Kenneth Stevenson

Kenneth William Stevenson (born November 9, 1949 in Aberlady , near Edinburgh , † January 11, 2011 in Southampton ) was a British Anglican clergyman and was Bishop of Portsmouth from 1995 to 2009 .

life and career

Stevenson came from several generations of clergymen on both his maternal and paternal side. His father was a clergyman, his mother's father was a bishop in Denmark . He is of Scottish - Danish descent. His mother was Danish; his father had met his future wife in Denmark while he was serving in the church there. Stevenson himself was fluent in Danish . He also wrote and delivered sermons in Danish.

Stevenson attended the Edinburgh Academy from 1957 to 1966 . He did a Master of Arts at Edinburgh University in 1970 , which he graduated with honors. To prepare for the priesthood, he attended the Sarum and Wells Theological College from 1970 . Stevenson was 1973 in Lincoln Cathedral for deacon and in 1974 priest ordained . From 1973 to 1976 he was assistant vicar in Grantham and at the same time responsible for the parish in Manthorpe . He received his PhD in philosophy from Southampton University in 1975 .

From 1976 to 1980 he was vicar in Boston . At the same time he was a priest and tutor at Lincoln Theological College in Lincoln from 1975 to 1980 . From 1980 to 1986 he was a chaplain and professor at Manchester University . He was also dean ( Team Vicar ) and parish priest in the Whitworth district of Manchester during this time . In 1983 he took on a visiting professorship at the University of Notre Dame in the USA . From 1986 to 1995 he was a pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford .

In 1995 he was named 8th Bishop of Portsmouth . On September 30, 2009, he retired because of cancer . He had previously had to undergo two operations for leukemia . He was succeeded in February 2010 by Christopher Foster .

He is also the author of several theological works, most recently in 2007 Waiting and Watching: The Riddle of Advent , a book about the Advent season , and in 2008 Take, Eat: Reflections on the Eucharist . In 2001, together with Rowan Williams , Archbishop of Canterbury , and Geoffrey Rowell , Bishop of Europe, he published the anthology Love's Redeeming Work , a handbook on the Anglican Faith that has since reached several editions and has become a bestseller . Stevenson received several awards during his church career. In 1987 he was commissioned by the Manchester University a doctorate in theology ( Doctor of Divinity ), 1990 he became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society ( FRHistS ). In 2006, Stevenson received an Honorary Doctorate in Law ( Hon LLD ) from the University of Portsmouth . In 2007 he was awarded the Dannebrog Order .

Membership in the House of Lords

Stevenson had been a member of the House of Lords since September 10, 1999 . He gave his inaugural address on December 15, 1999. His areas of political interest include questions of education , housing , and the integration of people with disabilities , health care , constitutional issues and immigration policy . Stevenson identified Denmark and Scandinavia in general as countries of particular interest .

In the House of Lords, he was a member of the Committee on Religious Offenses from 2002 to 2003. Stevenson was also a member of the House of Lords' Offices Committee . From 2006 to 2009 he was Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Lords ( Convenor ). Tim Stevens was his successor as convenor . Stevenson's seat in the House of Lords was taken over by the Bishop of Gloucester , Michael Francis Perham , from 2009 .

Working in public

Stevenson was a staunch advocate of ecumenism within the churches. Stevenson showed particular interest in working with other Protestant denominations . One of his priorities within his ecclesiastical work was therefore the cooperation with the Lutheran churches in Northern Europe , the Baltic States and Iceland .

From 1997 to 2009 he was chairman of the Anglo-Nordic-Baltic Theological Conference . Since 2005 he has been chairman of the Porvoo Panel within the framework of the Porvoo community , previously he was its deputy chairman from 1999 to 2005. The Porvoo Panel coordinates the implementation and implementation of the 1992 Porvoo Conference on the cooperation and communion of the four Anglican Churches in Great Britain, the Anglican Church in Ireland and the eight Lutheran Nordic and Baltic Churches on behalf of the Church of England .

In June 2003, he declined to comment on the nomination of gay clergyman Jeffrey John as Auxiliary Bishop of Reading by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

In January 2008, Stevenson attended and chaired the annual conference of the National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in Further Education .

Stevenson was one of the signatories of a declaration on October 7, 2008, calling for the protection of children from emotional and physical violence.

Private and death

Stevenson was married and had four children. He had lived in Chichester with his wife Sarah since retirement , where he continued to write theological writings. In September 2010 he last appeared in public at a theological lecture to the bishops of the Church of England in Oxford . Stevenson had had leukemia for several years ; in the past few months his health had deteriorated significantly. Most recently, he was, according to the Bishop of Portsmouth , Christopher Foster , palliative medical care. John Gladwin , the former Bishop of Chelmsford , recognized Stevenson as "one of the really great bishops of the Church of England". On January 26, 2011, the funeral for Stevenson took place in Portsmouth Cathedral .

Publications

• 1982: Nuptial Blessing: a Study of Christian Marriage Rites
• 1986: Eucharist and Offering
• 1988: Jerusalem Revisited
• 1989: The First Rites
• 1994: Covenant of Grace Renewed: a vision of the Eucharist in the 17th Century
• 1996: Handing On: Borderlands of Worship and Tradition
• 1998: The Mystery of Baptism in the Anglican Tradition
• 1998: All the Company of Heaven
• 2000: Abba Father: Using and Interpreting the Lord's Prayer
• 2001: Love's Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness (Editor)
• 2002: Do This: The Shape, Style and Meaning of the Eucharist
• 2004: The Lord's Prayer: A Text in Tradition
• 2007: Rooted in Detachment: Living the Transfiguration
• 2007: Waiting and Watching: The Riddle of Advent
• 2008: Take, Eat: Reflections on the Eucharist

Web links

• Kenneth Stevenson at Hansard (English)
• Kenneth Stevenson Personal Webpage
• The Right Revd Dr Kenneth Stevenson (obituary in: The Independent, January 22, 2011)
• The Right Reverend Kenneth Stevenson (Obituary in: The Daily Telegraph, February 1, 2011)
• Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson obituary (Obituary in: The Guardian, February 2, 2011)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vita Kenneth Stevenson Debretts, accessed December 11, 2009
2. ^ ^{A b c} Obituary: Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth Obituary in: The Scotsman, January 21, 2011
3. ^ Former Bishop of Portsmouth dies in: Portsmouth Today, January 12, 2011
4. ↑ Vita Kenneth Stevenson ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Edinburgh Academy homepage, accessed December 8, 2009 
5. ↑ Kenneth Stevenson at the Diocese of Portsmouth ( Memento of the original from December 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 8, 2009 
6. ↑ Stevenson, 'back from the fringes' , accessed December 11, 2009
7. ^ New bishop for south-east Hampshire in: The Hampshire Chronicle of February 9, 2010
8. ↑ Kenneth Stevenson in the Hansard
9. ↑ Biography of Kenneth Stevenson on the homepage of the Church of England ( memento of the original from November 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 8, 2009 
10. ↑ Dioceses divided by the issue that won't go away , accessed December 11, 2009
11. ↑ fbfe Conference - Jan 2008  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 9, 2009  
12. ↑ Churches 'Network for Non-violence (CNNV) (PDF; 21 kB) Anglican Bishops' Statement in support of Equal Protection for Children from October 7, 2008
13. ↑ Birthdays: Dr Kenneth Stevenson The Times, November 9, 2009
14. ^ Funeral date set for former Bishop of Portsmouth BBC News, January 16, 2011