When Father Kevin Manthey was 11, a priest celebrating Mass at his Wisconsin Boy Scout camp told the scouts they shouldn’t let fear of public speaking stop them from becoming a priest, and the shy boy from Farmington was inspired.
“That was the spark that made me start thinking about it, kind of in a sideways way, but ever since sixth grade, it was always a possibility,” said Father Manthey, now 36 and celebrating 10 years as a diocesan priest. “It was always a thought in my mind that God might be calling me.”
As a priest, Father Manthey said, he has joined an international lay community, spent a formation year with the community’s international seminarians in Belgium and celebrated Mass outdoors in Quebec City in 15 below zero temperatures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wherever he serves, Father Manthey said, as a priest he’s privileged to be present at encounters between individuals and God, as they receive God’s mercy in confession or spiritual direction or desire to grow deeper in faith in other ways.
“That’s been for me the greatest joy, seeing the power of grace working in people’s lives,” he said.
He sees this grace currently as a spiritual director at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul and a priest in solidum (team) for the St. Paul parishes of Holy Childhood and Maternity of Mary, along with Father Andrew Brinkman and Father Philippe Vigneron.
All three priests are part of the Emmanuel Community, a public association of the faithful founded in Paris in 1972 in which Catholics of all states in life seek to grow in holiness and live out their faith.
Father Brinkman introduced Father Manthey to the community while they were in the seminary. Father Manthey’s involvement led to his requesting permission to pause his seminary studies in 2010 to spend a formation year with the community’s international seminarians in Belgium. The year included intensive Scripture study.
Ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2014, Father Manthey said he has used his Spanish-speaking skills while serving as parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka for three years. The next three years he was a Hill-Murray High School chaplain in Maplewood while assisting with sacraments at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, St. Nicholas in Carver and Guardian Angels in Chaska.
In the fall of 2020, Father Manthey rode his motorcycle to New York City to serve as chaplain at the Emmanuel School of Mission. The missionary boarding school’s session was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Father Manthey served until 2023 at two parishes with Emmanuel Community members in Quebec City.
This summer, Father Manthey said, he hopes to take more motorcycle trips while he focuses on growing as a spiritual director and pastor.
He isn’t sure where God will lead him in his next decade of priesthood.
“The one thing I expect,” he said, “is to be surprised, because that’s been how things are going this far.”
