|
We write to share the news that the 10th Rector of St. Bartholomew’s Church, the Reverend Thomas (Tom) Dix Bowers, died peacefully at his home in Morehead City, North Carolina on July 13, 2024. Tom served as Rector of St. Bart’s from 1978 to 1993.
Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Tom was the second child of George Hubert and Nellie Dix Bowers. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and was immediately deployed to Korea where he served for 16 months as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army 39th Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. Upon his return from Korea, Tom earned a second bachelor's degree in English from Sewanee: The University of the South and it was at Sewanee that he discerned a call to ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church.
He earned his Master's in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary and began his ordained ministry as Deacon-in-Charge, and then Rector, of St. George's, Pungoteague and St. James, Accomac on the Eastern Shore of Virginia where he met his wife, Margaret Pendleton Bonner, whom he married in 1958. They raised four children together.
Tom went on to serve as Associate Rector of St Alban's, Washington, DC; Rector of St. Patrick's, Washington, DC; Rector of St. Luke's, Atlanta; and finally, Rector of St. Bartholomew's Church in the City of New York. A leader in the movement for liturgical renewal within the Episcopal Church, Tom integrated folk masses and televised services into Sunday worship at St. Luke’s and actively pursued social change and civic engagement throughout his ministry. He welcomed Black clergy onto his staff during the contentious days of the Civil Rights Movement and women clergy onto his staff shortly after the church opened ordained ministry to women. In 1977, Coretta Scott King presented Tom with the Human Relations Award from the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change.
As part of his service to St. Bartholomew's, Tom founded a soup kitchen, a food bank, a shelter program, a task force on AIDS, a ministry to the elderly, a 9 am contemporary service, and more. Much of Tom's tenure at St. Bart's was defined by the contentious and controversial debate surrounding the proposal to build an office tower over the site of the Parish House. Despite vehement opposition, Tom was stalwart in his support of the project and displayed great moral courage, secure in his conviction that the revenue it would generate would transform the outreach mission of St. Bart's and even into the wider diocese. In a 1982 interview in the Washington Post, Tom stated, "I wasn't called to be the curator of a museum. The question is, 'Do we care more about buildings or people?'"
In his farewell letter to the parish at his retirement, Tom observed: "What we have built here of permanent value only God knows, but I do know that I have always tried to do what was best for the life of this community in the light of the imperatives of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as I understand them."
Writing to the congregation at that time, Warden Percy Preston wrote: "Tom taught us where our priorities ought to be: that the church is the Body of Christ and not merely a building, however magnificent. . . . Tom would not allow us to sit comfortably in a warm building while less fortunate souls were freezing on our very doorstep." The community ministry Tom started continues to this day as Crossroads Community Services. In the years after he left St. Bart's, Tom would call the Rector from time to time to express his enthusiastic support for the work the parish was doing.
In recognition of the depth and breadth of his ministry, Tom received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Nashotah House Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary and The University of the South. After his retirement in 1993, he served as the Interim Rector of St. John's, Lafayette Square, Washington, DC, and St. David's, Austin.
Tom was renowned as a preacher who for many decades prepared sermons that drew on close reading of scripture, keen attention to culture, politics and social change, a gift for storytelling, his sometimes-irreverent sense of humor, and a spirited delivery that conveyed the conviction of his own faith and engaged his listeners in ways that touched and changed lives. In 2010, Tom preached and taught at the inaugural program of the Thomas Dix Bowers Preaching Fellowship established at Virginia Theological Seminary in recognition of the impact of his preaching over more than 50 years and with the intent to inspire the next generation of preachers.
Tom is preceded in death by his first wife Margaret Pendleton Bowers. He is survived by his wife Palmer Ulmer Bowers and her son Charlie A. Sumners; his brother John Pennington Bowers; his daughter Margaret Anne Bowers Ayres and her husband Robert; his son Thomas Dix Bowers, Jr., and his wife Elizabeth; his daughter Patricia Elizabeth Bowers-Young and her husband Timothy; his son Jonathan St. Paul Bowers and his wife Jane; and eight grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Morehead City, North Carolina on Saturday, July 20th at 2 pm. The service will be live-streamed on the St. Andrew’s Facebook page. Memorial gifts may be made to the St. Mary’s Preschool in Anguilla or the Thomas Dix Bowers Preaching Fellowship Fund at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Condolences may be sent to:
Mrs. Palmer Ulmer Bowers and Family
304 Lord Granville Drive
Morehead City, North Carolina. 28557
May our brother Tom, and the souls of all the departed, rest in peace and rise in glory.
The Clergy of St. Bart’s
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Rector
The Reverend Peter D. Thompson, Vicar
The Reverend Zack Nyein, Senior Associate Rector
The Reverend Meredith E. Ward, Associate Rector for Pastoral Care
The Reverend Canon Andrew J.W. Mullins, Assistant Rector
The Reverend Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers, Assisting Priest
The Reverend Molly O’Neil Frank, Assisting Priest
The Reverend John F. Wirenius, Deacon
| 
