Deacon Connor McGinnis knows exactly where his path to the priesthood began — at All Saints in Lakeville.

“That’s been my home parish from baptism up until today,” said Deacon McGinnis, who at age 25 is set to become the youngest priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He also attended All Saints Catholic School from kindergarten through eighth grade, which he called “one of the great blessings of my life.”

Connor McGinnis“I just loved it there,” he said. “It was a wonderful place to be. I was able to form some solid friendships. There’s a group of about 10 of us that still get together every now and then. Out of those 10, eight of us have known each other since kindergarten. … Being able to form lifelong friendships there was really wonderful.”

The son of Karl Zgoda and Sharon McGinnis, Deacon McGinnis is among five men who will be ordained priests for the archdiocese at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul 10 a.m. May 28.

He said none of his friends are surprised that he is going to be a priest, as he had talked about it throughout his time in grade school. The first time he remembers feeling the call was in third or fourth grade. At that time, Bishop Lee Piché was the pastor of All Saints, and Father Robert Pish also was assigned there. Deacon McGinnis and Father Pish shared the same birthday, Sept. 21, which helped forge a bond between the two.

“By the time Father Pish moved on to his next assignment (at The St. Paul Seminary), I just had this really strong conviction that I was called to priesthood,” Deacon McGinnis said. “I don’t think I could have even articulated why. But, it was just like, ‘I think this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’ And, that (conviction) has stayed constant since then. There really wasn’t much wavering.”

In 2008, Father Thomas Wilson became pastor of All Saints after serving seven years as vocations director for the archdiocese. Deacon McGinnis got to know his new pastor better over the years, and the connection grew strong when Deacon McGinnis had a summer internship at All Saints a few years ago.

“He’s been a very constant, very supportive presence throughout,” Deacon McGinnis said of Father Wilson, who continues to minister as pastor at All Saints. “He’s been very good to me. … I’ve been immensely grateful to have him as my pastor.”

After grade school at All Saints, Deacon McGinnis went on to Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, another strong formative experience. That was a period when “I started owning my faith and appropriating it to myself,” he said. He started to become “intentionally Catholic.”

After he graduated from Holy Angels in 2015, he enrolled at the University of St. Thomas and St. John Vianney College Seminary in the fall. One of the things he has enjoyed — and hopes to carry into his priestly ministry — is the Church’s appeal to the intellect.

“I love the intellectual life and the intellectual life the Church has given to us over these past 2,000 years,” he said. “So, I think there’s going to be a strong emphasis on both preaching and teaching in my ministry, and just being able to communicate the basic Gospel message to people in a way that’s convicting, in a way that’s applicable, but then helping them to dive deeper.”

He knows that a lot of ideology in contemporary culture runs counter to the Catholic faith, and he hopes to draw on the faith to provide answers to today’s tough questions and issues.

For him, it will involve “just digging in to seek out answers, so I can give them to people, edify their faith, strengthen them and then, in effect, provide a foundation to send them out on mission.”

After ordination, Deacon McGinnis is looking forward to having a parish — and parishioners — to serve. He looks forward to having “people that I can care for, that I can try to cultivate relationship with God with.”