Clergy
The Reverend Jim Young is the Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Fr. Young is a native of Tennessee and a 1996 graduate of Yale Divinity School. He has served several parishes in Louisiana, Texas and California. Before coming to St. Paul's Jim served as chaplain in a joint Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry at Stanford University.
Jim came to St. Paul's in the fall on 2005 as the Associate Rector. When the Rector left in 2008, Jim became the Priest in Charge. In the summer of 2010 St. Paul's called Jim to become their new Rector.
Jim lives in Salem with his wife Niki, who grew up on the coast in Coos Bay, and is now employed as the Director of the Center of Teaching and Learning at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. Niki has a Ph. D. in communication and enjoys teaching and working with the faculty. The Youngs have three children Andrew, Ben and Chris. As a family, the Youngs enjoy science museums, the coast, and exploring.
You may e-mail Fr. Jim at fatherjimyoung@yahoo.com.
The Rev. Heather Wenrick
As a native of Corvallis and Salem and member of St. Paul’s until 1996, it is with sincere joy that I have been called to be the Associate Rector. I was born in 1978 to John Chilcote and Mary Forner in Corvallis and baptized at St. Barnabas Episcopal in Portland. After moving to Salem in 1985, my family became members of St. Paul’s Salem. From this sanctuary, I recall identifying that faith had a particular call on my life. I suspected that believing in God meant responding to the Gospel, I found my call confusing.
I earned a dual degree in Education and Behavior Sciences from Gonzaga University in 2000. With a teaching certificate, I taught children with behavioral disabilities and helped their families acquire a decent education for three years. After volunteering with my best friend, Michael Wenrick, at Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying and Destitute, we married. In 2003, Michael and I became Peace Corps Volunteers in Honduras. In 2005, I became the Director of Youth Ministries at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral where I started the 3-year discernment process. Since, I have continued mentoring youth, sustained relationships with Honduras and grew in my devotion to public service.
After making the commitment to faithfully attend the Episcopal Church, I gained courage to proclaim the purpose of my life. Since then, I have never wanted to stop nurturing communities of love and encouraging people to tell their stories of faith. This May, I graduated from Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale with a master of divinity degree. On June 18, 2011, I was ordained as a transitional deacon.
Expounding upon my passions of education, outreach and the liturgy, I am honored to join St. Paul’s in the mission “To Know Christ and to Make Christ Known.” The circularity of my call, returning to the very parish who nurtured my faith as a young person, is a testament to my great-grandmother who introduced the Episcopal tradition to my family, the Episcopal Church’s decision to ordain women to all orders of ministry in 1976, and the integrity of many men and women who support me in faith. It is an honor to be home!
Onward in faith,
Rev. Heather Wenrick+
