Alan Harper (archbishop)

infobox bishopbiog
name = The Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE


religion=Church of Ireland
See = Armagh
Title = Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland
Period = 2nd February 2007 – present
Enthroned = 16th March 2007, St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh by the Very Rev Patrick RookePredecessor = Robin Eames
ordination = 1979
bishops = Connor, 2002-2007
date of birth = Birth date and age|1944|3|20|df=y
place of birth = Tamworth,Staffordshire|

Alan Edwin Thomas Harper, OBE (born 20 March 1944) is the Church of Ireland's Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He assumed office on 2 February 2007 and was ceremonially enthroned on 16 March 2007. He is the first English-born Irish primate since the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869. He and his wife Helen have four children.

Education and employment

Born in Staffordshire, Alan Harper was educated at Moorgate County Primary School, Tamworth, Staffordshire, The Grammar School of Elizabeth, Queen of England in Tamworth, and studied Geography at Leeds University. Following graduation (B.A.), he worked as University Map Curator and Departmental Librarian in the Department of Geography. He moved to Northern Ireland in July 1966, when he was appointed a member of the Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland. He married Helen in 1967, and the couple have four children, Catherine, Richard, and twins Emma and Anne. In 1974 he returned to England as Principal Assistant Planning Officer with Staffordshire County Council. In 1980 Bishop Harper was appointed a member of the Historic Monuments Council for Northern Ireland and was Chairman from 1988-1995. In 1996 he was awarded an OBE for Services to Conservation in Northern Ireland.

Ordination and ministry

Pursuing a vocation to the ministry, Alan Harper entered the Church of Ireland Theological College in Dublin in 1975 and was ordained a deacon in 1978 in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. A year later, he became a priest. His first curacy was in the Ballywillan in Connor diocese; he then served as vicar of Moville, followed by a tenure as rector of Christ Church, Londonderry from 1982-1986. Returning to Connor diocese, Alan Harper became rector of Malone from 1986-2002, and served as Archdeacon of Connor and Precentor of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, from 1996-2002.

Bishop and Archbishop

On 17 December 2001, Alan Harper was elected Bishop of Connor by the Episcopal Electoral College. He was consecrated on 18 March 2002 in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, and enthroned in Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn, on 25 April 2002. On Wednesday 10 January 2007, the eleven bishops of the Church of Ireland elected him the 104th Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, in succession to Archbishop Robin Eames.

Views on sexuality

Since issues of sexuality (particularly homosexuality) are the topic of endless debate and simmering acrimony in the Anglican communion at present, Harper's election to the primacy immediately drew media interest to his views on these questions; previous interviews were given new scrutiny. Several commentators ( [http://irishangle.net/nuacht/?q=node/423] , [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2007/01/englishman_to_lead_irish_churc.html] ) concluded that he is personally liberal but willing to be bound by more traditional views as long as the Church of Ireland has not as a whole signalled a desire to move on from them.

Heterosexual cohabitation

"That form of cohabitation in which couples commit themselves to each other in a loving, consenting, exclusive, permanent relationship is a form of commitment less complete than marriage, and therefore not the same as marriage, but is, nevertheless, a state of life which may be chosen in good conscience and is deserving of respect." (Address to Connor Diocesan Synod, 2003)

ame-sex relationships

"If a relationship between homosexual males is creative of love as well as being permanent and lifelong I don’t think that I am able to say that it is intrinsically disordered. What I am very much concerned about is the problem of promiscuity which is a totally different issue. I’m not entering now into the question of whether or not a homosexual lifestyle as we see it is intrinsically more promiscuous than what we call a straight lifestyle. But I am concerned about faithfulness." ( [http://irishangle.net/nuacht/?q=node/23 Interviewed] on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme, September 2003)

Speaking shortly after his election as Archbishop of Armagh, Alan Harper addressed the debate about homosexuality within Anglicanism. He argued that gay people are "born with their sexuality" and that same-sex relationships are not sinful as long as they are "chaste" (i.e., faithful and monogamous). He also criticised Church of Ireland bishops for "not doing enough" to meet their commitment to listen to the experience of gay and lesbian persons, as required under Lambeth (1998) Resolution 1.10. ( [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2007/01/interviewing_alan_harper.html Interviewed] on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme, 14 January 2007)

Gay priests

"I could not and would not ordain to the diaconate or the priesthood any person whom I knew to be engaged in an active homosexual relationship. I believe that such an action would be in conflict with the mind and the accepted practice of the Church of Ireland. I also believe that such a deacon or priest living openly in an active relationship might well be vulnerable to an action brought in a church court for the offence of 'conduct unbecoming'." (Address to Connor Diocese, 2003)

Blessing civil partnerships

"The Church of Ireland has not considered, provided or authorised any order of service for the Blessing of a Registered Civil partnership. I consider that the devising of such a liturgy by any member of the clergy at this time [...] would be likely to constitute a variation 'of substantial importance' in any form of service prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer or elsewhere. It might also be deemed or interpreted by some to be indicative of a 'departure from the doctrine of the Church.'" ( [http://irishangle.net/nuacht/?q=node/357 Letter to clergy] , Diocese of Connor, 2005)

External links

* [http://armagh.anglican.org/index.html Official site]
* [http://www.dublin.anglican.org/pr/2007/pr070110-archbishop-harper-armagh.html The United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough press release, with bio]
-! colspan="3" style="background: #ccffcc;" | Order of precedence in Northern Ireland