Eulogy for Raahsahn Bowden

I am sorry that I cannot be with you this morning for this service honoring Raahsahn as he passes on to his new home in the Resurrection. I had a fall last week which resulted in a head injury. For 38 years I was Chaplain and Chair of the Religion Department at the Episcopal Academy, but more importantly Raahsahn chose me to be his advisor over four years during his student days.

When you are a student’s advisor you develop a close relationship with a student’s academic, spiritual and personal growth.

I heard of his death through another EA alumnus who was friends with him and someone that I knew and admired, Dr. Matt Schaeffer who will give my reflections on my advisee today in my place.

After hearing of Raahshan’s death I went to his Senior Yearbook Page where there was a picture of Raahshan which contained no words.

There is an old saying: Preach the Gospel. Use words if necessary, meaning it is important to live the Gospel by the way you live. Raashshan’s picture with no quotations on it as others usually do reflects who he was. He lived the Gospel by the way he lived. He was loved by his friends and faculty because he reflected how the Lord loved him and, in turn, how he loved others.

Raahshan and Tasha requested to be ordained at Christ Chapel on our Merion Campus of the Episcopal Academy. He found our school as one of his spiritual homes along with his church home and family home. His parents’ legacy of being filled with the spirit was passed on directly to him. What an inheritance!  Raahshahn’s ordination service was something to behold. I was so proud of him then and am proud of him today and in the years to come when he is holding forth in heaven with his mother.

I watched some of Raahshahn’s preaching at your services. He has added to his living the

 gospel with actions to living it by the words of the Gospel as well. He possessed the best of both worlds of action and words of the Gospel. That old Christian song, “they shall know you are Christians by their love.” holds true for him.

Right now, he is hearing from the Lord God: Well done, my good and faithful servant.

In one of his sermons he said, “Dreams are great, but they really start when you wake up!”

He is now awakened to a new life with his Lord.

Please see the attached video! Dr. Matthew Schaeffer is an EA alumnus and President of Chester County Spine Care

Words in Tribute of Raahsahn Bowden by the Reverend James R. Squire and Dr. Matthew Schaefffer