Biography
The Right Reverend Tim Stevens,
Bishop of Leicester
Bishop Tim Stevens was raised in a rural vicarage in Essex and went to Chigwell School. After leaving school he spent a year in Zambia with Voluntary Service Overseas and then read Classics and English at Selwyn College, Cambridge. Subsequently he spent five years as a Management Trainee with the British Overseas Airways Corporation. This was followed by two years as a Second Secretary in the South Asian Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
He trained for ordination at Ripon Hall, Oxford and subsequently at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He was ordained in 1976 as Curate in East Ham, East London. Subsequently he was Team Rector of Canvey Island in Essex.
As Bishop's Urban Officer in the Chelmsford Diocese and as Archdeacon of West Ham he was engaged in developing the Church Urban Fund projects and in reshaping Church buildings for the contemporary needs of the Church's mission in the City. Before taking up his present position, he was Suffragan Bishop of Dunwich in the County of Suffolk, working particularly with community and voluntary agencies in preparation for Regional Government.
He was appointed Bishop of Leicester in June 1999.
Particular interests include interfaith relations. The City of Leicester has the largest Hindu population in the United Kingdom as well as substantial Muslim, Sikh and other faith communities. Both at diocesan and at national level the Bishop is involved in conversations with those of other faiths, especially in finding ways of working with other faiths on regeneration issues in cities.
Bishop Tim is also chair of the House of Bishops Urban Bishops' Panel and has been instrumental in setting up a new Commission on Urban Life and Faith which is due to report next year. He is also a member of the House of Lords and recently elected onto Archbishops Council.
Other interests include his work as the Chairman of the Trustees of The Children's Society. This is a major national children's charity attached to the Church of England which is pioneering work with the most disadvantaged children, including children of refugees, homeless children, children in prison and children with disabilities.
Bishop Tim has a wife, Wendi, and two children, Rachel and Adam, both of whom are now adult and have left home.
Bishop Tim's other interests include a keen attachment to cricket and rugby, including supporting the professional teams based in Leicester. He enjoys walking especially from his holiday cottage on the edge of the North York Moors.
