Dow was a standout on the basketball court for the Royals from 1983 to 1986. In 1985, he was named the ODAC Player of the Year. He was a four-time All-ODAC First Team and etched his name in the record books as the all-time career leader in points (2,192), rebounds (1,102), and scoring average (20.4 points per game). He also set the record for most points in a season by a first-year when he scored 534 points in his first season. His jersey was retired in 1986 and he was inducted into the in 1987.

A giant on the basketball court, Dow has been an even bigger force when it comes to his faith during the 40 years since his graduation from EMU. He was a founder of the Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association in Philadelphia, and for nearly 20 years was a pastor at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church. In 2017, he left the church to become the vice president of community and church development for Everence, leading the effort to serve emerging diverse communities and churches that historically have been underserved.

He also serves on the board of directors for The City School, Missio Seminary, The Brooklyn Peace Center, and The Common Place.

Dow, along with EMU’s three other ODAC Hall of Fame inductees, will be celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the men’s basketball game against Roanoke inside Yoder Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. 

It’s hard not to. Beads of sweat bubble all over Dow’s forehead as he delivers energetic, poignant sermons. The 47-year-old black preacher isn’t your cookie cutter Mennonite. Some in the “City of Brotherly Love” have dubbed him “Mennocostal” for his animated Pentecostal-style preaching at the Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

That isn’t the first nickname given to the 1987 ��ݮ���� graduate. Dow is the all-time leading scorer in EMU men’s basketball history. His prolific numbers – 2,192 points -earned him the moniker “Dream.”

Despite the local celebrity Dow’s garnered throughout his life, he wants EMU students to know that their names mean little in God’s eyes. Dow’s message was heard on Wednesday by about 150 students, faculty and community members at the start of EMU’s Spiritual Life Week.

“I’ve driven five hours down from the city of Philadelphia to say I don’t care what your name is,” Dow said during a 20-minute sermon at Lehman Auditorium. “I don’t care about your first name or last name. It will limit you.”

A New Clarity
Students stayed glued to Dow on Wednesday as he emphasized that college is the time for them to “wrestle with God.”

“After that there is clarity and purpose,” he said.

Dow’s clarity came after his days at EMU when he was well into his banking career. He became a Mennonite a few years after graduation and quickly increased his involvement at the congregation in Oxford Circle, a low-income Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood.

“I started getting more of a passion for what I wasn’t getting paid to do, which was volunteering in the church, and less of a passion for what I was getting paid very well to do,” Dow said.

Reviving a Mennonite congregation in an urban area was no easy project. Oxford Circle’s congregation attracts a largely minority community through after-school programs and other public outreach. Such programs help dispel the notion that all Mennonites are Old Order and drive buggies.
Dow tied this into his sermon on names explaining that his congregation has to first be strong communicators as Christians for those unfamiliar with the Mennonite name.

“But I think it’s important that people know who we are before they come in,” he said. “We try to be clear about it, but believe me there are folks who I would say are ethnic Mennonite and when they come to our church they’re just as shocked as those who thought they knew Mennonites.”

Campus pastor the Rev. Brian Burkholder knew he wanted to invite Dow for  Spiritual Life Week after hearing him previously at EMU.

“Leonard’s profile is expanding among the ministries of Philadelphia, but also among Mennonite Church USA nationwide and that’s because of a strong affirmation of his approach to ministry,” Burkholder said, “but also his ability to speak prophetically.”

Yoder, Leap …  Dow?
As students applauded Dow on Wednesday he provided proof that one doesn’t need a traditional Mennonite name to be a strong leader in the church. In fact he wanted some members of the audience with well-known Mennonite surnames to feel uncomfortable and remember they cannot rely on their family names to do right by God.

“There’s a high regard for our names, you know, Yoder, etcetera, etcetera,” Dow said. “I can’t replicate that but the Anabaptist [quality] that I really valued and received when I was in high school and college is the theology.”

He also emphasized that the Mennonite message isn’t only applicable to those in rural areas.

“In an urban environment where violence unfortunately plays itself out on a daily basis and when justice is not just to those who are poor, that theology plays directly in speaking to those,” Dow said.

Christian Parks, a freshman from Philadelphia, was impressed by Dow’s directness when speaking about struggling to find an identity and a calling. Parks said the sermon made him think about his own struggle to understand his place on campus when so many of his peers are engaged and he is single.

“Listening to him explain that you first have to wrestle with yourself, wrestle with God and then purpose will come is encouraging and discouraging at the same time because it takes a lot of patience,” Parks said.

Parks and his fellow students gave their biggest applause when Dow passionately told them to reject the value of worldly identities and focus on what Jesus wants.

