Jim Cotter (priest): Difference between revisions
←Created page with ''''The Reverend James England Cotter''', known simply as Jim Cotter, was an English Anglican priest, remembered for his religious poetry and his advocacy for gay and lesbian Christians. He was born in Stockport, Manchester, in 1942, and was educated at Stockport Grammar School, before studying at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.<ref name="CTobit">{{cite web |last = Johnson |first...' |
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}}</ref> He took the opportunity to publish ''The Service of My Love'', a pastoral and [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] handbook for such occasions.<ref="CTobit"></ref> |
}}</ref> He took the opportunity to publish ''The Service of My Love'', a pastoral and [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] handbook for such occasions.<ref name="CTobit"></ref> |
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Cotter's final post was as vicar of [[St Hywyn's Church, Aberdaron]], where his predecessor had been the [[Wales|Welsh]] poet [[R.S. Thomas]], whom Cotter cited as an inspiration for his own work. |
Cotter's final post was as vicar of [[St Hywyn's Church, Aberdaron]], where his predecessor had been the [[Wales|Welsh]] poet [[R.S. Thomas]], whom Cotter cited as an inspiration for his own work. |
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Revision as of 15:38, 4 February 2023
The Reverend James England Cotter, known simply as Jim Cotter, was an English Anglican priest, remembered for his religious poetry and his advocacy for gay and lesbian Christians.
He was born in Stockport, Manchester, in 1942, and was educated at Stockport Grammar School, before studying at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.[1], and 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]
Later, during his ministry in the Church in Wales, he received a reprimand from then-Archbishop of Wales the Rt Revd Dr Barry Morgan for conducting a same-sex blessing.[3] He took the opportunity to publish The Service of My Love, a pastoral and liturgical handbook for such occasions.[1]
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.
In his lifetime he published about 30 books and pamphlets, many through his own publishing company, Cairns,[4] and many of his personal notes and diaries are now housed in the Jim Cotter Collection at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, Wales.[5]
The Jim Cotter Trust has funded CRC Online, a virtual resource for the St Mark's Centre for Radical Christianity, among other projects.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Johnson, Malcolm (25 April 2014). "Obituary: The Reverend James England Cotter". Church Times. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
- ^ "Our History". OneBodyOneFaith website. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
- ^ "Gay priest in lesbian blessing row 'being doing it for 30 years'". Wales Online. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
- ^ "Jim Cotter". LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
- ^ "Jim Cotter". Gladstone's Library website. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
- ^ "The Jim Cotter Trust". CRC Online. Retrieved 2023-02-04.