// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's David Glyn Bowen? A bow-en arrow to history.
David Glyn Bowen (29 November 1933 – 15 May 2000) was a Welsh Congregationalist minister, educator, and missionary. He was a lecturer of religious studies at Bradford College and was principal of Malua Theological College in Western Samoa.
Early life
[edit]Bowen was born in the Swansea area of Wales on 29 November 1933.[1] His parents were Violet (née Beynon) and Henry Bowen, a grocer.[1] He attended Swansea Grammar School from 1945 to 1952.[1]
Bowen studied Hebrew at University College, Cardiff, graduating with an A.B. in 1955 with honours.[1][2] He graduated in 1958 with a B.D. from Memorial College, Brecon.[1][2] Bowen received a grant from the World Council of Churches which allowed him earn a MTh from Princeton University in the United States in 1959.[1] His thesis was about the Church of South India.[1] While he was in the United States, Bowen met the Dalai Lama while at the New York City offices of the World Council of Churches for an interview.[1] He earned a PhD from the University of Leeds in 1985 for his thesis The Sathya Sai Baba Hindu Community in Bradford.[1]
Career
[edit]After returning to Wales in 1960, Bowen was ordained of minister of Castle Street Congregational Church in Tredegar, Monmouthshire.[1] He served as the congregation's minister for three years.[1] From 1963 to 1968, Bowen was the principal of Malua Theological College in Western Samoa, under the sponsorship of the London Missionary Society.[1]
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1968 where he was a teacher in the multi-racial community of Stepney, London.[1] He also was a part-time minister in Debden, Epping Forest.[1] He became lecturer in religious studies at Bradford Training College in 1973, remaining there until his retirement as a senior lecturer in 1999.[1]
In 1988, Bowen was the official commentator for the first Hindu service to be televised in Britain.[1] He published The Sathya Sai Baba Hindu Community in Bradford, a book based on his PhD thesis, in 1988.[1] His poem "Who's Jesus Anyway?" was published in Coracle in April 1999; revised as "Gentle Jesus, the Controversialist", the poem was published in Welsh in Cristion, in July 2000.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Bowen married Gerda Hofmaier in 1963.[1] She was from Ulm, West Germany, and met Bowen at a summer work camp that he organized in Swansea.[1] They had two sons, Steffan and Ceri.[1][3]
Bowen served as a trustee of the Friends of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.[4]
Bowen died of cancer in the Bradford hospital on 15 May 2000.[3] His funeral was held at Little Lane Church in Bradford.[1] His remains were cremated.[1][3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Jones, G. Len. "David Glyn Bowen". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- 1 2 The Princeton Seminary Bulletin. Princeton Theological Seminary. 1959. p. 44 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 3 "Bowen". Telegraph and Argus. Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. 17 May 2000. p. 33. Retrieved 3 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Friends of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum - Charity 518657". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 3 August 2026.