Hero of Hope

Cathedral of Hope is pleased to announce that James Cooper will be honored as our Hero of Hope during our evening service on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 6:00pm. Please join us for worship and a reception as we honor our 2024 Hero of Hope.

Cathedral of Hope Oklahoma City will present the Hero of Hope award to Councilman James Cooper to reflect the community’s gratitude for his service as an activist seeking justice and equality for the LGBTQIA+ community, which embodies the church’s founding principles of “Extravagant Grace, Radical Inclusion, and Relentless Compassion.” His work and accomplishments serve as a beacon of hope to a community that regularly endures injustice brought on by prejudice and intolerance.

The founding mission of the Cathedral of Hope is to reclaim Christianity as a faith of extravagant grace, radical inclusion, and relentless compassion. As such, we seek ways to honor those who embody and live out this mission through lives that are transforming our society at every level. The Hero of Hope is a person or organization who works to:

  1. Change how the world thinks about LGBTQ people;
  2. Change how LGBTQ people think about God;
  3. Reach marginalized people, especially teens living in isolation in small towns; and
  4. Redefine Christianity as an including faith rather than an excluding religion.

The Hero of Hope Award originated in the early 1990s as a way for the Cathedral of Hope to single out and honor people who have courageously taken a stand for LGBTQ rights. The Hero of Hope Award is presented in recognition of those who have taken courageous stands for the rights of all people without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

We honor our previous Hero of Hope winners who have made a lasting impact for justice and peace in our community.

SISU Youth Service
Youth Housing & Homeless Shelter
2023 Hero of Hope

Victor Gorin
Community Activist
2020 Hero of Hope

Robin Dorner
Community Activist and The Gayly Editor in Chief
2019 Hero of Hope

Sara Cunningham
Community Activist for the LGBTQ Community
2018 Hero of Hope

Paula Sophia Schonauer
Community Activist for the LGBTQ Community
2017 Hero of Hope

Mary Arbuckle
Executive Director of Other Options, Inc
2016 Hero of Hope

Scott J Hamilton
Former Executive Director of the Cimarron Alliance Equality Center
2014 Hero of Hope

Mr. Ginger Lamar
Community Activist & Entertainer
2013 Hero of Hope

Dr. Ed Shadid
Oklahoma City Councilman & Doctor
2012 Hero of Hope

Bob Lemon
Equal Rights Advocate
2011 Hero of Hope

Kay Holladay
Co-Founder, PFLAG-Norman
2009 Hero of Hope

Jim Roth
Former Corporation Commissioner & County Commissioner
2007 Hero of Hope

Rev. Bruce Lowe
Retired Southern Baptist Pastor
2006 Hero of Hope