Jack Newhouse

In June 2022, my wife and I moved from Philadelphia to West Orange to be closer to family living in Maplewood. For several months, we shopped for an Episcopal church to join in this area. St. Luke’s became an obvious choice after visiting the Church for several Sundays, hearing John’s inspiring homilies, and meeting Church members. It was also an easy decision to become a reader and do other service work for the Church.

Parish service has been a major part of my life for years. In my Philadelphia St. Luke’s parish ( I must have some affinity for Episcopal churches with that name), I served as chalice bearer, reader, vestry member, and senior warden. At St. Anne’s I served in similar capacities including out-reach visitation. It has always been important to me to offer whatever services I could for my parish communities. I view service as part of my overall stewardship, as well as a way to deepen my spiritual journey Christ has called me to do.

Professionally, I spent my career as a healthcare administrator for some of Philadelphia’s major provider systems. After 10 years at Penn Medicine, the last system where I worked, I joined the faculty of St. Joseph’s University in the Department of Health Services. There I held every leadership position the Department offered including its chair and director of graduate programs for eight years. I have a doctorate and three master degrees which made the transition from corporate healthcare into academia possible, but also meant my wife threatened to divorce me if I ever enrolled in another degree program.

St. Luke’s is a beautiful church family and we all can be very proud of being part of this parish community. Its deep commitment to service through Toni’s Kitchen is a true hallmark of who we are in our journey of God’s love. May we continue to live this journey and strengthen it in every way we can.

Peace,
Jack Newhouse