Team Members

LEADERSHIP

Rev. Cory Young

What you will find is that with me is that I am one who truly loves what I do. I have been an ordained Elder in the United Methodist church for almost six years and have had served a variety of different churches, ranging from campus ministry in Tucson, Arizona, rural churches in the northern part of Montana, and a city church in Gillette, Wyoming. Each comes with its own joys and struggles.

I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs until I was about 11 years old. At that time, I moved with my mom to Michigan and lived in a small town of 1100 people on the shore of Lake Michigan.

I completed my undergraduate work at Grand Valley State University, a division two school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My undergraduate degree was a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting and Communication, with an emphasis an audio production.

I was hired out of college to be an audiobook engineer and recorded people reading audiobooks for seven years. After working on over 400 titles, I answered the call that God had placed on my heart and, in 2009, I applied and was accepted into Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 2012, I graduated with my Master of Divinity and eventually ended up at a campus ministry at the University of Arizona in 2015.

In 2016, I moved to Northern Montana and served three churches in Shelby, Sunburst, and Valier, driving 120 miles every Sunday for six years. While in Montana, I began the Ordination Process for the Yellowstone Annual Conference, and in 2020, I was made an elder in full connection in the Mountain Sky Conference. In 2021, I was reappointed to Eastern Wyoming and served the people of First United Methodist Church of Gillette.

I love baseball, travel, playing darts, playing video games, and watching movies, and I own four pinball machines. Sadly, none are in my office.

I have one brother in Seattle, my dad lives in the Chicago suburbs, and my mom currently lives near Tampa. I am looking forward to walking this path with you and praying that God will guide us all.

Pastor Paul Grossman

Blessings to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I am Rev. Paul Grossman, but you can always refer to me as Pastor Paul. It is a joy to serve you as the Pastor of Development and Care for Palisade UMC! Before coming to the Grand Valley, I served the good people at Community Federated Church in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and I also previously served as a lay pastor at Hope UMC in Greenwood Village, CO. While originally from Ohio, I have come to love the stunning vistas and landscapes that dot our mountain states and Palisade certainly has no shortage of reminders of our God's beautiful handiwork. Now, I serve here in the valley as the Pastor of Development and Care for Palisade, First, and Redlands UMCs. I attended college here in Colorado, graduating from Metropolitan State University in 2011 with a B.A. in history. I met and married my wife, Caitlin, while in the Denver metro area. I also attended the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, obtaining a Master of Divinity in 2020. That same year, we welcomed our daughter, Sophie, to the family, and it has been a joy being her dad. Just recently, I became a fully ordained elder at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church.

As your Pastor of Development and Care, I work alongside Rev. Rebecca Dunagan to provide meaningful worship and preach biblically grounded messages. In addition, my role means that I serve you uniquely through providing and equipping our churches with pastoral care, discipleship opportunities, and work to empower our laity to share in this work. I hope to see you in worship, and I would love to connect outside of worship as well! Please feel free to reach out to me at pastorpaulg13@gmail.com or my cellphone at 970-549-0952 to connect and schedule a time and place to meet. May the love and grace of our God surround you always!