Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

As a young high school freshman, Cole McDowell felt a calling to the priesthood while serving as an altar server during the Archdiocese of Louisville’s bicentennial celebration Mass in Bardstown, Kentucky. Recalling that moment, he said, “I just had this overwhelming sense that ‘This is where you belong. This is where I want you to be. God is calling me to be up here as his priest and serve his people.’”

Now known as Deacon McDowell, he was ordained to the diaconate on April 20, 2024, and will soon be ordained to the priesthood on May 31 at the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Deacon McDowell's journey began much earlier than 2008. Raised in a stable family environment as the oldest of three children, he created his own illustrated Bible and played "Mass" with his cousins. He noted that “Church was very intimately wedded with family life, community and with school.”

His mother, Connie McDowell, traces her ancestry back to Kentucky’s first Catholic settlers from Maryland in the late 1700s. His upbringing included attending St. Joseph School and Bethlehem High School in Bardstown alongside his cousins.

Deacon McDowell cited two childhood pastors — Bishop William Medley of Owensboro and Father William Hammer — as influential models for what priesthood should be. His high school chaplain also played a role in encouraging him toward this path.

After high school, Deacon McDowell pursued studies at Western Kentucky University and later earned a graduate degree from the University of Notre Dame before entering seminary at Theological College at the Catholic University of America.

Reflecting on his time in seminary, he emphasized that discernment is an ongoing process: “It’s tempting to think that once you’ve ascertained you have been called to the priesthood, discernment is over... Every Christian should be discerning all the time.”

Daily prayer remains central for him: “You open yourself up to the will of God... How does God want me to live out this priesthood tomorrow?”

As his ordination approaches, Deacon McDowell expressed excitement about completing this stage of his journey: “It is the culmination of a seven-year journey through seminary and a much longer journey since I began discerning.”

Following his ordination, Deacon McDowell will serve as associate pastor at St. James Church in Elizabethtown starting July 1.

He plans to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on June 1 at Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral where he grew up attending services with his family.