Alfred Cooper (bishop)

Last updated
The Right Reverend

Alfred Cooper
Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago
Church Anglican Church of Chile
Diocese Santiago
In office2016–present
Orders
Ordination1976 (diaconate)
1978 (priesthood)
ConsecrationMarch 19, 2016
by  Gregory Venables
Personal details
Born1950
Chile

Alfred Philip "Alf" Cooper (born 1950) is an evangelical Anglican bishop in Chile. [1] He was consecrated as auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Chile and, after the recognition of the Anglican Church of Chile as an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion in 2018, he continued as auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Santiago. Cooper served as chaplain to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera during his first term.

Contents

Early life

Cooper was born in Chile to a family of British descent and raised there. [2] He was sent to the U.K. for school and for studies at the University of Bristol. After graduating with a degree in modern languages, Cooper moved to Montserrat to teach secondary school. [3] He went back to London to study for ministry at All Nations Christian College, and returned to Chile to pursue ordained ministry in 1974. [3]

That year, he met his future wife, Hilary Barratt, who had grown up on the mission field in a family serving with the South American Mission Society. In 1975, the Coopers began a career of church planting in Santiago as missionaries with SAMS and later the Church Mission Society. [4]

Ordained ministry

Cooper was ordained to the priesthood in the Province of the Southern Cone of America in 1978. [3] In 1983, the Coopers planted the Church of the Trinity (Iglesia de la Trinidad) in Las Condes, Santiago, where Cooper continues to serve as head pastor. In 2000, Cooper was named a canon of the diocese, [3] and in 2015, he was consecrated an auxiliary bishop. [3]

Public activities

Cooper was appointed chaplain to President Sebastián Piñera at La Moneda, [2] serving from 2010 to 2013. [4] During this time, Cooper was one of the ministers on site during the Copiapó mine collapse and rescue. During the 69 days that it took to find the miners and effect the rescue, Cooper often led prayers at the rescue site. [5] He also led prayers at La Moneda in the days before the miners were found by rescue probes. "The President called for an emergency prayer meeting," Cooper said. "We left their photos on the altar in the chapel in the palace. That prayer meeting was attended by all the ministers and two weeks later they were found." [6]

In October 2010, Cooper was at Piñera's side when the last miner was hauled up in the rescue vehicle, receiving significant media attention. [2] Cooper credited God for protecting the miners and enabling them to endure the underground ordeal. "Many were Catholics, but many went down without any faith at all, many were nominal in their faith. And they all say this: 'We were not 33, we were 34 because Jesus Christ was with us down there.'" [6]

Cooper accompanied one of the miners, Jose Henriquez—who in addition to working as a miner was an evangelical pastor [7] —on a speaking tour in England and translated for Henriquez during his appearance at Durham Cathedral. [5]

During the 2017 Chilean elections, Cooper supported efforts to promote evangelical candidates for public office under the Por un Chile para Cristo campaign, although he acknowledged that evangelicals were reluctant to get involved in electoral matters due to "pietistic" views that politics is a "worldly affair." [8] Cooper has been an outspoken advocate against decriminalization of abortion.In the run-up to the 2017 legislation to permit abortion during the first trimester, Cooper organized a signature campaign that aimed to stop a change in the law. He noted: "Hoy existen por lo menos 500 millones de abortos legales al año en el mundo, lo cual hace que el lugar más peligroso de la tierra no sea ni Irak ni Siria, sino el vientre de la madre. En ninguna otra parte del mundo muere tanta gente." ("Today there are at least 500 million legal abortions a year in the world, which means that the most dangerous place on earth is neither Iraq nor Syria, but the mother's womb. Nowhere else in the world do so many people die.") [9]

In 2020, Cooper began a one-year term as the government's protocol representative for evangelical churches, a role that includes representing churches at public ceremonies and events. [3] In 2022, Cooper opposed the constitutional reform championed by newly inaugurated President Gabriel Boric; the referendum to adopt the constitution, which Cooper described as "inherently neo-Marxist," ultimately failed. [10] During a meeting with Boric at La Moneda, Cooper joked that the agnostic president was Chile's first Anglican president owing to his education at an Anglican international school. [10]

Anglican issues

Unlike some bishops from other GAFCON-affiliated provinces, Cooper attended the 2022 Lambeth Conference, where he said conservative bishops had "ample opportunity to express Global South insistence on the 1.10 resolution regarding homosexual practice (which the archbishop re-affirmed to a standing ovation), and also to listen to those who felt same-sex marriage was a justice issue that the Church would need to learn to live with." [11]

In 2023, after the Church of England bishops announced their approval for prayers to bless civil same-sex marriages and the General Synod affirmed the bishops' decision, Cooper joined a unanimous letter from the Chilean Anglican bishops that called same-sex blessings "a practice contrary to what is established by the Word of God" and warning that "this 'blessing' is the first step of several to finally approve the marriage of same-sex couples and at the end, the freedom of conscience that is argued so much for those who disagree and do not want to do so will no longer be respected." [12]

Personal life

Cooper is married to Hilary; they have four adult children and several grandchildren. [10] Cooper is completing a Ph.D. at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies on the theology of Willis Hoover, the founder of Chilean Pentecostalism. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Sydney</span> Diocese in the Anglican Church of Australia

The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese in Sydney, within the Province of New South Wales of the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is evangelical and low church in tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church of Canada</span> Church organization in Canada

The Anglican Church of Canada is the province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is l'Église anglicane du Canada. In 2017, the Anglican Church counted 359,030 members on parish rolls in 2,206 congregations, organized into 1,571 parishes. The 2021 Canadian census counted 1,134,315 self-identified Anglicans, making the Anglican Church the third-largest Canadian church after the Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada. The 2021 Canadian census counted more than 1 million self-identified Anglicans, remaining the third-largest Canadian church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastián Piñera</span> President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2022

Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity School for Ministry</span>

Trinity School for Ministry (TSM), formerly known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It is generally associated with evangelical Anglicanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church</span>

The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, also translated as Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, or IERE is the church of the Anglican Communion in Spain. It was founded in 1880 and since 1980 has been an extra-provincial church under the metropolitan authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Its cathedral is the Anglican Cathedral of the Redeemer in Madrid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church of South America</span> South American religious congregation

The Anglican Church of South America is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers six dioceses in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Chile</span> Head of state and head of government of Chile

The president of Chile, officially known as the president of the Republic of Chile, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both government administration and state administration. Although its role and significance have changed over time, and its position and relations with other actors in the national political organization have also evolved, it remains one of the most prominent political offices in the country. It is also considered one of the key institutions that form the "Historic Constitution of Chile," and is crucial to the country's political stability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Miller (bishop)</span> Irish Anglican bishop

Harold Creeth Miller is a retired Irish Anglican bishop. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Down and Dromore in the Church of Ireland. Coming from a Methodist background, he was elected bishop in 1997 and was considered to represent an evangelical position within the Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Belize</span>

The Anglican Diocese of Belize was established in 1883. The current bishop is Philip Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Copiapó mining accident</span> Cave-in and miner rescue at a mine in Atacama Region, Chile

The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known then as the "Chilean mining accident", began on 5 August 2010, with a cave-in at the San José copper–gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert 45 kilometers (28 mi) north of the regional capital of Copiapó, in northern Chile. Thirty-three men were trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) underground and 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the mine's entrance, and were rescued after 69 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurence Golborne</span> Chilean engineer and entrepreneur

Laurence Nelson Golborne Riveros is a Chilean engineer and entrepreneur. He was minister of public works until November 7, 2012, when he announced his decision to run for President of Chile. He previously had been bi-minister of Mining and Energy in the administration of President Sebastián Piñera. He withdrew from the presidential campaign on April 29, 2013, after two consecutive public scandals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecilia Morel</span> Former First Lady of Chile

María Cecilia Morel Montes is the wife of the former President of Chile Sebastián Piñera, and as such is the former First Lady of Chile. Morel was also the Director of the Sociocultural Area of the Presidency during both her husband's terms as President.

Events in the year 2010 in Chile.

<i>The 33</i> 2015 film by Patricia Riggen

The 33 is a 2015 biographical disaster-survival drama film directed by Patricia Riggen and written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, Michael Thomas, and José Rivera. The film is based on the real events of the 2010 Copiapó mining disaster, in which a group of thirty-three miners were trapped inside the San José Mine in Chile for 69 days. The film stars Antonio Banderas as trapped miner Mario Sepúlveda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Chilean general election</span> General election held in Chile

General elections were held in Chile on 19 November 2017, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections.

The Anglican Bishop of Santiago is a bishop in the Anglican communion, the head of the Anglican Diocese of Santiago within the Anglican Church of Chile. Until 2018, the bishop and diocese were "of Chile", in the Anglican Church of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Chilean presidential primaries</span>

The Chilean presidential primaries of 2017 were held in Chile on Sunday 2 July 2017. It was the first election in the country's history in which Chileans were permitted to vote from abroad.

El Mostrador is a Chilean online newspaper, founded on 1 March 2000. Its current president is Germán Olmedo Acedvedo and its director is Federico Joannon Errázuriz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church of Chile</span>

The Anglican Church of Chile is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers four dioceses in Chile. Formed in 2018, the province is the 40th in the Anglican Communion. The province consists of four dioceses. Its primate and metropolitan is the Archbishop of Chile, Héctor Zavala.

The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) is an association of mainly conservative evangelical Anglican members of the Church of England. It self-describes as the collective voice of all evangelicals within the Church of England, and states its aim "to promote and maintain orthodox evangelical theology and ethics at the heart of the Church of England". It has been described as theologically conservative. It was founded in 1960 by the Anglican clergyman John Stott. It is a registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales: amongst its stated activities is the "promotion of consultation between evangelical Anglican leaders" and "to encourage and interact with evangelicals within the Church of England".

References

  1. ↑ "Alfred Philip Cooper" . Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing . Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Radnedge, Aidan (October 20, 2010). "Chilean miners' chaplain was a Cornish postman". Metro. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Alfred Cooper es el nuevo representante protocolar de la Iglesias Evangélicas" (in Spanish). Oficina Nacional de Asuntos Religiosos. September 30, 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Alf and Hilary Cooper, Chile". Church Mission Society. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Chilean miner shares spirituality with Durham Cathedral". BBC. January 20, 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Chile: chaplain says miners were 'gripped by faith'". Independent Catholic News. October 14, 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Sun, Eryn (April 21, 2011). "Chilean Miner Survivor to Speak at Saddleback Church this Easter". Christian Post.
  8. ↑ Boas, Taylor C. (2021). "Expanding the Public Square: Evangelicals and Electoral Politics in Latin America". In Yashar, Deborah J.; Kapiszewski, Diana; Levitsky, Steven (eds.). The Inclusionary Turn in Latin American Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 379, 391. ISBN   9781108842044.
  9. ↑ "Alfred Cooper: «El lugar más peligroso de la tierra no es Irak o Siria, sino el vientre de la madre»". infoCatolica (in Spanish). January 28, 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 "Link Letter no. 38" (PDF). Church Mission Society. December 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Link Letter no. 37" (PDF). Church Mission Society. September 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Chilean bishops rejects CoE General Synod moves on gay blessings". Anglican Ink. March 30, 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.