A change of heart and a heartfelt conversation with his mother helped shape the Rev. Aquilino "John" Perez's journey from Catholic seminarian to pastor of two Lutheran churches in Baton Rouge.

About seven years ago, Perez completed his studies at a Catholic seminary with plans to become a missionary priest. When his outlook and theology began to shift, he called on his mother, who had raised him in the Catholic Church, to share what was on his heart.

"Her exact words to me were, 'As long as you find a church that is Christ-centered, it doesn't matter to me,'" he recalled.

Perez, 31, eventually found his spiritual home in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States.

"There was an emphasis on grace with the ELCA, which reall

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