Sr Thea Bowman Lecture

In 2022, Georgetown University named its chapel in Copley Hall the Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman Chapel in honor of Sr. Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. The Office of Mission & Ministry hosts the Sr. Thea Bowman Lecture to celebrate the life and legacy of Sr. Thea Bowman. This annual lecture highlights African-American Spirituality within Catholic and Protestant communities and deepens collaboration, support, and unity.

Sr. Thea Bowman was a Catholic religious sister, scholar, singer, and teacher. Raised in a small Mississippi town, she converted to Catholicism at the age of 12 and later joined the Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. Sr. Thea lived out her Catholic faith and African American identity through her ministry of evangelization, education, and action for justice. The term “Servant of God” refers to Sr. Thea’s official designation as a person in the first stage of canonization in the Roman Catholic Church.