How to Grow Vocations: The Tiny Village That Produces Priests
How Fowler, Michigan, became a hub for inspiring vocations
FOWLER, Mich. — This tiny village of 1,233 is nationally known for producing priests, but Fowler also inspires other vocations (like marriage).
A decade ago, The New York Times and CNN did stories about this tiny town producing 22 priests, including two twins. The reports featured young Father Mathias Thelen.
Father Thelen became pastor of our local parish, St. Patrick Catholic Church in Brighton, Michigan, in 2017. Now, it’s the largest parish in our diocese, an international destination for believers, home to the Encounter School of Ministry (with satellite campuses around the world).
They remind us God is alive and active in his world.
A few years ago, our friend Rory Clark, one of the first Encounter graduates, prayed and had a vocational vision.
Every year, the Lansing Diocese prints a poster showing the face of each seminarian. One shows men studying to be priests and another shows women studying to be religious sisters. Traditionally, vocation posters are filled with young faces from Fowler and the Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor.
