The Rev. Canon John McDowell, Assisting Priest (retired)

Fr. John retired from full time ordained ministry in 2006 when he and his wife, Hattie, moved to Carlisle and began work restoring a home in the downtown Historic District. Actually, this represented both a return to Carlisle, and to the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. Born in Wellsboro, north central Pennsylvania, John was educated at the Milton Hershey School and then came to Dickinson College in Carlisle, graduating with a BA in 1964. Sponsored by the Diocese of Harrisburg, John attended the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria and graduated in 1971. He was ordained Deacon that spring and Priest on June 1, 1972.

Fr. John served as Rector of the Church of Prince of Peace, Gettysburg, before being called by Bishop Charlie McNutt in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, to serve as his Executive Officer and Canon to the Ordinary, a ministry he exercised from 1982 to 1995. While in the diocese he served as a Deputy to five General Conventions and was President of the Clergy Association. His diocesan ministry included responsibility for clergy deployment, missions, budget, and many others.

In 1995 he was called to the Church of St. James the Less in Ashland, Virginia, where he served as Rector until retirement in 2006. In “retirement”, Fr. John has been busy serving as Interim Rector of Prince of Peace, Gettysburg and All Saint’s, Hershey. He anticipates concluding that interim ministry in the fall of 2009 and returning to St. John’s where he assists with some services and especially enjoys presiding at the Children’s Chapel Eucharist at 11:00 in the Lloyd Center.

John and his wife Hattie are celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary and are the parents of three adult children and several grandchildren. Their daughter, Katherine Lively, and her husband Tim, are active members of St. John’s with their two small children.