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Rev. Richard L. Dowhower
Rev. Richard L.
Dowhower (A.B., D.D. [Hon.] Thiele), first
worked with the ICSA (formerly American Family
Foundation) at a seminar for educators in the
early '80s in Pittsburgh, where he was then
serving. This was a time when most professionals
saw neither the right nor the reason to be
concerned about cults. His engaging explication
of the problem then reflected an already
well-developed "teaching ministry" that
continues to reach a wide audience in a variety
of forums.
As early as 1975, he was
working, from his parish base, with the
Pittsburgh Association for individual Freedom
(an early affiliate of the Cult
Awareness Network). By 1979 he was
making a TV presentation on cults in Harrisburg,
PA, while serving a new parish, and testifying
at a hearing on cults convened by the
Pennsylvania state legislature. Quite apart from
cult-related counseling in his own parish - and
with others who learned of his sensitivity to
the issues - Rev. Dowhower has worked hard to
educate fellow pastors.
In 1979, he testified
before his own denomination's department of
Church in Society and authored a pamphlet for
the Pennsylvania Conference on Interfaith
Cooperation entitled "The Dangers of
Pseudo-Religious Cults, a Statement of Pastoral
Concern for Parents and Youth by Catholic and
Protestant Religious Leaders." In 1982, he
published "Confronting the Cults," a two-part
article in LCA Partners (Feb. and Apr. 1982) a
journal for pastors and church professionals in
his denomination.
He has also reviewed
books touching on cult-related issues for other
Lutheran publications and for ICSA's
Cultic Studies Journal. In
addition, Rev. Dowhower has written for ICSA the
important and widely distributed pamphlet "Cults:
What Clergy Should Know."
The education of
military chaplains has been one of Rev. Mr.
Dowhower's special projects, including
presentations to U.S. Navy chaplains in
Philadelphia (1979), in Groton-New London, CT
(1981), and at their school in Newport, RI
(1985-87, 1990). Apart from the military, Rev.
Mr. Dowhower has presented at the Pastors'
Conference of the Pennsylvania Council of
Churches, the Bowie (MD) Interfaith Clergy
Association, and the Lutheran Social Services of
Allegheny (PA) Region.
He has also worked
routinely with campus pastors and college
students - at Bucknell, Dickinson, and Thiele
colleges, Pennsylvania State University, and the
University of Maryland - as well as with high
school students in the central Pennsylvania
communities of Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg,
Shippenburg, Hamburg, and Lansdale. Rev. Mr.
Dowhower continued his parish work and cult
education ministry while serving as pastor of
All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie, MD, and as
an active member of ICSA's Clergy Education
Committee.
Currently retired,
He lives in Mechanicsburg, PA and is available
at dickdowhower@aol.com.
A Guide to New Religious Movements - Book Review by Rev. Dr. Richard Dowhower
Apologetics in the New Age: A Christian Critique of Pantheism - Book Review by Rev. Dr. R. Dowhower
Dowhower, Richard, Rev.: "Religion Versus Cult"
Dowhower, Richard, Rev.: "The Results of the International Cultic Studies Association’s 2008 Questionnaire for Former Cult Members"
Dowhower, Richard: "Cults: What Clergy Should Know"
The A to Z of New Religious Movements - book review by Rev. Dr. Richard Dowhower
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