Nationality British Consecration 1995 | Name Tim Stevens Ordination 1976 | |
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In office 1999–11 July 2015 (retired) Residence Bishop's Lodge, Leicester Parents Ralph Stevens & Ursula Plowman Profiles | ||
The right reverend tim stevens bishop of leicester at all saints church oakham
Timothy John Stevens CBE (born 31 December 1946) is a British Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Dunwich from 1995 to 1999 and was Bishop of Leicester from 1999 to 2015. From 2003 to 2015, he was a member of the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual and served as Convenor of the Lords Spiritual from 2009 to 2015.
Contents
- The right reverend tim stevens bishop of leicester at all saints church oakham
- Hundreds turn out to say farewell to leicester bishop tim stevens
- Early life
- Ordained ministry
- Personal life
- Styles
- References
Hundreds turn out to say farewell to leicester bishop tim stevens
Early life
Stevens was born in Ilford, Essex, to Ralph Stevens and Ursula Plowman. He was educated at Chigwell School. He studied classics and English at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968; as per tradition, this was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA (Cantab)) degree in 1972.
From 1968 to 1973, Stevens worked as a senior management trainee for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and in 1972 and 1973 as second secretary for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Ordained ministry
After Cambridge, Stevens studied at Ripon Hall, Oxford, where he gained a diploma in theology. He was ordained in 1976, becoming a curate in East Ham in the same year. From 1979 to 1980, he was Team Vicar of Upton Park and from 1980 to 1988 Team Rector of Canvey Island. He was the Bishop of Chelmsford's urban officer from 1988 to 1991 and the Archdeacon of West Ham from 1991 and 1995.
Stevens became the Bishop suffragan of Dunwich in 1995 and held the position until 1999 when he was appointed as the Bishop of Leicester. It was announced on 18 November 2014 that Stevens was to retire in July 2015. On 11 July, he led his last service as Bishop of Leicester at Leicester Cathedral.
He took a seat in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual in 2003. He was the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual from November 2009 until May 2015. On 16 July 2015, he gave his last speech in the House of Lords. He was succeeded by the first female Lord Spiritual, Rachel Treweek, when parliament reconvened in the autumn.
Stevens was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the Church of England and the community in Leicestershire.
On 1 September 2016, he was appointed as the Prelate of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. On 11 February 2017, Stevens was one of fourteen retired bishops to sign an open letter to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. In an unprecedented move, they expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to General Synod on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practises around sexuality. By 13 February, a serving bishop (Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures; on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.
Personal life
Stevens has been married to Wendi Kathleen Price since 1973. They had one daughter, now deceased, and have one son.