Charles Gore was born on the 22nd of January, 1853, in London, to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. His great-grandfather was an earl, his grandfather a general. Following the path of privilege he was educated at Harrow and then Oxford, taking a first class in Classics in 1875.
In the same year Gore was elected a fellow at Trinity College in Oxford and the next year ordained a deacon in the Church of England. In 1878 he was ordained priest. Two years later Gore became Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College about five miles from Oxford. In 1884 he became Principle at Pusey House in Oxford.
In 1902 Charles Gore was consecrated as Bishop of Worcester. Three years later as the diocese divided he became the first bishop of Birmingham. In 1911 he translated as Bishop of Oxford.
In 1919 he retired. And Bishop Gore died on the 17th of January, 1932, in London.
Bishop Gore is of interest to me, and of importance to me, for three reasons. In no particular order, each of these are important. He was a modernist in that he believed the spiritual life must reconcile with the natural world as unveiled within scientific investigation. He was a Christian Socialist, a fervent advocate for social justice. And he was a fervent liturgist, seeing the ancient rites of the Anglican church as a central part of his religious life.
It all came together in his person as a fascinating figure, and an exemplar of an emerging liberal Catholicism. Something I see as continuing to seek its shape.
Rummaging around the interwebs I found a fascinating article. In part it notes (slightly edited for clarity):
“In 1892 Gore founded the Community of the Resurrection, a religious community of men with a stong Christian social commitment. Some of its priests, like Fr. Paul Bull, played a major role in the Church Socialist League in the early 1900’s and in support of the Independent Labour Party then forming in the north of England. The Community’s influence continues. As Alin Wilkinson points out in The Christian Socialist Magazine, ‘In 1939 Trevor Huddleston went to join [the Community of the Resurrection], inspired by Gore and its Christian Socialist foundation. It was Gore who in 1900 urged the Community of the Resurrection to work in South Africa and from then until 1977 the Community trained most of its black Anglican priests including Desmond Tutu. So there is a direct line running from Gore to Tutu through Huddleston his mentor.'”
An amazing figure.
The Church of England remembers him on the 17th of January, while the Episcopal church celebrates his life on the 14th of January.
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