James L. Caton, II’s “Call Story”

My father was an airline mechanic with an eighth grade education and my mother was a high school graduate. Mother did not work outside the home. As a child, my parents and I attended the Lutheran church every week for worship and Sunday school. My earliest childhood memories are those of being at that church. I do not remember a time I didn’t know I was going to be a pastor. My parents said that from the very first time I was asked, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” I always said, “A Pastor.” I cant’ explain it. I always said it, felt it, and believed it.

That “Call” was nurtured along the way by the pastors in my home congregation and by the Sunday school teachers and church members. I was never made to feel – by parents or pastors – that I would let anyone down if later I chose not to be a Pastor.

When I was in high school, what is now Trinity Seminary, held an event for all high school students in the Washington, D.C. area who might be thinking about the ordained ministry. I attended this event and found that each participant was involved in a personal meeting with someone from the Seminary. This event was helpful in giving me a deeper understanding of my “Call.” I attended college in California and found my new pastor there very helpful in guiding me through the steps necessary for entering the Seminary.

After thirty years in the ordained ministry, I see it was one thing to have a “Call”, and another for that “Call” to be nurtured by pastors and congregational members. Each person involved in that process served to affirm my “Call”, give me confidence that my “Call” was real, and showed me that I was indeed walking where the Lord was leading.

James L. Caton, II
Pastor St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
Clarksburg, WV

Project Connect is an initiative of the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries. Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, and the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Funded by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc.