Servant of God Thea Bowman: She brought soul music to the American Church

Today’s missionary hero is an American woman of our time, Thea Bowman.

Bertha Bowman, later known as Thea, was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on December 29, 1937.  She was brought up as a Methodist until she was nine years old.  At that age, she asked her parents if she could become a Catholic Christian, and they gave her permission to do so.

When she grew up, Bertha became a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin and took the name Thea. Sr. Thea attended Viterbo University, Catholic University of America, and Boston College.

Sr. Thea taught elementary school in La Crosse, Wisconsin and high school in Canton, Mississippi.  She also taught at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Viterbo in Wisconsin.

Sr. Thea was known not only as a brilliant person, but also as a person with a beautiful voice and personality.  Sr. Thea used all of these gifts as a teacher and later as a consultant and inspirational speaker.

After teaching for sixteen years, Sr. Thea was invited by the Bishop of Jackson, Mississippi to become a consultant for intercultural awareness.  In this role, Sr. Thea traveled the United States giving lively presentations with prayer, spirited preaching, and exuberant African-American singing.  Her ministry focused on breaking down barriers between cultures and races.

Sr. Thea was also instrumental in the publication of Lead Me, Guide Me, an African-American Catholic hymnal.

In 1984, Sr. Thea was diagnosed with cancer. Upon learning of her diagnosis, she prayed that she would “live until I die.”  God granted Thea her wish.  Even as the cancer took more and more of a toll on her, she continued with her ministry via a wheelchair.  In 1989, she was the keynote speaker at the United States Bishops’ conference on Black Catholics. At the end of the meeting, the bishops stood and sang “We Shall Overcome,” a landmark song of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Sr. Thea died in 1990 and was declared Servant of God in 2018.