION 2

10 Week Summer Program - Includes the 21-day backpacking trip

June 1st - August 2nd, 2026

A transformative summer of wilderness ministry, leadership training, and human formation for seminarians desiring deeper freedom, growth in grit and tenacity, and a stronger capacity for life-giving and authentic masculinity.

Itinerary

This 21-day trip includes the seminarians who are doing the 10-week summer project as well as those men who are just doing the 21-day trip. 

  • Backpacking 5-8 miles per day with heavy packs in complex terrain, including off trail. Other activities may include rock climbing and desert canyoneering.

  • Training in the wilderness skills necessary to thrive in a backcountry environment

  • Leadership, tolerance for adversity, and decision making training

  • Daily feedback from the instructor team and peers on hard skills, leadership, teaching pedagogy, and risk management

  • Formation and training to assist COR missionaries on future trips with young adults, families, and high school students

  • Opportunity for seminarians to share their story with each other in a deep and intentional environment

Itinerary

The St. Jogues Seminarian Project will welcome 6-12 seminarians to the COR Expeditions headquarters here in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains. Following their arrival, these men will form an intentional brotherhood and embark on a 3-week wilderness expedition designed for the seminarians partaking in the summer project. They will live in community as they join COR missionaries on adventure retreats serving high school students, families, and young adults and attend a week-long mission trip befriending the homeless with Christ in the City. Some elements of the program will have set dates while others are more flexible and can be arranged around other diocesan requirements and seminarian obligations.

  • 21 day wilderness expedition in mountain or desert environments (previously mentioned)

  • 3 days of wilderness medicine and risk management training in high intensity medical scenarios

  • 1-2 weeks of young adult, high school, and/or family ministry

  • 1 week mission trip serving the poor in Denver with missionaries from Christ in the City

  • 1 week of vacation - optional depending on diocesan and personal needs

Cost of the Program

$6,100 per Seminarian for 10 Week Summer Program

$3,150 per Seminarian for 21 Day Excursion

This price is all inclusive except for footwear, personal base layers, and toiletries. COR will provide a detailed gear list.

Payment is not required until your application has been accepted. Opportunities for fundraising and scholarships are available. Please inquire at info@corexpeditions.org

Application Process

Applications accepted until March 1 or until all spots are filled. Apply early to guarantee your spot! The Application Form will ask a variety of questions about your current stage of formation, what aspects of the Project you are excited for or nervous about, and includes a few short answer questions. After you complete the application form, you will be prompted to send two reference request forms directly from our registration process, one to your Formation Advisor and one to your Vocations Director, and submit contact information for a 3rd reference. Please have their contact information available. A member from the COR team will invite you to a virtual interview following the submission of your application.

If you have questions or want to talk to a member of the COR staff before you apply, please contact us!

21 Day Backpacking Trip Application
10 Week Seminary Program Application

Testimonials

“Our partnership with COR Expeditions has been a great blessing for our seminarians. Through the challenges of the wilderness, they returned with deeper confidence and a renewed spirit of collaboration with each other. Most importantly, they discovered anew the beauty of relying fully on God’s grace to guide and sustain them in every trial - which can be found in abundance when backpacking our rugged Rocky Mountains! They returned with a deep gratitude for the bonds of fraternity built and the beauty of creation that led them to deeper intimacy with the Trinity.”

— Very Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, STL

Archbishop of Denver, CO

“I’m convinced that vocation directors and dioceses should send their men to COR Expeditions' St. Jogues Seminary Project because the wilderness builds character in ways no classroom or parish ever could. Out in the backcountry, I’ve seen men learn to keep climbing when the trail gets brutal, to set camp before night falls, and to cook a meal even when they’re soaked and exhausted. It teaches them how to push through discomfort, face their fears head-on, and lean on others for support and guidance. The wilderness has a way of stripping away distractions and defenses, opening the door to silence, beauty, and a real encounter with God. In those quiet mornings or after a grueling hike, prayer feels raw and faith feels real. From what I’ve seen, COR shapes every part of a man’s priestly formation—human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral—forming men who know who they are, trust in God’s grace, and lead with authenticity and heart.”

