Sarah Brown
Bethanie Young, the new pastor at Sweet Home Church of the Nazarene, moved to Sweet Home from Washington at the end of June to take up her new ministerial role, which began in the pulpit Sunday, July 1.
Young replaced Troy Johnson, who served at the Nazarene church for more than four years.
“It’s a small, cute town,” Young said about her new home. “It’s quiet. We’ve been living such crazy, hectic, chaotic lives that coming here is kind of like, ‘Uh, now what do I do?'”
She’s confident that after she and her husband Jeff settle in, they’ll be able to find plenty of ways to “stay crazy busy,” but in the meantime they are enjoying the quiet for a bit, she said.
This is Young’s first opportunity to lead as a pastor, but she’s been serving her community and families in one way or another most of her life.
Her dad owned a printing business in Longview, Wash. for 30 years, in which Young worked and learned the business.
“I come from a small town, small business,” she said. “We come from that community-minded base where you do things because the community needs you to do it, not because you’re the big box store and you’re going to do it for the cheapest price. So you do it the right way with the biggest heart and the best benefit to the people. I think that’s my upbringing, really.”
Bethanie and Jeff have been married 16 years, and estimate in that time they’ve fostered about 50 children. Eight years ago, the couple began attending Celebrate Recovery as a way to help the families they were serving.
“We thought we could help get the biological families into something that would help them get their lives back together so that we could get their kids back to them, and ended up in a position finding out that we maybe needed to work on ourselves.”
Young went through Celebrate Recovery for emotional and physical abuse from her past, she said. From there, she took on a leadership position in the ministry at Longview Nazarene Church in Washington, and then went back to school to get her Master of Divinity through Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho.
Though she committed her life to Christ at 9 years old, Young admits it wasn’t until almost five years ago that she completely yielded to the decision to follow what she recognized as God’s leading. She attributes the decision to Celebrate Recovery, Life Leadership Development, and the unexpected passing of her best friend and mentor.
“I would say that was probably the turning point for me, losing her and realizing I was relying too much on people and myself, and not on what my purpose and calling was.”
She noted her Sweet Home congregation is very committed to supporting Dr. Nathan Mason’s family, which is currently serving in Papua New Guinea, and to Sweet Home Emergency Ministries (SHEM).
“They’re a very loving and caring group, and they’re very much into giving back to the community,” she said.
Young is clear that she’s not coming in as a pastor to take over and change everything, but to discover the congregation’s niche and help them serve the community.
“Being a church right on the corner of the center of town, it seems like we should be able to give back in something bigger than just sitting in the building waiting for people to show up. So my expectation would be that you’ll see us out in the community.”
When asked about serving as a female pastor, Young said it never occurred to her as something that might be an issue for some.
“I live my life a lot like Paul,” she said. “God called me, so I follow what He tells me to do, and I just do it.”
Her favorite scripture is John 3:16 and 17, emphasizing the second verse.
“It’s my life scripture,” she said. “(Verse) 17 is that He didn’t send Him here to condemn us, but to save us, to forgive us. It’s important to remember that not only did He send Him, but He sent Him for a purpose.”
Young and Jeff brought most of their family with them to Sweet Home, including Bethanie’s son and his best friend, both of whom are in their 20s, and their three adoptees, all sibling girls. They also have three dogs, and Jeff has two adult children who live elsewhere.