The Reverend Stephen Ashby, joined the Sacred Order of Priests on Sunday, December 15, 2019 and became Good Shepherd’s Priest in Charge. His ministry at Good Shepherd began just after he graduated from Bexley-Seabury Seminary and was ordained as a Transition Deacon.
Steve was raised in the Episcopal Church. His parents, both priests, instilled in him at a very young age a strong sense of what it means to love his neighbor and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. During his childhood his family moved multiple times, giving him the experience of living in Lexington, Kentucky; Little Rock, Arkansas; Springdale, Arkansas; and Muskegon, Michigan. After graduating from high school in 2005, he went to the University of Kentucky where he studied music education with an emphasis in classical and jazz saxophone. After working in the field of education and as a private music instructor, Steve joined the Episcopal Service Corps and was placed at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland. It was during this year of service that he began to acknowledge the strong call to ordained ministry that he had always known was there. He served as seminarian at Christ Church in Oberlin and St. Luke’s in Cleveland. His interests include the diversity of church music both traditional and contemporary, liberation theology, and Christian ethics.
Steve lives in University Heights with his wife Emily, their children, and their many pets. When not involved in church activity he enjoys hiking through the Metroparks, playing music with friends, reading literary fiction, and watching movies.