Christine is a dangerous young woman. In her sophomore year in high school, like many young people, she was on the verge. For the first time in her life, her grades at the Catholic high school were teetering below her lifelong A’s. She has quit volleyball after many years in the sport but had joined the school play as stage crew. She had just started working- three shifts a week at Wendy’s. And she was just grounded by her parents for riding in a car whose driver, while under the influence of one can of beer, was involved in a minor fender bender. Christine was confused, she was angry; it was a dangerous time.

A friend invited her to church one night to assist with an enactment of the Stations of the Cross. It was a nothing part- she was one of the women that Jesus met as part of the eighth station. It was a ruse to circumvent the grounding and get out of the house. Christine and her friend understood that, but so did her parents, and the adult volunteer coordinating the Stations.

Nonetheless, no one questioned Christine’s motivation. Christine surprised herself. She liked the community she experienced; she enjoyed the laughter, mostly. She appreciated the spirit of collaboration. She cherished the sense of commitment by her peers as well as the friendliness of the adults involved. She thought the prayer that ended each practice with the “cast” holding hands and quietly praying was different and cool. She was amazed as to how supportive and encouraging the community was that Lenten Friday night when they acted out the Stations.

The Stations and the grounding concluded around the same time. But Christine was still a part of parish youth ministry activities. A ski trip here, lector training there, an overnight retreat, and a service camp were all part of the mix. Without any recruitment effort, Christine signed up for the parish’s youth leadership training program- the Jeremiah Project.

During the program, Christine drew what was perceived by the adults as “the programmatic short straw” and was asked to develop a fund raising program. Christine dug in and eventually planned a very successful softball game against the staff of a local radio station. The event was a success, in terms of fund raising, even before the actual game was conducted. The pastor invested some of the excess profit in buying baseball caps for the training program participants with a “JP” sewn into the cap.

At the completion of the Jeremiah Project, there was a commissioning during the Sunday 10:30 liturgy. The pastor dedicated a homily to not only the program’s graduates, but all the young people in attendance as well. He spoke of how he and the parish believed in the young people. What a dangerous thing to say in front of Christine.

At the coffee following the liturgy, the pastor worked the room, congratulating all the young people and their families. As he shook Christine’s hand, he asked her what was the parish going to see next from her in her senior year. What a dangerous question to ask Christine. She looked him straight in the eye and calmly responded, “I going to serve on parish council.”

The rules regarding parish council elections needed to be researched. Any Confirmed member of the parish, like Christine, could run. Any parish member under the age of 18, like Christine, however, was ineligible to vote. With the support of her peers (in spirit, but not at the ballots) Christine, nonetheless, won a three-year term to the parish council. She wore her JP baseball cap to the first meeting. In her third year of her term, her sophomore year at a local college, Christine was elected chairperson of the council.

Fifteen years later, the pastor and Christine were reunited at a diocesan youth ministry award dinner Christine had taken her MSW (Masters in Social Work) and became a director of a non-profit program for homeless women. This night, Christine was been recognized for her leadership in the parish which included leading a fund-raising drive, leadership training for young people, and her recent election (again!) to the pastoral council. Christine had also developed a diocesan youth service learning program.

At listening to the tales of Christine’s faith and generosity, her old pastor worked his way through the many well-wishers to congratulate her. As he shook Christine’s hand, he asked her what was the Church was going to see next from her. What a dangerous question to ask Christine.