wfn.org | Former Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan dies

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2000-096

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan dies at 90

by Kathryn McCormick

     Former Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan, a man 
from within the evangelical tradition who, during the 
1970s, lent his powerful support to the cause of the 
ordination of women, died May 17 in a nursing home near 
Winchester, England. He was 90 years old.

     Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold said that 
"Anglicans everywhere mark with sorrow the death of Lord 
Coggan as we celebrate his ministry among us. The 101st 
archbishop of Canterbury was a renowned biblical scholar 
with a particular commitment to evangelism. He was also the 
first archbishop to envision the ordination of women to the 
priesthood," Griswold pointed out. "A superb preacher, he 
had preached and lectured in the Episcopal Church many 
times and was much respected here. He will be remembered as 
warm and gracious--and possessed of a pastor's heart."

     "Dr. Donald Coggan's death at the age of 90 brings to 
an end an illustrious ministry as a distinguished Hebrew 
scholar, devoted pastor and dedicated archbishop," said the 
current archbishop, George Carey, who was in Canada when 
Coggan died. "He will be remembered particularly for his 
remarkable contribution to the New English Bible and 
Revised English Bible and for his unfailing support for the 
Council for Christians and Jews."

     Coggan was a strong supporter of the ordination of 
women, formally proposing it at the Lambeth Conference of 
the world's Anglican churches in 1970. The Episcopal Church 
voted in 1974 to begin ordaining women in 1977; it was not 
until 1994 that the Church of England admitted women to the 
priesthood.

     Coggan, who was born in London, was a lecturer in 
Semitic languages at Manchester University from 1931 to 
1934, a professor of the New Testament at Wycliffe College 
in Toronto from 1937 to 1944 and principal of London 
College of Divinity from 1944 to 1956.

     He was ordained a priest in 1935 and was appointed 
bishop of Bradford in 1956, archbishop of York in 1961 and 
archbishop of Canterbury in 1974.

     After his retirement as archbishop, he was elevated to 
the House of Lords. He is survived by his wife, Jean, and 
two daughters.

     In a tribute carried by the Anglican Communion News 
Service, the Rev. Canon Colin Craston, former chairman of 
the Anglican Consultative Council, said that while Coggan 
was from the evangelical tradition, he avoided the narrower 
constraints of that tradition. 

     "While committed to the authority of Scripture in 
matters of faith and conduct, he recognized the role of 
sound leadership allied to tradition and reason, in seeking 
a right interpretation of Scripture in the life of the 
church." Craston said.

     "It was within this commitment, rather than by 
following fashionable sociological trends, that he long ago 
came to support the cause of the ordination of women. In 
this he was warmly encouraged by his wife and his sister.

     "What Coggan specifically brought to his whole 
ministry was a passion for the mission and evangelism of 
the church and a preaching gift based on biblical 
exposition," said Craston.

     The funeral was private. A thanksgiving service is to 
be held in late June in Winchester Cathedral.

--Kathryn McCormick is associate director of the Episcopal 
Church's Office of News and Information. This article 
included information from the Anglican Communion News 
Service and the Washington Post.