Christopher John Cocksworth (born 12 January 1959) is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

bishop in the

open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions. Uses Open ...

tradition. He is the current

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

; prior to becoming bishop he was the Principal of

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and membe ...

Early life and education

He was brought up in Horsham and attended Forest School for Boys and Collyer's Sixth form College, then the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in theology with first class honours. In 1989 he was awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree under the supervision of

Richard Bauckham Richard John Bauckham (born 22 September 1946) is an English Anglican scholar in theology, historical theology and New Testament studies, specialising in New Testament Christology and the Gospel of John. He is a senior scholar at Ridley Hall, ...

. He studied for ordination at

St John's College, Nottingham St John's College, Nottingham, founded as the London College of Divinity, was an Anglican and interdenominational theological college situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, England. The college stood in the open evangelical tradition and stated that i ...

Ordained ministry

Cocksworth was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Petertide Petertide (also known as St Peter's Tide) refers to the Sunday nearest to St Peter's Day on 29 June and to the period around that day. In Anglicanism, Petertide is the major one of two traditional periods for the ordination of new priests (the ot ...

1988 (3 July) by

Michael Adie Michael Edgar Adie, (born 22 November 1929) was Bishop of Guildford from 1983 until his retirement in 1994. He was born in Romford, Essex, the son of Walter Granville Adie and Kate Emily Adie (née Parrish), and educated at Westminster School an ...

Bishop of Guildford The Bishop of Guildford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford in the Province of Canterbury. The title had first appeared as a suffragan See in the Diocese of Winchester in 1874. The Bishop suffragan of Guildford assis ...

, and ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

the following Petertide (2 July 1989) by David Wilcox,

Bishop of Dorking The Bishop of Dorking is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the town of Dorking in Surrey. However, the bishop of ...

— both times at

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...

. He served his curacy at Christ Church, Epsom Common in the

Diocese of Guildford __NOTOC__ The Diocese of Guildford is a Church of England diocese covering eight and half of the eleven districts in Surrey, much of north-east Hampshire and a parish in Greater London. The cathedral is Guildford Cathedral and the bishop is the ...

. In 1992, he moved to become chaplain of Royal Holloway, University of London until 1997. He then became director of the Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme; a position he relinquished in 2001. He had been made an honorary canon of Guildford Cathedral in 1999. He was later the principal of

. He was a member of the Church of England Liturgical Commission from 1999 to 2006, and was involved in revising the ordination services and the '' Common Worship'' daily prayer compilation. He is the current chair of the Faith and Order Commission of the General Synod.

Episcopal ministry

His nomination for the appointment as Bishop of Coventry on the retirement of Colin Bennetts was announced on 3 March 2008.Number 10 — Diocese of Coventry
/ref>Diocese of Coventry Press Release regarding Cocksworth's appointment
He was formally elected by the cathedral chapter in May 2008, following the issue of a '' congé d'elire'' by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 6 May 2008. He was consecrated as a bishop on 3 July 2008 in Southwark Cathedral by

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury; and was enthroned on 1 November 2008. He was the youngest serving diocesan bishop at the time of his appointment, and retained that distinction until late 2014. He entered the House of Lords, as a Lord Spiritual, on 9 November 2012. He became the Church of England's lead bishop for Higher and Further Education in 2021.

Personal life

He is married to Charlotte, daughter of

David Pytches George Edward David Pytches (born 9 January 1931) is a bishop of the Anglican Communion and the former Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Pytches was also vicar of St Andrew's, in Chorleywood England. He is the author of many books, including ...

(former diocesan Bishop of Chile, Bolivia & Peru), and they have five sons.

Honours

On 15 July 2009, Cocksworth was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, '' Honoris Causa'', of the University of London. The award was conferred by

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, University of London, at a ceremony held in the college's chapel. The University of London awards honorary degrees to those of conspicuous merit, outstanding in their field, or those who have given exceptional service to the university. Cocksworth was honoured for his services to education – particularly higher education – and to the church as well as for his service to Royal Holloway. In addition, in 2021 he received the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Publications

Cocksworth has written widely on theological matters, with some of his books including: *''Renewing Daily Prayer: An Introduction to Celebrating Common Prayer'' (1992) *''Evangelical Eucharistic Thought in the Church of England'' (1993) *''An Anglican Companion'', with Alan Wilkinson (1996) *''Holy, Holy, Holy, Worshipping the Trinitarian God'' (1997) *''Prayer and the Departed'' (1997) *''Common Worship: An Introduction'' (2001) *''Wisdom: The Spirit's Gift'' (2003) *''Being a Priest Today: Exploring Priestly Identity'', with Rosalind Brown (2002, 2nd ed. 2006) *''Holding Together: Gospel, Church and Spirit'' (2008), which was nominated for the 2011 Michael Ramsey Book Prize.Search results for Christopher J. Cocksworth
at

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. Retrieved 2008-08-07

Styles

The Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Christopher Cocksworth (1988–1989) *The Reverend ''

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' Christopher Cocksworth (1989–1999) *The Reverend ''

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

'' Doctor Christopher Cocksworth (1999–2008) *''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that '' The ...

'' Doctor Christopher Cocksworth (2008–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocksworth, Christopher John 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester Bishops of Coventry Evangelical Anglican bishops Lords Spiritual Spokesperson bishops in the Church of England Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham Staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge People from Horsham People educated at The College of Richard Collyer 21st-century Church of England bishops Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London People associated with Royal Holloway, University of London