Rev. Sharon Swanson
Sharon was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but her parents moved to the UK when she was two. She grew up riding her pony around the Kent countryside - through hop fields, orchards and flocks of sheep. Family summers were spent in Yorkshire wandering around the moors and enjoying the sheep and their lambs in the wilder landscapes.
After she and her family moved to British Columbia on teh West Coast of Canada in the late 1960's. Sharon met her future husband in a veterinary clinic. She and Steve built their firt home at Point Robers in Washington.
After having 3 children the family outgrew their home and leased a farmstead and decided to have a flock of sheep. A friend gave Sharon a spinning wheel after the first sheep shearing and she learned all about washing, carding, and spinning wool. Christmas came and she started crafting the spun wool into little sheep ornaments. The needle felting was learned and other items hand crafted from fleece came along, including nativity sets and toadstools. These items were popular at craft sales and in the local Farmer's Market.
Some years later, when the children had grown up, Sharon studied for two years at Vancouver School of Theology at the University of British Columbia and one year at Pacific Lutheran Theology Seminary in Berkeley, California.
She was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American, a whole other kind of shepherding.
She served as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Bellingham, WA from 2005-2022 when she retired. The following year Sharon, Steve, their son Matthew and their pets felt they needed one more adventure so they packed up and sold their house and moved to Maine that summer. They live in Bangor at the moment but are seeking a house further out of the country.