“Jesus says ‘Follow me, do not allow your wealth, your denomination, your education, your network, your career or your family inheritance, any of that to get in the way,’ ” Dow said. “Jesus said ‘Follow me, not your family name, not your family identity …  Do not allow what others have said about you on Facebook or Twitter to get in the way of following me.

“Jesus says ‘Follow me. Do not allow Democrat or Republican to define you. Do not allow Fox News or NPR to be the sum of who you are.’ ”

Spiritual Life Week wrapped up Saturday at Park View Mennonite Church with a “Called to Ministry” retreat from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Leonard Dow will seek to combine his reflections on pastoral ministry in an urban and multicultural context while addressing the program theme, “Called by God.”

Schedule of events

He will speak in chapel services and classes, meet with student groups and individuals, minister with the men’s basketball team and facilitate dialogue in a coffeehouse event.

Dow, a 1987 EMU alumnus, is pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, a multi-ethnic community in Philadelphia, a bishop of the Lancaster Conference Philadelphia District, board chair of Oxford Circle Christian Development Association and board member of Singing City, a non-profit music industry. He previously was involved in banking.

Dow was the all-time scoring leader for the EMU Royals men’s basketball team as a student with 2,192 points and 1,102 career rebounds. He was named to the EMU athletic hall of honor and was the first EMU athlete to have his jersey retired in 1987.

Dow will open the program theme in university chapel 10 a.m. Wed., Feb. 16 in Lehman Auditorium, speak in seminary chapel 11 a.m Thur., Feb. 17 in Martin Chapel and again 10 a.m. Fri., Feb. 18 in Lehman Auditorium.

He will lead a session on “what does it mean to be alive in your faith” 8 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 17 in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the University Commons. The EMU Gospel Choir will sing, and free refreshments will be served.

Additional events

Local singer-composer Jessica Crawford, a recent Eastern Mennonite Seminary student, will play at 9 p.m. Fri., Feb. 18 in Common Grounds Coffeehouse.

Interim Associate Campus Pastor Dawn Monger and Maria Zehr, undergraduate student, conclude the week by leading a “Called to Ministry” retreat 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, held at Park View Mennonite Church.

“I expect Leonard Dow to bring energetic and focused teaching on understanding how and to what God calls all of us as well as guidance for discerning our personal calling,” said EMU campus pastor Brian Martin Burkholder. “This is a theme that touches everyone – students, faculty, staff and community members.”

For more information, visit the or call campus ministries at 540-432-4115.

Activities opened Friday, Feb. 4, with a university chapel presentation by Mark Metzler Sawin, associate professor of history at EMU and a former Fulbright scholar. Dr. Sawin shared powerful stories of local African-American groups and their faith, hope and struggles here the Valley of Virginia and at EMU.

Upcoming Black History Month events include:

• A historical presentation of the African American community in Harrisonburg led by Ruth Tolliver, followed by a tour to historical sites around the city, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., Feb. 12, including a display in the Simms Building of African American inventions. Transportation and light snacks will be provided. Persons should meet in the University Commons rooms 211-212 before 10 a.m.
• Philadelphia pastor and EMU alumnus Leonard Dow will speak on “what does it mean to be alive in your faith? How can you LIVE fully in Jesus?” at 8 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 17 in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the University Commons.  The EMU Gospel Choir opens this event, and refreshments are free compliments of campus ministries. Dow is leading spring spiritual life week, Feb. 16-19, at EMU.
• Local musician Jessica Crawford and the EMU Gospel Choir will be in concert 9 p.m. Fri., Feb. 18 in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse. Admission is free.
• A community worship service with the EMU Gospel Choir will take place 2 p.m. Sun., Feb. 20, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.  Join EMU students and staff in a worshipful experience led by the Black Student Union.
• The annual Soul Food Café is back, 6-8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27. Come and enjoy a traditional African American dish while listening (and participating) in a surprise program. This annual event will be held in the Black Box Theater of the University Commons. General admission is $10 and $5 for students.

“The Soul Food Café is a favorite, usually the last event in our month-long celebration,” said Marvin Lorenzana, director of multicultural services at EMU. “Come join us for any of these activities for worship, music, food and meaningful conversation.”

For more information, contact Lorenzana at 540-432-4458.

An ��ݮ���� alumnus who moved from the world of finance to “laying up” spiritual treasures in heaven spent several days at EMU as a visiting pastor and as a resource for Martin Luther King Day observances.

Leonard Dow, a 1987 graduate and former banker in Souderton, Pa., joined the Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia in 1990 and grew into leadership roles there. He was called to pastor the growing, multi-ethnic congregation in 1998.

Dow spoke several times on campus on the overall theme, “The Dangerous Calling of the Gospel.” He reflected on the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader in a session Monday, Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day – in the Campus Center Greeting Hall.

