MODERN REVEREND

ABOUT (REV) SARAH BOWEN

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Animal Chaplain, Writer, Educator, & Spirituality Mentor
Ordained Interfaith, Interspiritual, Interspecies Clergy | Award-winning Spirituality Author | Academic staff @ One Spirit Interfaith Seminary | Founding Member of the Compassion Consortium | Member of Spiritual Directors International | Member of the Association for Pet Loss & Bereavement | Columnist, Spirituality & Health Magazine
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I confess. I was not always this spiritually put together.

It's true, I was born the daughter of a mighty fine preacher man. And for much of my early childhood, Jesus "was just alright with me." And so was God for that matter. Then came puberty. And I became a religion-phobic Gen-Xer who felt a void because I had become detached from my faith. In fact, I wasn't sure what my faith was or if I actually had any faith at all. I soon had an astonishingly long list of why religion didn't work for me. And so I stuffed the hole with all sorts of unhealthy things—until five years after my father's death, I began reading his sermons. Soon, I hunkered down to craft my first book, Void if Detached: Seeking Modern Spirituality through My Father's Old Sermons. Reading through the manuscripts of 1,500 sermons, I found myself on a fascinating spiritual recovery, eventually entering the (proverbial) family business my becoming a Reverend... a modern one, with an interfaith, interspiritual, and interspecies view. 

Which means I'm interested in how you connect spiritually, in which ever way is meaningful to you. rather than picking the road for you. I'm not here to put up road blocks, I'm here to fuel your creativity. (As is my book, Spiritual Rebel: A Positively Addictive Guide to Finding Deeper Perspective & Higher Purpose.)

​Of special interest to me is the animal-human spiritual bond, and how to help expand many religions' view of the role of animals. I'm passionate about the new field of Animal Chaplaincy, especially in helping people recover from the grief of pet loss and reducing suffering for animals kept captive in human systems. This journey began when I was 6-years old, and stuffed the first road-killed chipmunk in my lunch box on the way home from school... in order to give it a proper burial. Having myself lost 3 cats within 6 months, I personally understand the pain of the very special kind of loss of our animal companions, and am interested in helping others through it. I also teach interspecies meditation and mindfulness practices, to help restore human connections to other species and the Earth.

In my newest book, Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Trying To Heal The Planet, I explore the relationship between spiritual values, animal welfare, and the fate of our planet. You can also read more about animals and spirituality in my weekly column for Spirituality & Health Magazine. Or join me for a Sunday Service at Compassion Consortium, the first interfaith, interspiritual, interspecies community.

Part minister, part ecotheologian, part animal lover. 
Beyond our frontiers of sexism, classism, racism, genderisms … I address the injustice of speciesism to ensure we aren't marginalizing otherkind.

See Sarah's official media kit for bios, photos, and speaking samples

BOOKS

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SACRED SENDOFFS:
AN ANIMAL CHAPLAIN's advice for suriving animal loss, making life meaningful, & trying to save the planet

GET EARLY ACCESS!
We do not journey alone. The majority of human households also include an animal family member. Our actions affect them, andthey affect us. How can we strengthen our interspecies bonds? How do we prepare for the joy of a new animal companion, the confusion of messy health decisions, and the devastation of death or loss? Beyond home, how do we extend compassion to the 8.7 million other species we share this interdependent planet with? As animal lovers, what does our sacred activism look like on behalf of those “without a human voice”?  Join animal chaplain Sarah Bowen as she explores these questions through the lenses of science and spirituality.​

In stores April 5, 2022
Pre-order now for access to a free workshop.
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SPIRITUAL REBEL:
A POSITIVELY ADDICTIVE GUIDE TO FINDING DEEPER PERSPECTIVE & HIGHER PURPOSE
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An indispensable guide for modern seekers. Mining the world's philosophical, scientific, and wisdom traditions, "Spiritual Rebel" offers 21 days of creative practices to try out including forest bathing, meditating with animals, and visiting spiritually charged locations, just to name a few. A preacher's kid originally inspired by the Force of Star Wars, Sarah confesses her challenges with her birth religion, descent into addiction, and recovery into a life where everything can be sacred. (Monkfish Publishing)

"A lighthearted, upbeat take on questions that have churned within human minds for millennia."―Spirituality & Health Book Review

A Nautilus Book Award Winner


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VOID IF DETACHED:
SEEKING MODERN SPIRITUALITY THrOUGH MY FATHER's old sermons
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A thoughtful and intelligent guide to Christian (and other) religious ideas through the eyes of an educated, kindly minister and his loving, but questioning, daughter. This is not your traditional bible study!

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WHAT I'M UP TO

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COMPASSION CONSORTIUM

Non-sectarian monthly worship services with interfaith reflection, music, meditation, and guest speaker. Open to all faiths & species! 
CHECK IT OUT
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WRITING FOR SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH 

Read my writings on the intersection of animals, spirituality, and the Earth
VIEW ALL ARTICLES
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SACreD SENDOFFS BOOK TOUR

Check out podcasts, radio, & writing plus info on in-person events starting March 2022.
CHECK IT OUT
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CO-HOSTING PODCAST

Geeked to join Unity Online Radio's Jim Lefter to interview spiritual authors including Don Miguel Ruiz, Jr., Royce Christyn, James Redfield, & Victoria Price
LISTEN TO PODCASTS
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FINISHED THE AUDIO BOOK!

Yoga teacher Nicole Losie joined me in narrating Spiritual Rebel for Audible. 
GET THE AUDIOBOOK
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MEDITATE WITH ME

 Short guided meditations on the cosmos or connection with animals.
GET MEDITATED

...aspire to act with the eyes and heart of compassion, to bring joy to one person in the morning, and to ease the pain of one person in the afternoon.

- THICH NHAT HAHN

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© 2016 - 2022 Sarah Bowen. All rights reserved.
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