Reverend Al Cohen grew up in a family whose tradition was the Naval Academy and service in the Navy. His Grandfather was an Admiral and his father served in WWII.

After Al's own schooling in the Naval Academy and service in the Navy, he went to Oberlin College and it was there that he found his calling as a minister and an advocate of peace and justice.

He was one of a handful of founding ministers in the United Church of Christ a denomination formed in 1958. Immediately his ministry included civil rights work, and draft counseling for all the young men who were expected to serve in Vietnam. Marrying his faith with his politics became a lifelong seamless journey.

Reverend Cohen has also been an anti-nuclear activist and an environmentalist since the 1970's, and currently is the Executive Director of the Ecumenical Council of Southern California, an NGO with the United Nations.