Speaking on “A Clear and Present Danger,” Dow expressed concern that Martin Luther King Day “is becoming just another sentimental, commercialized event with many people having a day off work.”

But, he said, “it’s the responsibility of places like EMU not only to honor Dr. King,” but even more, “to move beyond the dream to emphasize what he preached, lived and died for – that people be united as one in Christ.”

Holding up a copy of the EMU mission statement – that includes a call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God – Dow told his audience that “if you apply this fully to your life, you will be ‘a clear and present danger’ in this world. People may hate you because of your faithfulness and obedience.

Melody Pannell, director of multicultural services, responds in a small group setting to Leonard Dow’s presentation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Photo by Jim Bishop

“Martin Luther King was killed not because of what he said, but because he lived out what he said and believed,” Dow declared.

“We are called as a church to become, as Dr. King said, a beloved community that brings together the marginalized of society, that views diversity as a gift and equality not as sameness but as value.”

While in college, Dow was a basketball standout as a forward for the EMU Royals. He holds the all-time men’s scoring record with 2,192 points and all-time leading rebound record with 1,102.

“I don’t talk a lot about my basketball experience any more,” Dow said, “But as a player, I was ‘a clear and present danger’ to opposing players. They talked about me in the locker rooms and saw me as a threat on the court. That’s how it should be for us as Christians – other people know who you are and what you stand for, and some may reject you for that reason. That’s hard, because we all want to be liked.”

In university chapel Friday morning, Jan. 18, Dow introduced the theme with a short but powerful oration on the need for Christian love to serve as a motivating force for one’s actions “that many in the world won’t understand,” based on I Cor. 1:18-25. Dow cited biblical characters from Moses to the Apostle Paul to the late Dr. King as examples of “willingness to be fools for Christ.”

Dow also spoke at a community worship service Sunday, Jan. 20 on the theme, “Afraid Yet Filled With Joy” from Matt. 28:8, visited classes, interacted with multicultural services personnel, the Black Student Union and other campus organizations and student athletes.

“It’s been a good weekend,” said Jared C. Lyons, EMU senior and president of the Future Leaders of Equality and Diversity (FLED). “I appreciated Leonard’s ministry and the role model he is. It was refreshing to hear him share his wisdom on campus.”

Dow’s wife, Rosalie Rolon-Dow, also a 1987 alumna and standout on EMU women’s basketball team, accompanied her spouse to campus with their three children. She is a former member of the EMU board of trustees and an associate professor of education at the University of Delaware.

A 1987 EMU graduate who is pastor of a growing, multi-ethnic congregation in Philadelphia will be on campus Jan. 18-23 to interact with students and faculty as well as to be a resource speaker for Martin Luther King Jr. observances.

Leonard M. Dow, pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, will speak in university chapel 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 18, on the theme, “The Dangerous Call of the Gospel,” based on I Cor. 1:18-25. He plans to reflect on the need for Christian love to be the motivating force for one’s actions that many in the world won’t understand, citing the Apostle Paul and the late Dr. King as examples of “a willingness to be fools for Christ.” The multicultural services praise team will lead the worship service.

Dow will speak at a community worship service 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building. He will speak on the theme, “Afraid Yet Filled With Joy” from Matt. 28:8.

The EMU alumnus will reflect on Martin Luther King Jr. at the weekly “celebration” program 9 p.m. Sunday, also in Martin Chapel.

Dow will reflect on the civil rights leader’s life and legacy 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21 in the Campus Center Greeting Hall. He will speak on “A Clear and Present Danger.” The event is open to everyone.

While on campus, Dow will visit classes and interact with multicultural services personnel, the Black Student Union and other campus organizations and student athletes.

Dow, a former banker, joined Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in 1990 and grew into leadership roles there. He was called to pastor there in 1998. He also works with Mennonite Central Committee East Coast in relating to Philadelphia area Mennonite churches.

During his college years, Dow was a basketball standout as a forward for the EMU Royals. He was named to the All-ODAC first team 1983-86, was ODAC Player of the Year in 1985 and holds the all-time men’s scoring record with 2,192 points and all-time leading rebound record with 1,102.

Dow’s wife, Rosalie Rolon-Dow, also a 1987 alumna, is a former member of the EMU board of trustees. She is an associate professor of education at the University of Delaware.

All events are open to the public. For more information, contact EMU’s multicultural services office, 540-432-4458.

Jason Sager

Three days a week, he takes classes. Three days a week, he works as a real-estate agent. But for the 40 minutes that the game-clock is ticking, all Eastern Mennonite University sophomore Jason Sager thinks about is winning.

"I want to win more than anything," Sager said Monday after practice. "And I hate losing more than that."

Winning, of course, is not something EMU had experienced much in recent years. Before this season, the Royals hadn