Peter Forster

Peter Robert Forster (born 16 March 1950) is a British retired Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Chester in the Church of England and a Lord Spiritual (member of the House of Lords).

The Right Reverend Peter Forster
Bishop of Chester
Diocese	Diocese of Chester
In office	1996–2019
Predecessor	Michael Baughen
Successor	Mark Tanner
Other posts	Vicar of Beverley Minster (1992–1996)
Orders
Ordination	1980 (deacon); 1981 (priest) by David Sheppard
Consecration	13 November 1996 by David Hope
Personal details
Born	16 March 1950 Solihull, Warwickshire, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Parents	Thomas Forster & Edna Russell
Spouse	Elisabeth Anne Stevenson ​ ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	four
Alma mater	Merton College, Oxford University of Edinburgh

Early life and education

Born in Solihull, the son of Thomas Forster by his marriage to Edna Russell, Forster was educated at the town's Tudor Grange Grammar School.[1] He stated in the House of Lords on 8 February 2016 that he had spent his gap year making Land Rover Defenders and was auto-enrolled into the TGWU.[2] He studied at Merton College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in chemistry, promoted to Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1973. At the University of Edinburgh, he graduated as a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) in theology in 1977 and as a Doctor of Philosophy in 1985.[1]

Ordained ministry

He was ordained a deacon at Petertide 1980 (on 29 June)[3] and a priest the next Petertide (12 July 1981), both times by David Sheppard, Bishop of Liverpool, at Liverpool Cathedral.[4] From 1980 to 1982, Forster was assistant curate of the Mossley Hill Parish Church in Liverpool. He was senior tutor at St John's College, Durham, from 1983 to 1991 and became the vicar of Beverley Minster in 1992.

Episcopal ministry

In 1996, Forster was appointed the 40th Bishop of Chester. He was consecrated a bishop (alongside John Packer, Bishop of Warrington and later Bishop of Ripon and Leeds) during a service at York Minster,[5] by David Hope, Archbishop of York, on 13 November 1996.[6] He was enthroned on 11 January 1997 and in 2001 took his seat as a Lord Spiritual in the House of Lords.[7]

From 1997 to 2005 Forster was the Chair of the Board of Governors of University College, Chester, which was recognised by the University of Liverpool for the awarding of degrees. In 2005 he oversaw the emergence of the University of Chester, with full power to award its own degrees. From 2005 to 2019 he was President of the Council of the University. On retirement, the University awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

In 2000 Forster represented the Church of England at the world-wide Synod of Roman Catholic Bishops, held in Rome in the month of October.

From 2001 to 2010 he was a member of the English Anglican-Roman Catholic Committee.

In 2003, Forster raised controversy when he was investigated by the police for an alleged "hate speech" after suggesting that homosexual people who were anxious about their sexuality should seek the best available professional advice.[8] However, no charges were made, and the police were satisfied that no offence had been committed.[9]

He was one of nine bishops who signed a letter disagreeing with the decision of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, not to block the appointment of Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading in 2003.[10]

In 2012, amid controversy over the amount of expenses claimed by bishops for attending the House of Lords, it was revealed that Forster had claimed more than any other bishop in 2010/11. In that year he was a member of two select committees. He had claimed £34,909 for travel and accommodation, and had attended on 97 days.[11]

In 2013 Forster led the Church of England delegation to the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, held in Busan, South Korea.

During his years as a member of the House of Lords, 2001 - 2019, Forster initiated major debates on marriage, children and family life, and on the impact of pornography on society, as well as speaking on a wide range of topics.

In March 2019, he called for Parliament to agree to Theresa May's Brexit deal during a debate in the House of Lords.[12]

In March 2019, Forster faced controversy following a child sex abuse scandal in the diocese.[13] A priest who had been accused of sex offences 35 years earlier, wrote confidentially about the allegations in a letter to the Bishop in 2009. The allegations had been fully disclosed to the church authorities in 1974. The letter came to light during a police investigation in 2017 of a previous Bishop of Chester, Victor Whitsey, who has been named in abuse cases as a paedophile. The Church's National Safeguarding Team, instigated a Church Disciplinary Measure (CDM) process against Forster, and while this was considered he agreed to delegate his safeguarding responsibilities to the suffragan Bishop of Birkenhead. The Bishop claimed that he acted in accordance with the policy guidance which applied in 2009, and vigorously contested the allegation. No finding was made against him. An independent report into the Church's handling of the Whitsey allegations was published in October 2020.[14][15][16][17][18]

In April 2019, Forster announced that he would retire on 30 September 2019.[19] In retirement he moved to the Scottish Borders, to a house which he and his Son had built over the preceding dozen years. He had previously in the 1980’s built a house in East Lothian, with his Father-in-Law, Eric Stevenson, an Edinburgh architect.

Personal life

Forster married Elisabeth Anne Stevenson in 1978, and they have four children.[1][20] His brother-in-law, Kenneth Stevenson, was also a bishop.[20]

Styles

• The Reverend Peter Forster (1980–1985)
• The Reverend Doctor Peter Forster (1985–1996)
• The Right Reverend Doctor Peter Forster (1996–present)

References

1. "Bishop of Chester – The Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster". Diocese of Chester. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
2. https://twitter.com/churchstate (8 February 2016). "Report from the House of Lords Debate on the Trade Union Bill".
3. "Petertide ordinations". Church Times (#6125). 4 July 1980. p. 5. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 6 May 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
4. "Petertide ordinations". Church Times (#6177). 3 July 1981. p. 16. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 6 May 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
5. "From brown envelope to purple shirt". Church Times (#6980). 22 November 1996. p. 13. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 14 April 2015 – via UK Press Online archives.
6. Diocese of Chester — Bishops (Accessed 6 May 2017)
7. House of Lords (14 November 2001). "Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords". minutes of proceedings. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
8. Alleyne, Richard (10 November 2003). "Bishop's anti-gay comments spark legal investigation". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
9. "No charges for bishop in gay row". BBC News. 9 November 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
10. Michael Nazir-Ali (1 May 2008). "Extremism flourished as UK lost Christianity". Frost's Meditations. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
11. "Bishop of Chester claims most expenses". Leader Live. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
12. Adam Becket (8 March 2019). "Get on with Brexit, say MPs and peers". Church Times. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
13. "Longest serving Church of England bishop faces calls to resign after court hears he knew about paedophile priest". The Telegraph. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
14. "Bishop accused of covering up child sex abuse scandal gives up safeguarding powers". The Telegraph. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
15. "Chester: Bishop Peter Forster delegates safeguarding responsibility after cover-up reports". Chester Standard. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
16. "Bishop of Chester hands over safeguarding duties". Premier. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
17. "Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) lodged against Bishop of Chester Peter Forster". Chester Standard. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
18. "A Betrayal of Trust"
19. "Bishop Peter announces his retirement". 24 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
20. "Forster, Peter Robert". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2017 (November 2016 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 10 June 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required)

• "DodOnline". Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2006.