The last two weeks of June, roughly thirty high school-aged men participated in Christ Academy High School, a two-week program for young men interested in the pastoral ministry. In between classes and choir practice and chapel, they took time out to have some fun at Cedar Point Amusement Park last Friday, enjoying a full day of roller coasters, hot dogs, and laughter.

The bus ride home was quiet. Most of the guys were sleeping, sunburned, and exhausted. But a few rows behind me, one young man quietly called his mother up on his cell phone. I heard, “Mom? Hey, it’s me. This week has been awesome.” He paused. “Guess what? I just wanted to let you know that I’ve decided to be a pastor.” He waited again. “This is how it will happen: I’ll graduate from high school in a couple of years, and then I’ll go to college, and then I’ll move to Fort Wayne. So, you should plan on me being in school for a while. Is that okay?” Another pause. “Oh, good. Let’s talk about this more when I get home.”

He hung up then, and I didn’t hear a peep out of him the rest of the ride. He was worn out after a day of talking theology with his peers, eating gooey nachos and drippy ice cream, and being flipped upside down on roller coasters with names like the Corkscrew and Mean Streak. But even as a teenager, as a young man who has not even finished his high school training, he has begun the discernment process, moving slowly and steadily toward the end our Lord has in store for him. It was, at first, a little endearing to overhear his conversation with his mother, but the longer I ponder it, I have begun to realize that it was truly an honor to hear, to observe someone who likely will, one day years from now, serve as an undershepherd in Christ’s Church.