“My mentor was a United Methodist chaplain who guided me to do a lot of teaching and other work,” he said. “There I found a love for the ministry, loving the people.”
So when he left the Air Force as a captain in 1992, he went to to Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., graduated in 1995 and was pastor at four different churches in Ohio and Kentucky while remaining in the Air Force Reserve, but after Sept. 11, 2001, he was called back into active duty.
In Iraq, he earned a Bronze Star in 2004 for “meritorious achievement” in his “exemplary leadership, courage and personal performance while serving as second in command of the largest squadron in Iraq,” according to the citation, responding to 37 attacks against his installation. After Iraq, he went to Turkey and was able to serve in the church part-time while performing his other duties.
“The Air Force had three Protestant chaplains, but one moved and they didn’t replace him so the lead chaplain asked me if I’d fill in. It was a great experience,” he said. “In a lot of ways, life has not changed in that region of the world so much, so you can still get an understanding of the Biblical culture. You still see shepherds tending their flocks in the middle of nowhere.”
He retired from the Air Force in June as a Lieutenant Colonel and came to Hamilton in July.
“I have found great people in Hamilton,” he said. “One of the nice things about coming back to Ohio is that the people are friendly, honest, everyday people with big hearts.”
He believes that Grace church, which now hosts about 180 people weekly for Sunday morning worship at its Main St. location, is “ripe for growth” and hopes that he’ll be able to stick around for a while to see it through.
“We’ve been doing very well from what I’ve heard. It’s a great location, but we need to let people know there are great things going on here and they’re welcome to be a part of it,” he said.
“The church already has a lot of folks coming in to use the facilities, Scout troops, Head Start, Cheer America. Almost every night of the week, there’s someone here who’s not a member of the church using our facilities. We want to keep that up, to meet the needs of the community.”
While the United Methodist Church has historically moved pastors around a lot, Cooper said that he’s asked them to “leave me alone.”
“My predecessor was here six years and it seems like most of the pastors who have been here have had that kind of longevity. I believe that pastors are more effective after their third or fourth years.
“Until then, you’re just learning who’s who,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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