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Cynthia (Sam) M. Bowns, of Crete, Illinois, recently retired as a development associate and alumni coordinator at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Sam has a Masters of Divinity and a certificate in spiritual formation from Catholic Theological Union, where she continues to volunteer. A married mother of three, she has served for decades in a variety of parish ministries, including co-chair of RCIA, lector, Eucharistic minister and art and environment. 

Sam, a certified spiritual director, became a vocal advocate for restoring a women’s diaconate as she accompanied her husband throughhis discernment and training as a deacon in the Diocese of Joliet and came to experience a call to the diaconate herself. Sam has been interviewed or featured by the National Catholic Reporter, America Magazine, and PBS in their reporting on the possibility of ordaining women deacons.

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PREACHING

September 3, 2020

Memorial of Saint Phoebe

We owe it to ourselves to be mindful of our own wisdom as to what our “needs” are as a community. We need to have the courage of the early Hellenists to put our needs out there for those in authority to understand “what” and “whom” we need in ministry.
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May 14, 2017

Fifth Sunday of Easter

We owe it to ourselves to be mindful of our own wisdom as to what our “needs” are as a community. We need to have the courage of the early Hellenists to put our needs out there for those in authority to understand “what” and “whom” we need in ministry.
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