The two series, Renewed – Your Journey to First Reconciliation and Received – Your Journey to First Communion, will launch in Spring 2023. She wrote the student workbooks in addition to both the leader and parent guides.

As the director of formation at Immaculate Heart, Mrs. Shutrop leads the Campus Ministry program and serves as chairperson for the Religious Studies Department. She oversees all of the spiritual elements of the school including liturgies and retreats, in addition to running student conferences, mission trips, and IHA's Small Christian Communities Network of sisterhood groups. Mrs. Shutrop also directs IHA's Service and Social Justice Program.  

Before joining the IHA faculty nine years ago, she served as assistant director of religious education at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church, Ridgewood. Mrs. Shutrop holds an M.A. degree in systematic and moral theology from the University of Notre Dame. While she has written resources for other publishing companies before, this is the first time she has served as the sole author for a series of full-length books.

Lauren McCann, one of the product managers for Renewed and Received, said that when it comes to elementary school kids, they know that they are seekers and questioners. “They want to dive in, peel back the layers, and figure out what is going on behind the scenes,” she said. “In creating a First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion program, Ascension’s goal was to convey the richness of the Catholic Faith while engaging the students at their level. Interesting activities, lively discussions, thought-provoking explorations are all part of the vision of the program—and that is why we selected Sarah Kearns Shutrop as the writer.”

McCann continued on to say that Mrs. Shutrop brings a love of faith paired with “energy, excitement, and brilliant ideas to engage every child in a variety of ways. Her creativity and understanding of what children, who are receiving these two sacraments, need will surely lead each child who goes through the Renewed and Received programs to have a fruitful and life-changing encounter with God.”

Mrs. Shutrop said she was blown away when Ascension asked her to author the series. “When I was first approached, I expected that Ascension would be asking me to create resources or social media posts for one of their books, although I was secretly hoping they were inviting me to work with Fr. Mike Schmitz!” Mrs. Shutrop said.

“Ascension is such an incredible company committed to the New Evangelization, and making authentic Catholic teaching accessible in the 21st century. I am so humbled to be part of what they do. I began my career at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel working in religious education, so I am excited that my journey is coming full circle. I can’t wait to see the books make their way into real parishes and classrooms in Spring 2023!”