The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham is one of the best-known and most beloved ministers in the Unity movement. A former president of the Association of Unity Churches, he was director of ministry services for the Association when it was headquartered at Unity Village. Rev. Alan and his wife, the Rev. Kathryn Rowbotham, are both Myrtle Fillmore Award recipients, honored for the loving and gentle spirit of their ministries.

Rev. Alan came to the United States in 1967 from England, where he worked as a typesetter and studied martial arts. In his native land, he founded and operated his own School of Self-Defense after achieving a black belt in Kung Fu. His study of martial arts led him into an in-depth study of the spiritual traditions of both East and West and, ultimately, to his own spiritual calling. He discovered Unity in 1969 while on a business trip to Miami and entered Unity's ministerial education program that same year.

Ordained in 1971, Rev. Alan served for a brief period as associate minister in Akron, Ohio, before moving to Roanoke, Virginia, to be married to The Rev. Kathryn A. Doyle, a Unity minister who had been ordained the same year. They pioneered and developed the Unity Church of Roanoke Valley, serving there for eight years before being called to serve at the headquarters of the Association of Unity Churches. Revs. Kathryn and Alan served the Association from 1979 through the Fall of 1981. Rev. Kathryn joined the faculty of the Ministerial School and Rev. Alan served as Field Services Projects Coordinator in 1979 and, beginning in early 1980, as Director of Ministry Services/CEO of the Association. In 1982, Revs. Alan and Kathryn returned to Roanoke as ministers of the Unity Church of Roanoke Valley for another twelve years.

Rev. Alan became senior minister of First Unity Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, in February 1994. Rev. Kathryn retired from full-time ministry in Roanoke at that time but continued to work part-time as an associate at First Unity for another nine years. Upon her retirement from ministry at First Unity, the congregation honored her with special services and a celebration of her incomparable contribution to the spiritual and physical growth of the church. She was named minister emeritus of First Unity in 2003.

Throughout his years of ministry, Rev. Alan has served on various committees of the Association of Unity Churches on both regional and national levels. He has served as president of the Eastern Region, regional representative of the Eastern Region, member of the Board of Trustees, and member of the Executive Committee. He was president of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Unity Churches in 1993-94. He also served as a member of the Unity Movement Advisory Council and participated for many years as a member of the Admissions Committee of the Association of Unity Churches. He is a member of the Clergy Conference of St. Petersburg and the Suncoast Unity Ministers Association.