The Rev. Francene Young is the current Rector at St. Luke the Evangelist, the first African American Episcopal congregation in Houston, set on the doorstep of Texas Southern University.
While working as a Vice President of Talent, Development and Diversity for a global energy company, she attended the Episcopal Diocese of Texas’ Iona School for Ministry. After successfully completing the three-year program, Francene was ordained a Transitional Deacon in 2011 and a Priest in January 2012. She is one of several bi-vocational priests serving non-stipendiary in the Diocese of Texas.
Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, she attended the Baptist church until being introduced to the Episcopal Church as a teen. At age seventeen, Rev. Young joined the Episcopal Church, after participating in a citywide Episcopal youth group in the Diocese of Ohio. When she was a junior in college, she led a parish on Cleveland’s near west side during their transition between rectors. In the Episcopal Church, she has been Senior Warden, Treasurer, Head of Lay Ministries, Verger, Christian Formation instructor, and Lay Eucharistic Minister.
In addition to her position as Rector at St. Luke, Rev. Young served the Transition Minister for the Diocese of Texas and she continues to serve as the Chair of the Diocesan Commission on Ministry.
Francene has a Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and an undergraduate in Social Services from Cleveland State University. She is a graduate of Westover School in Middlebury, CT where she recently served as President of the Board of Trustees. She is married to Kenneth Jones.
