Kenneth Cragg

Albert Kenneth Cragg (8 March 1913 – 13 November 2012) was an Anglican bishop and scholar who commented widely on religious topics for more than fifty years, most notably Christian–Muslim relations.

Early life and education Cragg was born on 8 March 1913. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School and Jesus College, Oxford. He was awarded the Grafton Scholarship in 1934.

Ordained ministry Cragg was ordained in 1937. He began his career with a curacy at Higher Tranmere Parish Church, Birkenhead after which he was Chaplain of All Saints', Beirut, Rector of Longworth, Professor of Arabic and Islamics at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, and then Warden of St Augustine's College, Canterbury.

Episcopal ministry Cragg was elevated to the episcopate as Assistant Bishop of Jerusalem in 1969.

There was at that time no Bishop of Egypt, and Cragg was given responsibility for the oversight of the Anglican communities in that country, until, in 1974, as a result of the reorganisation of the Anglican Church in the Middle East, a new Bishop was appointed.

He was then appointed Reader in Religious Studies, at Sussex University, following which he was Vicar of Helme (and an Assistant Bishop within the Wakefield Diocese).

In 1982, nearing the Church of England's newly laid-down compulsory retirement at the age of seventy, Cragg retired to the Diocese of Oxford.

Personal life He married, in 1940, Melita Arnold. She died in 1989.