Shaw is the 17th rector of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, the oldest African American Episcopal Church in the United States and the first black church in Philadelphia. It was founded by the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first person of African ancestry to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.

Shaw, a native of Detroit, Michigan, earned undergraduate degrees in psychology and biology. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, in Chicago, Illinois and a certificate in Anglican Studies from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1988 and became a curate at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Flossmoor, Illinois. Prior to leading St. Thomas in Philadelphia, he was rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois.