1. Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper was a British Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist.
11 Facts About Donald Soper
2.
Donald Soper was educated at Aske's School in south London, at St Catharine's College and Wesley House in the University of Cambridge, and at the London School of Economics, where he took his PhD.
3.
Donald Soper was an exceptional sportsman who captained his school at football, cricket, and boxing, but he withdrew from cricket after he accidentally killed an opposing batsman with a fast delivery when bowling.
4.
Donald Soper offered as a candidate for the Methodist ministry, and while still a probationary minister, he sought larger congregations by taking to open air preaching in imitation of the founders of Methodism.
5.
Donald Soper was controversial and quick-thinking, and drew large crowds.
6.
Early in his ministry, Donald Soper was radicalised by the inner-city poverty that he witnessed.
7.
Donald Soper became an active member of the Labour Party and much of his preaching was concerned with the political implications of the Christian gospel; late in life, he offended many Conservatives by his fiercely expressed argument that the policies of Margaret Thatcher were inherently incompatible with Christianity.
8.
Donald Soper joined the Peace Pledge Union in 1937 and preached pacifism throughout the Second World War, being deemed so effective that he was banned from broadcasting on the BBC.
9.
Donald Soper was critical of Ian Paisley and the Free Presbyterians in Northern Ireland.
10.
Donald Soper was active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from its beginnings, and was president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in England for many years until his death.
11.
Donald Soper became the first Methodist minister to sit in the House of Lords, an institution whose existence he opposed but which he was able to use as a platform for the expression of his views.