October 2020 — pg. 25
urfm You are the church
A mutual friend recommended Owen contact Lloyd John
Ogilvie, who served as the chaplain of the U.S. Senate. Owen
met with Ogilvie who asked how he could pray for him, and
Owen replied that he needed an office.
“He prayed with me that God would give me an office.
The next day I get a phone call from the United Methodist
Church saying, ‘We’re giving you the top floor of the United
Methodist Building,’” Owen said. “God just did wonderful
things to open doors.”
The United Methodists allow several other denominations
to use space in the building. Owen had complimentary use
of an office suite overlooking the U.S. Supreme Court plaza
and the U.S. Capitol. He befriended the officers protecting
the Supreme Court and the Capitol Building. When a
Supreme Court police officer died unexpectedly, another
officer asked if Owen could serve as the chaplain for the
court police officers.
“They didn’t even ask me. They just made me their
chaplain, so I met with Chief Justice Rehnquist, told him
what I was doing, and he said, ‘Good,’” said Owen, who had
sidewalk conversations with another Supreme Court justice
and members of Congress — some of whom had apartments
in the United Methodist complex. “But I wasn’t called there
to minister to them. I was called to minister to the people
that the police encountered — the voiceless, powerless
people.”
When he arrived in D.C., only two of the capital’s multiple
law enforcement agencies had chaplains, but Owen said,
“God allowed others to get involved, and He helped use
me to do it.” The different agencies now have their own
chaplains.
He saw ministry opportunities decrease as security
restrictions increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. In 2003, the Owens returned to New York where he
provided chaplain services to the New York State Police.
At General Conference 2019, Owen received the Chaplain
Medallion Award in recognition of 55 years of ministry as a
pastor and police/crisis chaplain.
Whether preaching in the pulpit or sharing the gospel with
protestors outside the Supreme Court, Owen has followed
God’s call to serve our nation’s cities.
“I believe I am and was called of God to be an urban
pastor,” Owen said. “All of the places I’ve been sent by God
in the church are places that are in crisis.”+
I believe I am
and was called
of God to be an
urban pastor.
All of the places
I’ve been sent by
God in the church
are places
that are
in crisis.
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