Already nicknamed “Preacher” by her teammates on the Northern Michigan University women’s rugby team, Erin Angeli, a junior history major, hopes to attend seminary after her graduation to evenutally become the pastor of a church. Here she stands outside the Marquette First Presbyterian Church on Front Street where she reguarlly attends services. (Journal photo by Johanna Boyle)

MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University student Erin Angeli gets a range of reactions when people hear about her career goals. “‘Really? Are you kidding?’” she said, smiling and imitating how people usually respond when she tells them she wants to be an ordained minister. “It surprises a lot of people. I’m not the kind of person who quotes the Bible all the time. I just don’t come off as a good little Christian girl.” Appearances aside, a becoming a pastor has been a goal of Angeli’s since shortly after she became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Marquette. “I never went to church as a kid. I never did the whole Sunday school thing. I wasn’t baptized until I was 16,” she said. Once she began regularly attending church, however, Angeli said she found herself inspired by the relationship between the minister and the rest of the congregation. “I loved being in church and having the relationships with people,” she said.