About

Carmen Viola, our Priest


The Rev. Carmen Viola is a dynamic priest, abounding in energy and creative ideas. He served as a deacon for ten years with five year as an Archdeacon. He was ordained a priest in 2018. Carmen (as he prefers to be called) has led pilgrimages to the Holy Land which has given him a greater perspective of Jesus's life and God's word. 


He is a bi-vocational priest and has worked for the federal government as a contingency planner in the Defense Logistics Agency since 1989. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Temple University and a master's in marketing from St. Joseph's University.


Carmen is married to DeSha and has three sons and five grandchildren. His passion is teaching and discipleship. He frequently says, "The answer to everything is love and service. What if you could see the world as God sees it - not only with an open mind, but with and open heart?"

Naomi Cressman


Deacon Naomi Cressman was ordained on May 9, 2015. She served at Christ Church in Riverton, New Jersey before joining Holy Family in September 2021. She was raised at St. Mary's, Haddon Heights where she was the first female acolyte. She grew up in Camden before moving to Audubon at age 16. Deacon Naomi earned a BS in early childhood education at Trenton State College and a MA in special education at Rowan University. She taught in the Camden School district for 27 years, with most of her teaching experience at the kindergarten level and is now retired. 


Prior to her ordination to the diaconate, Deacon Naomi served as a Eucharistic Minister and Visitor, Sunday School teacher, youth group advisor, Vestry member, and many other ministries at both the parish and Diocesan level. She is currently a member of the Diocesan Council. 


Deacon Naomi identifies her gifts to include pastoral care, children's ministry, and liturgy. She lives in Audubon with her mother and Jack the Cat. she has a younger sister nad a teenage neice. Deacon Noami enjoys the beach, travel theater, music and baking. 

Our History


Holy Family Episcopal Church is a merger of the Church of the Atonement, Laurel Springs,  and the Church of St. John in the WIlderness, Gibbsboro. The two congregations entered into conversation in the spring of 2015. After a period of discernment, we dissolved both parishes and formed a new church on January 21, 2018. We selected the name "Holy Family."


The following is a historical note in the October 14, 1936 Parish Register of Church of the Atonement by John Quincy Martin "The tradition persists that prior to 1900, during the rectorship of Fr. Milby @ Gibbsboro, Bishop Scarborough conceived the idea of an associated mission with Gibbsboro as the center. Aided by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, such work, known as "The Mission the Holy Family was begun. " The Church of St. John-in-the-Wilderness, Gibbsboro, was the "foreunner." Others named included St. Joseph's Laurel Springs (Church of the Atonement). This was organized in 1899.