July 9, 2020 Meet Julie Young - A member of the Christ Church Call Committee
In pre-Covid 19 days, you would most often find me on Sunday mornings sitting in the front pew at Christ Church with my 94 year old dad, Chuck Howe and his significant other, Beverly Bass. Frequently, we would be joined by my sister, Polly Morelli and my brother, Hank Howe. The fact that we ae all there together is a bit of a miracle given that in our adult lives, we have until recently been scattered to the winds as we have pursued our various careers and lived our lives. Further, although we were a Navy family, I never lived in Coronado growing up. But here we are! It speaks to the closeness of our family – and it speaks to how lovely the weather is here. (I cannot lie).
Growing up in the Navy is not uncommon in Coronado I have found. Attending 7 schools between first grade and 7th grade as I did is not unusual either. Unique in my childhood though was the two years we spent at Camp David and the privilege of having lunch with Jackie Kennedy and her two children the weekend before President Kennedy was killed.
Moving as often as we did, the Episcopal Church was one anchor that our family cherished. As a child, the familiar words of the Book of Common Prayer were like a comfort blanket in each new home. Years singing in the children’s choir and then being active in youth group gave me an early love for the church. It was a love that matured as I came to an awareness of the deep inequities in our world. I am proud of the Episcopal Church for its social justice stance.
I have been married to my best friend, Jake, for 46 years. We met in college in Virginia – he at Univ. of Va and me at Mary Washington College. We married, moved to San Francisco and earned our MBA’s from UC Berkeley. Our early years were spent building careers and raising our two sons. When I found myself the trailing spouse in a move to Chicago, I decided to jump into full time motherhood and volunteer work. When our youngest was a senior in high school, I went back to work as the chief operating officer for a Christian non-profit that provided housing and support services to people who would otherwise be homeless. Following our move to Coronado in 2005, I continued to work in the nonprofit world; my last job was as the Canon for Finance and Administration for the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.
Jake is currently the president of the board of RefugeeNet, an outreach of the diocese. We are fortunate that our two sons eventually moved here (did I mention how nice the weather is?) I have two wonderful daughters in law and a 3 year old grandson.
I am honored to serve as the co-chair of the Call Committee. The job opening for rector closed June 30 and we have entered an intense time of discernment. Our committee of 14 are all amazing people. We represent the diversity of beliefs held by the Christ Church congregation. Two things that unite us though are our love of Christ Church and our conviction that our work is guided by the Holy Spirit. In fact, I think that the Holy Spirit is the 15th member of the committee!