CAMDEN – Father Vincent Guest, Vicar for the City of Camden and pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, will be honored with the 2026 Camden County MLK Freedom Medal.
Given by the Camden County Board of Commissioners, the medal is presented annually to county residents who have selflessly contributed their time and effort to better their community and who, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., are rooted in justice, equality and service.
“Father Guest’s work is a living testament to Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community rooted in dignity, equity and peace. Whether offering legal guidance, spiritual counsel or a compassionate presence, he uplifts those most in need and inspires others to do the same,” the Board of Commissioners said in announcing the awards.
In addition, they noted Father Guest’s tireless advocacy to the immigrant and underserved, and his commitment to “a vibrant, inclusive parish that reflects Camden’s rich multicultural diversity. His leadership has strengthened community outreach, expanded social justice initiatives, and deepened interfaith and intercultural dialogue.”
Father Guest will be one of 11 community leaders to receive the honor during an awards banquet Jan. 21 at the Collingswood Ballroom. Camden parishioner Jeanette Alvarez, vice president of the city’s Advisory School Board, and an active member of the youth ministry and choir at Saint Joseph Pro-Cathedral, is also a recipient of the award.
Others to be honored: Giselle V. Brown, emerging teenage artist; Vivian Coley, Camden County Police Department captain; Ted Gallagher, the county’s director of Veterans Affairs; Rob Jakubowski, the county’s director of the Division of Community Development; Lion James, outdoorsman and conservationist; Jacquelyn B. Lee, leader, mentor, and lifelong advocate for civic engagement and community empowerment; Dan Rhoton, CEO of Hopeworks; Dr. Leslie M. Showell, lifelong educator, mentor and community advocate; and Brian Keith Truitt, lifelong restaurateur and Camden entrepreneur.
Camden County Commissioner Jeffrey L. Nash, who nominated Father Guest for the honor, praised the priest and noted projects the two have worked on together in the Waterfront South section of Camden, such as housing development and clean air initiatives.
With a cooperative, non-combative spirit, Father Guest is able to articulate the needs of his community, and be an advocate for residents, Nash said. “I can think of no better person in our community to receive this recognition than Father Guest. His faith [and] work in the community replicates what Dr. King stood for.”
Father Guest said he was humbled by the honor, noting that his first thoughts upon hearing the news were of his parents, “who raised me and my siblings to recognize the burdens others carry, to never forget how challenging some folks have it in life, and to treat all people with great dignity and respect, as children of God, and brothers and sisters in Christ.”
He also recalled the priests and religious, past and present, “who work and have worked for justice and honored the legacy of Dr. King.” Among those he named: Msgr. Michael Doyle – who worked for South Camden’s community for nearly 50 years as a pastor and advocate before his death in 2022 – and the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary who work with the immigrant community in Bridgeton.
“I stand on their shoulders,” Father Guest said.
Reflecting on Dr. King, Father Guest added that the civil rights leader’s advocacy was “rooted in God’s work, in respecting the dignity of God’s people, and working to build communities of peace, justice and nonviolence.”
“That’s the message the world needs to hear.”
A native of Philadelphia, Father Guest worked in the administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey, where he served as deputy secretary of the Commonwealth and as special assistant to the governor. He studied law at Temple University, and this career took him to Camden, where he served as the director of the Camden Center for Law and Social Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, and South Jersey Legal Service. As an attorney, his focus was on immigration, housing and child welfare law.
He then went on to pursue the priesthood, studying at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., and the Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Camden in 2012.
As Vicar for the City of Camden, Father Guest represents Bishop Joseph Williams at civic events and community meetings, and serves as a point of contact with government agencies and neighborhood organizations.
He also oversees collaboration among Catholic leaders, parishes, Catholic Charities and church-affiliated groups working in Camden, and helps develop parish-based neighborhood action plans aimed at addressing local needs and supporting residents.
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