Announcing the 134th Annual Meeting

of the Episcopal Church Women

of the

Diocese of North Carolina

When:  Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5, 2016

Where:  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 520 Summit St., Winston-Salem, NC

Holy Eucharist:  The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, Bishop Pro Tempore

The keynote speaker is “… an experienced pastor and parish priest who understands the organic relationship between faith in Jesus Christ, and passion for social justice”, The Very Rev. Dr. William Stafford: The Rev. Kathryn Mary (Kammy) Young Receives Local Hero Award

… was the headline of a 2011 Jacksonville, Florida, news release. Bank of America presented this philanthropic award to Rev. Young for her work in spearheading an initiative to increase access to quality early literacy centers for children of low-income families as part of the bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative program. Young led a group of 20 volunteers committed to addressing root causes leading to high school drop-out. Recognizing through research that the gaps that appear in school readiness in kindergarten tend to persist throughout the school years, and in Duval County, Florida, the racial gap in achievement scores of high school students was already evident when children began school. As a result of Young’s leadership, 1,000 more children were enrolled in quality Voluntary Pre-K programs and 230 more received full-day vouchers enabling them to afford the quality programs offered through the state. In her acceptance remarks, Young quoted a portion of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 speech, “Where Do We Go From Here?”  Young said that while she is committed to doing the just and right thing for children in the community  “…it took 1,200 people coming together across boundaries that often divide us to put power behind our love and make those changes for their well being… and we’ve got to keep doing that… to make even more far-reaching changes in our public education system, restorative justice programs, homelessness prevention, and unemployment issues.”

At the time, Rev. Young was Associate Rector for Spirituality & Justice, Christ Episcopal Church, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and Chairperson of the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation & Empowerment, Jacksonville, Florida, Education Committee.

 At present, Rev. Young is the director of contextual education and lecturer in contextual theology for the School of Theology at Sewanee, The University of the South.  Young brings 24 years experience as an Episcopal priest, with broad experience in both large and small church ministry. She has been a proactive leader for her diocese and congregations in implementing creative ministry development, and innovative programs and technology to promote increasingly faithful mission and ministry.

When asked about her new position Young said, “This position will be a new challenge and a great step toward fulfilling my goal to help shape the direction of Episcopal Church leadership, mission, and ministry for the next generation. I will draw on my strengths of working with people from all walks of life and celebrating the wonderful diversity of creation as a God-given gift for enriching our lives and deepening our faith and love.” In explaining what contextual education meant to her Young said it is all about relationship.  It is cultivating the hope and courage and wisdom to discover together the next steps in responding to God’s transforming work in this unique place, with these precious people, at this particular time.

Rev. Young is a proud mother of two grown children, George and Lucy.  She is married to the Rt. Rev. George Dibrell Young, III, Bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee.