As a pastor, I help people bear the stories entrusted to them.

Each one of us is made up of a constellation of stories. Stories that tell us who we are and where we belong. Stories that tell us what is possible and impossible. Stories that tell us how to hope and how to forgive and how to heal. Stories that show us what is worth dying for and what is worth living for.

And, especially, I help people bear God's living and unfolding story. Found in scripture, in relationships, in popular culture, in tradition, and in nature.

As for me, I am Courtney R. Young. I am the child of God who was baptized Lutheran in Minnesota as a small infant on the first Sunday of Lent. I am the girl who boldly held a salamander in each hand. I am the girl who started writing in order to make friends and found they emerged from her pen instead of her classroom. I am the girl who had great love waiting for her. I am the teenager confirmed on Pentecost, with exception and late. I am the teenager who went across town to broaden my horizons. I am the adult that still wonders what shape my daemon would take. I am the woman ordained on the first Sunday of Advent, singing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, also with exception and late, but for different reasons. I am the mother who plants tulip bulbs with her children in the fall and annuals in the spring. I am the pastor who carried the Lord’s table in a backpack.