Shannon grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho with her parents and 2 older sisters. She was active in all aspects of church life from a very young age, going to camps, youth groups and youth events all over the U.S. After graduating high school, she went to Oregon to attend Pacific University for two years and then transferred to the University of Idaho to finish her degree in English literature with a minor in music. During the summers while in college, she worked as a permanent staff member at Paradise Point and then Camp Cross, both Episcopal summer camps.

After graduating in 1995 from the University of Idaho, she did a 3 month internship in Atlanta, Georgia; she worked with a priest in a local parish on all their summer programs for youth, from going to Six Flags, to camping, to a mission trip to South Dakota.

Wanting to take a year off before going to seminary, Shannon returned to Twin Falls, Idaho and managed a coffee shop for a few months, after which she moved to Stanley, Idaho to manage an outdoor outfitter in the Sawtooth National Mountains.

In the fall of 1996, she moved to Berkeley, California where she began seminary at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. While in seminary, she was the social chair, the seminary youth group leader, and a volunteer sacristan. Shannon met Tom Ferguson, her husband, in February of1998 when a group of friends were watching the Olympic Hockey team battle for a medal. They began dating the very next day and were engaged in December of that year.

Shannon was ordained a Transitional Deacon on November 8, 1998 in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from CDSP in May 1999 and moved to Palo Alto, California to begin work at St. Mark’s, where she had done her field education and later worked part time as Christian Education Director. Shannon and Tom were married in Idaho on September 4, 1999. She was ordained a priest on October 31, 2000 in Palo Alto. She served there until moving to New York in 2001 to be the Assistant Rector at Parish of Christ the Redeemer in Pelham. Shannon then served from 2003-2006 at All Saints Church in Pasadena, CA as the Senior Associate for Children, Youth and Families. Shannon and her family moved to Madison in July of 2006 to begin her job as the Chaplain at St. Francis House.

Tom and Shannon have a child, Malcolm, and two Basset Hounds named Thor and Molly. Her husband, Tom, is now working at the Episcopal Church Center as the Associate Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations as well as teaching online classes in Church History and Theology.