at the Shawnee Mission Parkway & Mission Road
Michele Bowen
Three-year-olds have been learning about Jesus from “Miss Michele” for more than 20 years. In fact, there’s hardly a child at Old Mission who doesn’t know Michele Bowen, the church’s Assistant Director of Children’s Ministries. She showers the wee ones with love, calling each and every child by name — whether they’ve been there one Sunday or 100.
Kids attending the 10:50 a.m. worship service know “Miss Michele” as the leader of Children’s Church, a youth-friendly worship service for kids that teaches about how God is at work in their lives in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
Michele sees God’s spirit in the children of Old Mission. “Kids accept things they don’t really understand without doubting or questioning a whole lot. They give out hugs and kisses aplenty. I LOVE seeing how excited they get about coming to Sunday School or church. I’m thrilled when a parent tells me ‘we hadn’t planned to come to church today, but my child insisted, so here we are!’ It’s so important to get the children excited about Jesus — to teach them that He never lets us down or disappoints us — everyone else will, but not Him!”
Michele has a hand in virtually everything at Old Mission involving children, including planning activities like the Easter egg hunt, Fall Carnival, the Lock-in and Camp Chippewa overnight event. She also serves by teaching Bible stories to kids enrolled in Old Mission’s Early Education Childcare Center during the week.
Michele’s passion for prayer has made her the go-to person for the church’s prayer chain, and she started Old Mission’s prayer shawl ministry which combines her hobby of knitting with prayer for others.
A Kansas City resident since 1973, Michele was raised in St. Charles, Mo., and has also lived in Long Beach, Miss., and Mulvane, Kan. Her rock-solid faith has been an inspiration to many. “Through adversity, I’ve learned that I can always count on Him for everything — He will never leave me or forsake me. I fall more in love with him with each passing day. I’ve learned that I’m called to love people, but trust and put all my faith in Him to meet my needs and fill me with His joy.” More fun facts about Michele: As a child, what did you want to be when you “grew up”? A hairdressing babysitter!
What’s your favorite food? Chocolate What are some of your favorite movies? I’m not a big movie-goer, but I love some of the old John Wayne movies, especially “The Quiet Man.” Who inspires you? The Holy Spirit, my parents, my sister, my children and other people’s children. I’m a sucker for a baby! Tell us about your family...
I’ve been married for 27 years to Douglas. We have two children, Jessica who just got married last June to Joshua; they live in Shawnee and attend Old Mission. My son Paul, who records the Sunday worship service, is 21 and still with us at home. My sister Kay has been teaching the Camel class with me since Paul was little. My parents live in St. Charles, Mo., and are amazing — Daddy turned 90 in June and Mom is ‘younger.’ They have such young hearts and spirits and I get my belief system from them. Daddy is Catholic and Mom is Methodist and our choice as children wasn’t whether we wanted to go to church, but which parent did we want to go with! I have two younger brothers — Joel in St. Charles and Bob in Illinois.