Rev. Sharon Bowers

Rev. Sharon BowersThe Rev. Sharon Bowers, recently appointed to the newly formed Office of Church Relations in the President’s Office, was previously the Director of the Inclusion & Dialogue Center at Emory & Henry College. She has 30 years of experience in full-time ministry, leading churches and other faith-based organizations, advocating for diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging in the Holston Conference of The United Methodist Church and beyond.

Sharon Bowers—an elder in full connection in the Holston Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, has a Master’s Degree in Sociology and a second Master’s Degree in Divinity, Womanist Theology. She is completing her dissertation entitled “EXPANDING INTERSECTIONALITY TO INCLUDE SPIRITUALITY AS A SACRED TOOL OF THE BLACK WOMAN’S RESISTANCE.” She will receive her Ph.D. in Political Science in December 2022. Rev. Bowers serves as the Director of Church Relations, Special Advisor to the President on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives, and the Lead Collaborator on the Women, Gender and Justice Center Initiative. She joined Emory & Henry College in 2020. She is the author of Character Based Leadership: Mark the Perfect Man-Leading and Living With Character. She has a wealth of experience in corporate America, the non-profit sector, the federal government, and church pastoral leadership throughout the United States. Rev. Bowers has served as a college professor, lead pastor in urban and rural and in cross-cultural and cross-racial appointments, national motivational speaker, and professional life coach.