Our Team
The Rev. Dr. Sean Barrett
Pastor
Sean came to Nativity in 2021 from St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Salisbury, where he had served since 2014. He and his wife, April, have three children (who aren’t children anymore): Brittany, Ian, and Addy. April runs a Head Start and Early Head Start center. Brittany teaches high school English and Spanish. Ian is the Finance Director for Waynesville, North Carolina. Addy is a student at UNCC. While in high school, Sean wanted to be a Baptist pastor and went to Grand Rapids Baptist College to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree (double major in Religion and Ancient Languages).
He became a Lutheran during that time (but can still speak “Baptist” fluently). It wound up taking 16 years to resume his studies in seminary. During that time, he worked in management and sales. As you can imagine, both roles translate well to pastoral ministry. He has been ordained since 2014 after graduating from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. In 2024, he completed doctoral studies at Methodist Theological School in Ohio.
Ed Hauck
Director of Music and Worship
Ed joined Nativity in January of 2024 and is a native of Virginia. He attended J. Sargent Reynolds Community College and Virginia Commonwealth University (Sacred Music). For the last 25 years he has lived in Canton, Ohio serving Lutheran parishes. In 2022 he started to attend Music Week at Lutheridge at the invitation of a colleague and friend of 30 years. He has made his home in Hendersonville and looks forward to getting to know everyone.
Ed loves sharing eclectic and diverse music in worship along with traditional/classic offerings. He is looking forward to restarting our bell choir and some short-term musical opportunities with our K-Elementary age kids this coming Lent and Easter season. He is excited to be able to work with our Minster of Learning when they come on board to help build a faith formation program for our Middle and High School youth.
Dr. Aaron Davis
Fellowship Engagement Director & Theologian-in-Residence
Aaron arrived at Nativity in fall 2024 and is a western NC native from just down the road in Hendersonville. In his role as Fellowship Engagement Director he helps foster community and develop opportunities for discipleship within and beyond the church’s walls. Aaron is also an active theologian, primarily researching topics at the intersection of systematic/philosophical theology and ethics. He is the author of Desire and Divinization: A Theology of Everyday Asceticism (Cascade, forthcoming) and co-editor of Disability Theology and Eschatology: Hope, Justice, and Flourishing (Lexington, 2025).
His work also appears in scholarly outlets like the Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Disability & Religion, and International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, among others. Aaron holds a BA from NC State, MDiv and ThM from Union Presbyterian Seminary, and a PhD from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Before coming to Nativity, Aaron spent five years on the staff of Episcopal churches in VA and NC, and he was a lay preacher in a parish of the Scottish Episcopal Church during his doctoral work.
Michele Grush
Parish Administrator
Michele almost literally grew up in the church having a father as a pastor. She has fond memories of playing hide-and-seek in the building, ringing the church bell, and helping to fill the baptismal pool. By degree, she is an accountant earning her BS from Wake Forest University in 1989. After having raised three children, she has found her passion to be back in the heart of the church. Since 2004, her roles at Nativity have included Preschool Teacher, Youth Leader, Care Director, and most recently, Parish Administrator since 2017. She and husband Mark have been married 26 years and recently earned the status of empty-nesters.
Their oldest son (Aury) and his wife (Callie) live and work outside of Chapel Hill, their daughter (Charlotte) lives and works in Greensboro, and their youngest son (Graham) is a Pharmacy student at UNC- Chapel Hill. Michele thoroughly enjoys the day-to-day activities of the church including the interaction with Nativity parishioners and members of the community, as well as helping ministry staff carry out the mission of Nativity. Michele enjoys traveling, playing cards and games with her family and friends, watching documentaries and college basketball, and taking advantage of the incredible food and beverage scene in Asheville and its surrounding areas.
Gene Hoemann
Bookkeeper Extraordinaire
Gene and wife, Judy, moved to Asheville in 2006 after retiring from the Chicago area. They have three grown daughters, three grandchildren, and a dog named Meryl. In recent years, Gene reached the status of being retired more years than he worked. He is gracious enough to serve as our volunteer bookkeeper after a career in finance/accounting. Gene enjoys hiking, cooking on his Green Egg, playing cards, and visiting local restaurants and breweries. If Gene recommends it, you’ll want to go!
Vicki Hahn
Nativity Preschool and Kindergarten (NPK) Director
Vicki and her husband, Kenneth, moved back home over 25 years ago and opened Hahn’s Gymnastics 22 years ago. They are blessed with four wonderful grown daughters, Kirsten, Brittany, Patricia and Elizabeth. The youngest two, who are twins, attended NPK when they were young. Kirsten is married and recently graduated from Physician Assistant school. Brittany is also married and lives in the middle of the state and works for Advent Health for FedEx as their athletic trainer/OSHA person. Patricia is engaged and runs our gymnastics gym. Elizabeth lives in Orlando. She is a nanny and works for Disney. Her first grandchild, Shawn (Patricia’s son), was born this year. She loves spoiling him rotten!
Vicki loves to travel with her family. She loves exploring other countries, going on cruises, and of course, going to Disney to visit her favorite cast member (daughter Elizabeth). Vicki also enjoys reading, cooking, and painting.