Mary Sheeran (Episcopalian/Chelsea Community Church) has been a member of Chelsea Community Church since 1987.
After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Humanistic Studies, and Theater at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, she taught at the Foxhollow School in Lenox, Massachusetts. She performed leading roles in regional theater productions, off-Broadway plays, and in operas in New York City. She also was a theater critic for the trade papers Show Business and Backstage.
Mary also has had a career as a medical editor, which was how she met Hilda Regier, who invited her to join an Easter choir for Chelsea Community Church. Mary became a member shortly thereafter and served on the church's board for several years.
As board Chair, she was invited to audit a class at Union Theological Seminary; and inspired,she enrolled at nondenominational New York Theological Seminary, earning her Master of Divinity degree. She did field service at St. Peter's Chelsea, where she was active in their liturgy and education committees and served on the vestry, the altar, and in the choir.
In 2006, her first novel, Who Have the Power, was published about the effects of silver mining in the west on the Native peoples. She has since had three other novels published, two of which have won awards; and she is working on number five.