Christopher Cocksworth
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Christopher John Cocksworth (born 12 January 1959) is a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
bishop in the
open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold Evangelicalism, evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being Inclusive theology, inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both indivi ...
tradition who served as Bishop of Coventry from 2008 to 2023. Prior to becoming bishop, he was a university chaplain and the Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge (2001−2008). He took up the position of Dean of Windsor in 2023.


Early life and education

He was brought up in
Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
and attended Forest School for Boys and Collyer's Sixth form College, then the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
where he earned a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in theology with first class honours. In 1989 he was awarded a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
(PhD) degree under the supervision of Richard Bauckham. He studied for ordination at St John's College, Nottingham.


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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...
at Petertide 1988 (3 July) by Michael Adie, Bishop of Guildford, 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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
the following Petertide (2 July 1989) by David Wilcox, Bishop of Dorking – both times at
Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...
. He served his curacy at Christ Church, Epsom Common in the Diocese of Guildford. In 1992, he moved to become chaplain of
Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
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 Ridley Hall, Cambridge. 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 daily prayer compilation '' Common Worship''. He later chaired the Faith and Order Commission.


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 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
on 6 May 2008. He was consecrated as a bishop on 3 July 2008 in Southwark Cathedral by Rowan Williams,
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
; 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 became a member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
as a Lord Spiritual on 19 November 2012. He became the Church of England's lead bishop for higher and Further Education in 2021. In June 2023, Cocksworth was appointed Dean of Windsor, the head of St George's Chapel, a royal peculiar in the precincts of
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
, He took up the appointment on 6 November, resigning the see of Coventry on the previous day.


Views

Cocksworth is against the extending of marriage to same-sex couples, and supports the Church of England current definition of Holy Matrimony (i.e. the life long union of one man and one woman). In 2023, following the news that the House of Bishop's of the Church of England was to introduce proposals for blessing same-sex relationships, he signed an open letter which stated: During the Church of England's February 2023
General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...
meeting, Cocksworth was one of two bishops in the house to abstain in the successful vote to introduce blessings and prayers for same-sex relationships.


Personal life

He is married to Charlotte, daughter of David Pytches (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 A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...
, '' honoris causa'', of the University of London. The award was conferred by Royal Holloway, 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 2021 he received the Commander's 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. *''Mary, Bearer of Life'' (2023), published by SC
Search results for Christopher J. Cocksworth
at
WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
. Retrieved 2008-08-07


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocksworth, Christopher 1959 births 21st-century Church of England bishops 20th-century Anglican theologians 21st-century Anglican theologians Living people Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham Alumni of the University of Manchester Bishops for Higher and Further Education Bishops of Coventry Deans of Windsor Doctors of Divinity Evangelical Anglican bishops Lords Spiritual Registers of the Order of the Garter Staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge People from Horsham People educated at The College of Richard Collyer