{{Short description|Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sharon Hollis | honorific_prefix = | image = | caption = | office = President of the Assembly, Uniting Church in Australia | term_start = 2021 | term_end = 2024 | predecessor = Deidre Palmer | successor = Charissa Suli | office2 = Moderator, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania UCA | term_start2 = 2016 | term_end2 = 2019 | predecessor2 = Dan Wootton | successor2 = Denise Liersch | office3 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | party = | spouse = Michael (deceased) | relations = | children = 2 | alma_mater = Monash University | occupation = Christian Minister | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Sharon Hollis''' is an Australian Minister, was the 16th President of the Uniting Church in Australia. She is current the Associate General Secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.
==Early years== Hollis grew up from 8-13 in Keilor Park in Melbourne, Victoria. From 13, the family lived in Finley, a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales.<ref name="2021-07">{{cite web |url=https://uniting.church/leading-with-creativity-and-hope/ |title=Leading with creativity and hope |work=Welcoming the 16th UCA President |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia |date=July 2021 |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref>
==Education== Hollis received a degree of Bachelor of Arts from Monash University in Melbourne. It was during her degree studies that Hollis did a subject on the portrayal of women in Australian society, and this formed her views on feminism. She also attended the Monash Uniting Church.<ref name="2021-07" />
==Ministry== Hollis discerned a call to ministry shortly after university, then went through the Uniting Church's discernment process before being accepted as a candidate for ministry. Following further studies in theology, she was ordained as a Minister of the Word.<ref name="2021-07" />
Hollis was Moderator (leader) of the UCA Synod of Victoria and Tasmania from 2016-19.<ref name="Moderator">{{cite web |url=https://victas.uca.org.au/authors/sharon-hollis/ |title=Articles while Moderator |first=Sharon |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania |last=Hollis |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref>
==Family== Hollis' husband Michael, to whom she was married for 19 years, died by suicide around 2013.<ref name="feel">{{cite web |url=https://victas.uca.org.au/please-dont-tell-me-how-i-feel/ |title=Please don't tell me how I feel. |first=Sharon |last=Hollis |date=7 October 2018 |publisher=Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania |access-date=2021-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401034141/https://victas.uca.org.au/please-dont-tell-me-how-i-feel/ |archive-date=2023-04-01}}</ref><ref name="2016-06-02_ABC">{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-02/husbands-suicide-made-church-leader-more-compassionate/7471924 |title=New Uniting Church leader says husband's suicide made her more compassionate |first=Cheryl |last=Hall |work=ABC News Online |date=2 June 2016 |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref> They have two daughters.<ref name="2021-07" />
==President of the UCA== Hollis became President Elect of the UCA at the 15th Assembly in 2018, and was inducted as President at the 16th Assembly on 17 July 2021, held with very few people in Queensland and online due to COVID-19.<ref name="2016-06-02_ABC" /><ref name="2021-07" />
Also, the 16th Assembly elected the President Elect, Charissa Suli to serve as President from 2024-27. She said, "This is truly an historic moment for the Church. This is ground-breaking that you call a Second Generation Tongan Australian, still in her thirties. Today we move forward because of you all."<ref name="2021-07-18_UCA">[https://uniting.church/rev-charissa-suli-announced-as-president-elect/ Rev Charissa Suli announced as President-elect], Uniting Church in Australia, 2021-07-18</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel}} {{s-bef |before=Deidre Palmer}} {{s-ttl |title=President of the Assembly, Uniting Church in Australia |years=July 2021 - 2024}} {{s-aft |after= Charissa Suli}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollis, Sharon}} Category:Living people Category:Uniting Church in Australia presidents Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Religious leaders from Melbourne Category:People from Keilor, Victoria Category:Monash University alumni Category:21st-century Australian women