Hoare was born on 3 March 1940 in Sussex, England. He attended the
Dragon School in Oxford before attending
Rugby School. Upon completing his secondary education, he went to
Trinity College, Oxford where he studied theology. He graduated in 1961 with a
First Class Honours and spend the following year in
Berlin on a scholarship from
Coventry Cathedral. In 1963, he returned to Cambridge, this time attending
Westcott House Theological College. In 1964, he achieved another First Class Honours in Part III of the Cambridge Tripos and completed his
PhD thesis on the relationship between theology and psychiatry in 1973. He became a
deacon in 1964, and became a
curate at St Mary's Oldham in the
Diocese of Manchester in 1965. In 1968, he took up a post at
Queen's College, Birmingham where he lectured for five years. He also became an
Honorary Canon Theologian at
Coventry Cathedral, holding this post for six years. In 1972, he returned to Manchester as
rector of the Parish of the Resurrection. In 1978, he returned to Birmingham as a
canon residentiary of
St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham, before being appointed principal of Westcott House in 1981. He was area Bishop of Dudley in the
Diocese of Worcester between 1993 and 2000 before moving to become the
dean of Liverpool in 1999. He retired in 2007. ==Styles==