Jim Cotter (priest)

Last updated

James England Cotter (23 August 1942 - 16 April 2014) was an English Anglican priest known for his religious poetry and his advocacy for gay and lesbian Christians.

Contents

Life and ministry

Cotter was born in Stockport in 1942 and was educated at Stockport Grammar School before studying at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, [1] later being ordained priest in the Diocese of Manchester.

In 1976 he was a founding member and the first general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, or LGCM, later renamed OneBodyOneFaith. [2] In this capacity, he appeared on the TV programme The Lord's My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay, speaking openly about his own sexuality and how it related to his spirituality and mental health. [1] Reflecting later, he said: "I think human beings, including myself, hurt and were hurt more than they would like to admit, but at the same time stumbling towards something, we weren’t quite sure what we were stumbling towards. I don’t think anybody would have even dreamt of thinking of a phrase like Gay Marriage at that time." [3]

Later, during his ministry in the Church in Wales, he received a reprimand from then-Archbishop of Wales the Rt Revd Barry Morgan for conducting a same-sex blessing. [4] He took the opportunity to publish The Service of My Love, a pastoral and liturgical handbook for such occasions. [1]

Formerly at Llandecwyn, Cotter's final post was as vicar of St Hywyn's Church, Aberdaron, where his predecessor had been the Welsh poet R. S. Thomas, whom Cotter cited as an inspiration for his own work.

He was being cared for by friends when he died from leukaemia on 16 April 2014 at his home in Llandudno.

Legacy

In his lifetime he published about 30 books and pamphlets, many through his own publishing company, Cairns, [5] and many of his personal notes and diaries are now housed in the Jim Cotter Collection at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, Wales. [6] Several of his prayers and poems are included as alternative canticles in the prayer book of the Society of St Francis in Europe. [7]

The Jim Cotter Trust has funded CRC Online, a virtual resource for the St Mark's Centre for Radical Christianity, among other projects. [8]

The collection Untamed Gospel: Protests, poems and prose for the Christian year by Martyn Percy, published in 2017, includes short paraphrased readings for each day of the week by Cotter. [9] Reviewing the book, Christopher Irvine wrote: "Cotter had a gentle, arresting style, and a sure poetic turn of phrase which makes even the most familiar scripture come alive in unexpected ways. In one sense, the whole collection here is a tribute to Cotter’s memory." [9]

Lesley McLean's dissertation analyses the language of the Book of Common Prayer, and its modern revisioning in the works of Cotter and also Janet Morley. [10]

Related Research Articles

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

The Church of England is the established Christian church in England. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. Its adherents are called Anglicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church in Wales</span> Anglican church in Wales

The Church in Wales is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.

Since the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However, this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil, South Africa, South India, New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015, and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." In 2017, clergy within the Church of England indicated their inclination towards supporting same-sex marriage by dismissing a bishops' report that explicitly asserted the exclusivity of church weddings to unions between a man and a woman. At General Synod in 2019, the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition. In 2023, the Church of England announced that it would authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."

Timothy James "Matthew " Fox is an American priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Catholic Church, he became a member of the Episcopal Church following his expulsion from the order in 1993.

The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exist between two persons of different sexes. These disagreements are primarily centred on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, sacred tradition, and in some churches on varying understandings of homosexuality in terms of psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While numerous church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are located in South Africa, and one each in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Saint Helena. In South Africa, there are between 3 and 4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troy Perry</span> American activist and clergy

Troy Deroy Perry Jr is an American cleric and the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, with a ministry with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968.

Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. The primary prayer of all Catholics is the Eucharistic liturgy in which they celebrate and share their faith together, in accord with Jesus' instruction: "Do this in memory of me." The Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council decreed that "devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them." In accord with this, many additional forms of prayer have developed over the centuries as means of animating one's personal Christian life, at times in gatherings with others. Each of the religious orders and congregations of the Catholic church, as well as lay groupings, has specifics to its own spirituality – its way of approaching God in prayer to foster its way of living out the Gospel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Boswell</span> American historian

John Eastburn Boswell was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality. All of his work focused on the history of those at the margins of society.

Mark David Oakley is a British Church of England priest. He is Dean of Southwark and formerly Dean of St John's College, Cambridge.

The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. Two of the major events that contributed to the movement were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops. Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest with a long-time partner, was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay non-celibate man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.

The Catholic Church condemns same-sex sexual activity and denies the validity of same-sex marriage. While the Church says it opposes "unjust" discrimination against homosexual persons, it supports what it considers "just" discrimination in the employment of teachers or athletic coaches, in adoption, in the military and in housing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a grave sin against chastity and sees homosexual attraction as objectively disordered. However, the Catechism also states that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity". This teaching has developed through papal interventions, and influenced by theologians, including the Church Fathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Atwell</span> British Anglican bishop and writer

Robert Ronald Atwell is a British Anglican retired bishop, writer, and former Benedictine monk. From 2014 until 2023, he served as the Bishop of Exeter; from 2008 to 2014, he was Bishop of Stockport, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Chester.

The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.

The Open Episcopal Church (OEC) is a liberal Christian denomination. It has bishops in England and Wales and clergy throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. It has over 29,000 members.

James Edwin Bacon Jr., known as Ed Bacon, is a retired priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and was the rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena, 1995–2016. Prior to coming to All Saints Church, Bacon served as dean of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Jackson, Mississippi; Rector of St Mark’s in Dalton, Georgia; and dean of students and campus ministry at Mercer University. He also graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. As an ordained priest, he was known for his active support of LGBT rights, peace, and interfaith causes. He retired to private life on May 1, 2016.

Nicholas Alan "Nick" Chamberlain is a British Anglican bishop. On 19 November 2015, he became the suffragan Bishop of Grantham in the Diocese of Lincoln. He had previously been vicar of the parish of St George and St Hilda, Jesmond, in the Diocese of Newcastle since 2006. Chamberlain was the first bishop in the Church of England to come out as gay on 2 September 2016.


Janet Morley is a British author, poet, and Christian feminist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Table Network</span> Christian community for LGBT people and their allies

Open Table Network (OTN) is a Christian charity which supports church communities for LGBT people and their allies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Johnson, Malcolm (25 April 2014). "Obituary: The Reverend James England Cotter". Church Times. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  2. ↑ "Our History". OneBodyOneFaith website. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  3. ↑ Davies, Madeleine (5 February 2016). "LGCM looks back on 40 years". Church Times . Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  4. ↑ "Gay priest in lesbian blessing row 'being doing it for 30 years'". Wales Online. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  5. ↑ "Jim Cotter". LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  6. ↑ "Jim Cotter". Gladstone's Library website. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  7. ↑ Society of St Francis (2010). SSF Daily Office. London: Bloomsbury Continuum.
  8. ↑ "The Jim Cotter Trust". CRC Online. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  9. 1 2 Irvine, Christopher (1 December 2017). "Untamed Gospel: Protests, poems and prose for the Christian year by Martyn Percy". Church Times . Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  10. ↑ McLean, Yvonne Leslie (7 April 2022). "The Book of Common Prayer : a detailed analysis of its language, its revisioning in contemporary Australian liturgies and in the writings of Jim Cotter and Janet Morley and, in context of the relationship between spirituality and language, the implications of the use of revised prayer books in the Anglican Church in Australia". Monash University . doi:10.26180/19535263.v1 . Retrieved 8 April 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.