"Bowen helps us explore our relationships with more-than-human animals, unveils multiple layers of animal death all around us that often escape our notice, and guides us in recognizing and ritualizing our grief when animals die."
―CODY J. SANDERS, chaplain at Harvard University and
advisor in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sarah A. Bowen
ANIMAL CHAPLAIN & ADVOCATE FOR ALL CREATURES
Sarah A. Bowen is an award-winning author, animal chaplain, and educator who teaches interspecies mindfulness practices, helps humans survive the pain of animal loss, and advocates for exploited and endangered species in both religious and secular contexts. You can often find her huddled over wildlife struck by cars, giving them a sacred sendoff.
A columnist on animal/human relationships for Spirituality & Health magazine, Bowen’s work has also appeared in Parabola, Tricycle, and Religion Dispatches. Her latest book is Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing The Planet (Monkfish Publishing, 2022)
To request Sarah to speak at your event or for media interviews, please reach out to the publicity & events team through our "won't-end-up-in-our-spam-folder" contact form.
More about Sarah
Sarah is co-founder of Compassion Consortium, an interfaith and interspecies spiritual community for people who care about animals and the planet, where she directs the Animal Chaplaincy Training Program. Sarah is also an academic dean at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, where she encourages emerging clergy to align their spiritual values with animal and planetary welfare.
A passionate writer and speaker, she has presented at United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week, Parliament of the World’s Religions, Pace E Bene’s Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, Best Friends National Conference, Spiritual Directors International, and Chaplaincy Innovation Lab; written for Spirituality & Health, Parabola, Religious Dispatches and other spirituality media; been interviewed by media including Psychology Today, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Animal Culture Magazine, Planet Friendly news, and a range of podcasts, t.v., and radio shows. An RNS Vatican News Reporter featured her response to Pope Francis’s suggestion that having pets is selfish.
An award-winning author, she authored two books on modern spirituality, including Spiritual Rebel: A Positively Addictive Guide to Finding Deeper Perspective and Higher Purpose. Her latest book is Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Trying to Heal the Planet (Monkfish Publishing). She is a columnist on animal/human relationships for Spirituality & Health magazine,
Sarah holds a BA in Human Ecology from Michigan State University, MA in Religious Studies from Chicago Theological Seminary, was ordained through One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, completed Emerson Theological's Passmore Animal Chaplain Program, and is joyfully engaged in postgraduate research in Humane Religious Studies and Anthrozoology.
Instagram @modernreverend
"If we heed Bowen's teachings, perhaps animals will help us become more nonviolent toward one another―and teach us how to be human.”
―John Dear, author of The Nonviolent Life, Living Peace and other books; executive director of www.beatitudescenter.org
"Bowen achieves balance between the need for compassion, for understanding, and for justice―from the perspectives of both human and other-than-human animals. Her approach is not to preach, scold, or admonish, but instead to pose questions that inspire thoughtful and honest answers.”
―WILLIAM MELTON, co-founder of Compassion Consortium