• Introducing Our Ministers •
The Rev. Alan M. Cowley
Becoming a Minister . . .
Because I Had No Other Choice
A
s it seems with many of our clergy, the call to the ministry was lingering
somewhere in the back of Alan Cowley’s mind, ready to be heard when
the time was right. When the call came, he was ready.
Alan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the fifth of six children born
to David and Yvonne (Bonnie) Alden Cowley. He grew up in Riverdale,
Maryland, and attended the Washington New Church School grades 1-10.
He graduated from the Academy Boys School in 2000 and enrolled in Bryn
Athyn College with a double major in History and Secondary Education. He
completed his degree in History but says that “after nearly five years I was too
exhausted to finish my degree in Education.” He graduated in 2005.
After a few years working as a landscaper and substitute teacher he moved
to Athens, Georgia. Struggling to find work there he decided to become a
truck driver for the next two years. “I really enjoyed driving,” he says, “or at
least the freedom of getting paid to travel all over the United States. However,
being a very social person, I felt a need to work closer to home to develop
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