Welcome! I’m Unitarian Universalist ministry and media coach Peter Bowden.
I help our leaders — clergy, staff, and volunteers — learn new skills, develop new strategies, and innovate together as we strive to thrive in today’s digitally oriented world.
• Get my latest free content, resources, and training updates for Unitarian Universalists.
• Visit my new training site!
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Podcast.
MORE OF MY STORY
Raised a Unitarian Universalist and third generation in the First Unitarian Church of Providence, RI, I grew up at church.
As a volunteer, I taught, led our youth group, young adult group, and served nearly every committee from religious education to membership.
Researching ministry models used by other denominations led me to develop a very popular small group model for our youth group. Convinced that the model would be successful across age groups, I began connecting with other “small group ministry” leaders across our association.
During this time I worked for the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Ballou Channing District, and volunteered to lead young adult and adult small group ministry programs in my home congregation, among other leadership responsibilites.
In 2001, I convinced other UU pioneers of this approach to share some of their resources freely online and launched the UU Small Group Ministry Network website.
Through the network, which we relaunched as a UUA affiliate organization in 2004, I worked to promote and support the development of amazing small groups across our association. This quickly developed into a national consulting practice.
Specializing in small groups led to community building, leadership development, and social justice work. My work in these areas grew over time to encompass growth strategies, outreach, size transitions, shared ministry, membership development, and beyond!
In 2007, as Youtube and social media began to transform the web, I chose to study digital media through Boston University instead of entering seminary. At this time I had been working bi-vocationally with both our congregations and as a producer on multiple nationally syndicated children’s television shows.
With professional expertise in both congregational life and television production, I was well suited to respond to the growing need for Unitarian Universalists to harness the power of digital communication.
For the last decade, I’ve been helping our congregations use digital tools to communicate, build community, and amplify our impact!
UU PLANET 