Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Sharon Ely Pearson, Church Publishing Inc. / Morehouse Education Resource’s Christian Formation Specialist, joined CPI 2007 after ten years as Children’s Ministries and Christian Education Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. With a BS in Special Education, she has a certificate in Christian Education from Hartford Seminary and a Master’s degree in Christian Education from Virginia Seminary. Her thesis, “A Theology of Confirmation for the 21st Century” was the spark for new diocesan guidelines implemented in 2005 in Connecticut and modeled by many others since then.

Having over 30 years experience in Christian formation at the local, judicatory, and church-wide level, she is a certified Godly Play teacher and 10-year experience as an EfM mentor. Sharon has expertise helping congregations choose curriculum for children, youth, and adults and is a sought after leader for conferences, workshops, and retreats on a variety of topics, including sacramental preparation, faith development, adult formation, and administrative issues. She has been active in a variety of national church boards, task forces, and design teams involved in Christian education and formation events as well as strategic planning for many educational programs. She currently serves on the Standing Commission on Lifelong Christian Education and Formation.

To support churches in their Christian formation ministries, she publishes two monthly e-newsletters, Living IN-Formation and Notes for Resource Centers, while overseeing a supportive website for Christian educators at Building Faith. Sharon is a regular contributor to Episcopal Teacher magazine and has had articles published in Episcopal Life, Vestry Papers, Religious Products magazine, and several academic religious journals. She is the co-editor/author of The Prayer Book Guide to Christian Education, 3rd edition (Morehouse Publishing, 2009). She is also an acquiring editor for Church Publishing.

She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with husband, John, cats Shadow and Oliver, and too many books waiting to be read and several waiting to be written. She blogs at Rows of Sharon. They are the proud parents of a resourceful son who waits tables, lifeguards, and teaches first aid while working on his teaching certificate in Boston and a daughter who is a marine biologist and educator in the Hartford, Connecticut school system. She is a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton, Connecticut where she is a Lay Eucharistic Minister, Godly Play teacher, and acolyte advisor.