— Fr. Etienne Huard, OSB

Conception Seminary College, Director and Dedicated Formator of the Propaedeutic Stage

“This past summer I was given the opportunity to attend COR Expedition’s St. Jogues Seminarian Project. When I began the formation program, as excited as I was to go adventuring through the back country of Wyoming, I was even more excited to see what Our Heavenly Father was going to do in this new environment. While hiking with groups in the remote and desolate landscape, our team focused on leadership, service, and communion with Our Loving Father. The Lord was able to do profound things in my life through the simplicity and constant challenge of living in the wilderness.

The practical grace I received was exercising and increasing my capacity for self-gift. During the summer I was repeatedly put in situations where I was challenged physically: climbing a peak, cold, hungry, or sore, and mentally, frustrated by maps, tired, or unable to find camp. During these experiences the Lord made it clear that I could either rely on my own strengths or I could trust in him, focus, and seek to help someone else. In the face of whatever pain, frustration, or suffering I was undergoing, the answer was almost always to make a gift of myself to someone through my actions; like Jesus did on the cross, when he gave himself totally as a gift to us, the pain and suffering he underwent was transformed into new life. This was my experience every time I chose to surrender to God by making a gift of myself to another. The difficulties we were going through diminished, and I found that I had the strength and the desire to keep going and serve someone else. It was a life-giving, difficult, and blessed time.

Through this experience, the Father not only reinforced my calling for priesthood, but He showed me a new way of living that gives me confidence in my capacity for leadership and great life-giving joy when I seek to be a self-gift of love to others. This summer has left me with a desire to continue to have amazing adventures in God’s creation, but more importantly, it has strengthened a desire in me to always be attentive to moments when the Lord is inviting me to be a self-gift. As I develop this habit, one day, God willing, I may be a priest radically conformed to Christ as a self-gift of love and so lead others to encounter the love of Our Heavenly Father.”

— Jacob McDougall, JSP participant 2025

  • Are the dates for the Jogues Seminarian Project flexible?

    Due to the backpacking portion at the beginning of the summer, it is easier for COR to make accommodations for schedule adjustments after July 2nd. Please contact a team member about specific scheduling alterations to see whether COR is able to accommodate your needs.

    Do I need experience?

    No prior experience with camping or any of our adventure activities is required for participation in the COR Jogues Seminarian Project. Our professional instructors will teach you everything you need to know to participate in each activity safely and not only survive, but thrive in each wilderness environment.

    Do I need to exercise to prepare for the summer project?

    Although you do not need to be a superstar athlete to participate, it is essential that you come with proper conditioning prior to your trip. Willingness to endure extreme physical demands is necessary, especially if you are coming from a sedentary life-style and/or lower elevations.

    What can I expect for the week with Christ in the City?

    The week will give you the opportunity to dive into life as a CIC missionary. This will include some training/talks given by the missionaries, street walks, lunch with the homeless, daily prayer and mass, opportunity for confession, community meals, and diving into relationships with other mission participants through community night and spending free time with missionaries.

    When is payment due?

    A 20% deposit is required after you have been accepted to the COR JSP. Payment in full is due by May 10th.

    For more frequently asked questions, visit our FAQ page.

  • A comprehensive packing list will be provided once your application has been accepted. In the meantime, you can view our Packing Info page to get an idea of what you will need to bring.

  • For more information about scholarships and financial aid offered, please contact us.

The Project Namesake

The courageous missionary and martyr of the North American wilderness, St. Isaac Jogues, was born in France and eagerly entered Jesuit formation as a young man. As a young priest his deepest desire was to join his brethren in their evangelization efforts in the New World. Throughout his priestly life, he followed the Lord’s call to dedicate himself to the native peoples of North America, embodying unwavering faith and selfless service.

Despite enduring captivity and harrowing torture, St. Isaac Jogues fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel, leaving an enduring legacy through his resilience, humility, and profound prayer. Inspired by his masculinity, courage, tenacity, and humility, COR dedicates this seminarian project to St. Isaac Jogues in hopes of imitating the North American martyrs who answered the Lord’s call to enter the spiritual wilderness of their time.

“My confidence is placed in God, who does not need our help for accomplishing His designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and be faithful to Him, and not spoil His work by our shortcomings.” —St. Isaac Jogues