Abby Scharbach
Mentor and Training Coordinator
Abby describes herself first and foremost as a lover of Christ but says “you never know what God will do with your fiat.” Spending most of their twenties getting through Protestant seminary while starting a family, Abby and her husband Albert have led a life focused on ministry. After a fruitful ten years in the Anglican church, the family became Roman Catholic in 2009. In 2013, Albert became a Catholic priest in the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, and Abby embraced her “vocation within a vocation,” serving alongside her husband in an urban mission parish in Baltimore.
While serving in Baltimore, Abby began and directed a Montessori catechetical program, started an outreach program for opioid addicts, planned and led retreats, helped with marriage formation, mentored women, led Bible studies, and planned countless parish events. She believes her ministry is an expression of the feminine genius. Also a lover of books and children, Abby has surrounded herself with both as an English teacher and mother of nine. Over the years Abby has worked as a reading and writing teacher and director of religious education while also homeschooling. More recently, she has taught Great Books, religion, writing, and rhetoric at a classical tutorial. Abby takes delight in working with the next generation of Catholic female leaders as they embrace their gifts and express their own fiats. She believes that the unique gifts of women, exercised in union with Christ, bring light and life to our hurting world.
“God is glorified in the diversity of gifts and callings expressed in his people. Just as a garden is more beautiful when it contains a medley of texture and color, so God’s Church is more beautiful when we each embrace and nurture our unique gifts and calling. God’s kingdom comes through you, as you are fully you.” -Abby Scharbach
