Richard L. Dowhower

Richard L. Dowhower is an educator and religious scholar. He was actively involved in educating both his parish and the public about what he defined as "cults". In 1979, testified at a hearing on cults convened by the Pennsylvania state legislature, and also before his own denomination's department of Church in Society.

Dowhower's has focused his work on educating military chaplains. He has presented to U.S. Navy chaplains in Philadelphia in 1979, in Groton-New London, Connecticut, in 1981, and at their school in Newport, Rhode Island in 1985-198, and 1990. The United States Navy Chaplains School considers Dowhower as a "Subject Matter Expert" on the subject of destructive cults.

Dowhower has also given presentations at the Pastors' Conference of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, the Bowie Interfaith Clergy Association, Maryland, and the Lutheran Social Services of Allegheny, Pennsylvania Region.

Dowhower has also worked with campus pastors and college students Bucknell University, Dickinson College, and Thiele colleges, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Maryland. He has also worked with high school students in the central Pennsylvania communities of Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, Shippenburg, Hamburg, and Lansdale. Rev. Mr. Dowhower continued his parish work and cult education ministry while serving as pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie, Maryland, and as an active member of International Cultic Studies Association's Clergy Education Committee.

Dowhower has served as a consultant to Germany on their "Commission on So-Called Sects and Psycho Groups". In March 1998 he met with the commission as Maryland House Joint Resolution #22 was in the midst of the legislative process.

In April 1999, Dowhower was interviewed by 60 Minutes II on a story they were doing on Michael Bray, who advocates death for physicians who perform abortions.

He has counseled former members of controversial groups including Scientology, Lifespring, ritual abuse victims, and International Church of Christ.

Education

 * A.B.
 * Doctor of Divinity, Thiel College, 1958

Books

 * Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge, 1996, Contributor
 * Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, W. W. Norton & Company, 1995, Contributor
 * Lord, speak to us that we may: A devotional guide for church councils and committees, 1989

Other

 * "The necessary urgency for growth": A keynote address by Richard L Dowhower, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 1986

Articles

 * Prepared Presentation to The Task Force to Study the Effects of Cult Activities on Public Senior Higher Education Institutions, Maryland Cult Task Force, Reverend Richard L. Dowhower, D.D., June 7, 1999 (Entire Task Force Testimony)
 * "Cults on Campus", September 1995 issue, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
 * Religion versus Cult
 * Clergy and Cults: A Survey, Cult Observer, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1994).
 * Cults: What Clergy Should Know
 * Book Review, Apologetics in the New Age: A Christian Critique of Pantheism, Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1992
 * Book Review, A Guide to New Religious Movements, Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2005
 * "Confronting the Cults," a two-part article, LCA Partners, (Feb. and Apr. 1982)
 * "The Dangers of Pseudo-Religious Cults, a Statement of Pastoral Concern for Parents and Youth by Catholic and Protestant Religious Leaders.", Pennsylvania Conference on Interfaith Cooperation, 1979