While other 15-year-old girls are concerned about fashion or nursing their latest crush, Perri Costley is praying, fasting and preparing for her next sermon.
Perri has been preaching in churches in Carrollton, Douglasville, Jonesboro and in Alabama since she was 14.
“The Lord really put this strong word in my heart,” said Perri, who is home schooled. She felt the tug of the ministry after returning from a youth conference in 2009. She asked her youth pastor at Grace Covenant Church in Carrollton if she could preach to the youth group. When she spoke, it was as “if a heavy burden lifted,” she said. “I got to show my heart, and I knew that was what I was supposed to do.”
Perri is neither a typical teen nor a typical preacher. It’s rare to find someone so young in the pulpit.
Rori Blakeney, youth pastor at Winters Chapel United Methodist Church in Doraville, reminds people that Jesus was 12 when he stayed behind in the temple sitting among the teachers and asking them questions. “We believe that being called is a divine act, so in my estimation, there’s never an age too young,” he said. “The question becomes how long is that person groomed and nurtured. “
