Associate priest joins Christ Church

The Reverend Sharon Sheridan Hausman joins Christ Church Newton as a Priest Associate in December.

Hausman is a lifelong Episcopalian who has lived in Northern New Jersey since 1986. She earned a Master of Divinity degree at Drew Theological School in Madison and was ordained to the priesthood at Christ Church in Bloomfield and Glen Ridge, where she served as Priest Associate until coming to Christ Church Newton.

She served as seminarian at St. James, Upper Montclair, and as an active member of her sponsoring parish, Church of the Messiah, Chester, and of St. Peter’s, Morristown.

Hausman is a volunteer chaplain at Northern State maximum-security men's prison in Newark, where she preaches and assists in leading the Protestant choir, worship services and Bible studies, and recently was named volunteer of the year at Mountainview prison in Annandale for her work in teaching a creative-writing class to young adult men. She also is a member of the Diocese of Newark Prison Ministry and coordinates a monthly Saturday arts and science enrichment program in Newark for children of incarcerated parents. Previously, she volunteered in the state women's prison in Clinton as a seminarian and in the Essex County and Morris County jails.

“I am thrilled that someone of Sharon's considerable talent will be joining our ministry team," The Rev. Canon Robert Griner. "Her familiarity with Sussex County will serve as a significant asset for her work.”

Hausman and her husband, Paul, live in Flanders. Their son, Carl, is a sophomore at Oberlin College in Ohio.