Richard Perry Milas (R.P.M.) Bowden was born into an Episcopal family in San Antonio, Texas in 1930.After relocating several times due to his father’s service as a priest, the family finally settled in Alabama, where Bowden graduated from the Tuskegee Institute in 1950.

Upon graduation, Bowden moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he taught at Booker T. Washington High School. He spent forty-one years in the education field, teaching for twenty-three years and working in administration for eighteen. He served as president of the Georgia Association for Community Education and the National Community Education Association. In 2002, in recognition of his long career, he was inducted into the National Community Education Association Hall of Fame.

From his arrival in the Diocese of Atlanta, Bowden was an active member in the diocese and in The Episcopal Church. He served on multiple diocesan committees and boards, as a Trustee to the University of the South, and as a Lay Eucharistic Minister. Additionally, he served as a deputy to General Convention nine times and twice as an alternate. He also served on the Joint Standing Commission on World Mission, the Council of Advice to the President of the House of Deputies, the State of the Church Committee, the Joint Standing Committee on Nominations, the Committee on HIV/AIDS, the Committee on Anti-Racism, Social Justice Ministries Office, and the Board of the Archives of the Episcopal Church. From 1994 to 2000, he served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and was elected by General Convention to serve a second six-year term in 2003. Bowden also served on the Board of Directors of the Union of Black Episcopalians and the Episcopal Urban Caucus and was a certified trainer for the church's Anti-Racism Dialogue and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.