Obituary from the Telegraph. 17 July 2000.
THE RIGHT REVEREND RODERIC COOTE, who has died aged 85, was one of the longest serving bishops in the Anglican Communion; had he lived until next January, he would have completed 50 years in the episcopate.
THE RIGHT REVEREND RODERIC COOTE, who has died aged 85, was one of the longest serving bishops in the Anglican Communion; had he lived until next January, he would have completed 50 years in the episcopate.
During this time, Coote occupied three very different bishoprics, in all of
which he was an admired and well loved pastor. Much time was devoted to the
caring of individuals and during his 21 years as Bishop of Colchester he was a
well-known figure in rural Essex. He was also one of the Church of England's
tallest bishops and an impressive presence in cope and mitre.
Roderic Norman Coote, who came of Irish stock, was born on April 13 1915 at
Woking, where the Bedser cricketing twins were his neighbours. After attending
the county school he followed in the family tradition by going to Trinity
College, Dublin, where he took a Second in Mental and Moral Sciences and a First
in the Divinity Testimonium. He was later awarded a Doctorate in Divinity, in
1954.
Ordained in 1938, he stayed in Dublin for three more years to serve as a
curate of St Bartholomew's and to continue to represent Ireland at athletics. He
was the Irish champion hurdler over 120 yards.
His gifts as a musician - he was an excellent pianist and also a composer -
were recognised by his appointment as an honorary Clerical Vicar of Christ
Church Cathedral, Dublin.
All this he left in 1941, however, to become a missionary priest in the West
African diocese of Gambia and the Rio Pongas. A hazardous wartime sea voyage led
to 10 years of devoted service in a territory where Anglicans were few and far
between and the climate is at its most inhospitable.
Then in 1951, aged 36, he was elected to the bishopric, based in Banjul, with responsibility not only for Gambia but for Guinea, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands - spread over 200,000 square miles with a population of seven million.
Coote travelled long distances by Land Rover, encouraging the clergy and their congregations, and helping to prepare the people for independence from colonial rule. He also established good relations with the leaders of the other religious faiths, and dealt with some difficult political problems in those parts of the diocese where the Church was not always welcome. Besides this, he was Provincial Secretary to the Archbishop of West Africa.
On his return to England in 1957, Coote was invited by the Bishop of London to become Bishop of Fulham, which at that time involved responsibility for the Anglican churches and chaplaincies in North and Central Europe.
After his African experience this seemed a more manageable proposition, and during the next nine years he exercised a much-valued ministry in Europe's capitals and rapidly developing tourism areas. He was ideally suited to this peripatetic work and was warmly welcomed wherever he went - not least by the leaders and members of other churches.
After this special ministry, Coote became suffragan Bishop of Colchester, in Chelmsford diocese. Again, it was an ideal appointment, since he had not the slightest interest in the administrative work that occupies much of the time of a diocesan bishop and was left free for the pastoral work at which he excelled. From 1969 to 1972, he served also as Archdeacon of Colchester, resigning from the post at the earliest opportunity.
He was, however, ready to undertake some necessary administration when the large diocese was divided into areas and he was given a degree of autonomy at Colchester. On retirement in 1987, Coote became an honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of London.
Besides his love of music, Roderic Coote had an unusually wide knowledge of the countryside and a deep sensitivity to the natural order. Those who accompanied him on walks were given delightful revelations into the beauty of trees, flowers and birds.
He married, in 1964, Lynette Shrubbs, a hospital equipment consultant and the daughter of a clergyman. At the time of his death, they were together in Zimbabwe, where his wife was advising on the planning of a new hospital.
She survives him, together with their son and two daughters.
Then in 1951, aged 36, he was elected to the bishopric, based in Banjul, with responsibility not only for Gambia but for Guinea, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands - spread over 200,000 square miles with a population of seven million.
Coote travelled long distances by Land Rover, encouraging the clergy and their congregations, and helping to prepare the people for independence from colonial rule. He also established good relations with the leaders of the other religious faiths, and dealt with some difficult political problems in those parts of the diocese where the Church was not always welcome. Besides this, he was Provincial Secretary to the Archbishop of West Africa.
On his return to England in 1957, Coote was invited by the Bishop of London to become Bishop of Fulham, which at that time involved responsibility for the Anglican churches and chaplaincies in North and Central Europe.
After his African experience this seemed a more manageable proposition, and during the next nine years he exercised a much-valued ministry in Europe's capitals and rapidly developing tourism areas. He was ideally suited to this peripatetic work and was warmly welcomed wherever he went - not least by the leaders and members of other churches.
After this special ministry, Coote became suffragan Bishop of Colchester, in Chelmsford diocese. Again, it was an ideal appointment, since he had not the slightest interest in the administrative work that occupies much of the time of a diocesan bishop and was left free for the pastoral work at which he excelled. From 1969 to 1972, he served also as Archdeacon of Colchester, resigning from the post at the earliest opportunity.
He was, however, ready to undertake some necessary administration when the large diocese was divided into areas and he was given a degree of autonomy at Colchester. On retirement in 1987, Coote became an honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of London.
Besides his love of music, Roderic Coote had an unusually wide knowledge of the countryside and a deep sensitivity to the natural order. Those who accompanied him on walks were given delightful revelations into the beauty of trees, flowers and birds.
He married, in 1964, Lynette Shrubbs, a hospital equipment consultant and the daughter of a clergyman. At the time of his death, they were together in Zimbabwe, where his wife was advising on the planning of a new hospital.
She survives him, together with their son and two daughters.
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