Randall, Courtney

The Rev. Courtney Randall is a United Methodist missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries, serving as a congregational development officer with the Methodist Church of Ireland.

In this role, Courtney hopes to inspire a greater awareness of being part of the world church, preach and participate in the full life of the circuit, support the development and life of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and encourage and motivate local congregations and leaders through leadership development.

Through the Methodist connections, Courtney asserts, we, as the body of Christ, can build upon relationships that strengthen our love of God and neighbor. When the local church connects with the local community through missions and ministry, the church is alive. When the local church connects with the global community, the church is alive. Loving our neighbors involves both local and global communities. 

Born in Ohio, Courtney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education with a social psychology minor and a math endorsement from DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, in 1997, and a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina, in 2007.

She and her husband, the Rev. Daniel Randall, served with Global Ministries (2007-10) as standard-support missionaries with the Latvian United Methodist Church. They have one daughter, and two sons. They are a missionary family.

Ordained in 2011 by the North Carolina Annual Conference, Courtney is now an elder in the Mountain Sky Conference of The United Methodist Church. Prior to her present assignment, she and her husband served as Western Jurisdiction mission advocates with Global Ministries. Courtney has also served as pastor of cultivation at New Hope United Methodist Church in North Adams, Massachusetts (2014-20); Mount Horeb and Springdale United Methodist churches, Warren, New Jersey (2012-14); and Cornerstone UMC, Saco, Maine (2010-12).

Describing her call to mission, Courtney quoted John Wesley, who said, “The best of all is God is with us.” Those words, she said, have both comforted her and encouraged her to walk more closely with God.

Raised in The United Methodist Church, Courtney recalled many disciples who formed and shaped her walk with Christ. “My parents and grandparents,” she said, “provided me with examples of faith journeys filled with service and discipleship.”

As a youth, Courtney participated in the Appalachian Service Project. When she returned home, she delivered her first sermon. At DePauw, a few years later, she was asked to serve as a Bonner Scholar. “Those years,” she recalled, “were foundational in my understanding of service-learning and how to be in ministry with others, especially those in the margins.”

After graduation, she served two terms in AmeriCorps in the West and in Chicago. “It took me a couple more years,” she said, “to find myself in a place where I could see how God was calling me to use mission work and mission service within the context of the local church.” She then worked as a youth director at her local church, St. Francis UMC in Cary, North Carolina. Three years later, she felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to apply to divinity school. At Duke, she pursued mission opportunities and discerned elders’ orders. She met her future husband.

“We were following leads and potential sites,” Courtney continued. “My mentor asked if we would be willing to serve in Latvia. I knew nothing about Latvia and could barely locate it on a map. Yet, this is where God led us to serve the next part of our lives. The mission field is everywhere. God has called us to places unknown to serve alongside and with God’s people.”