Christopher Foster (bishop)

Christopher Richard James Foster (born 7 November 1953) is an Anglican bishop. He is the current Bishop of Portsmouth in the Church of England.

Foster born on 7 November 1953. He was educated at Durham University where he held the position of Chapel Clerk at University College. He studied for ordination at Westcott House, Cambridge.

Foster was ordained in 1981 and began his ordained ministry with a curacy in Tettenhall Regis in Wolverhampton, after which he became chaplain of Wadham College, Oxford. Following this he was vicar of Christ Church Southgate and finally a canon residentiary and sub-dean at St Albans Cathedral.

In 2001 he was consecrated as Bishop of Hertford into the episcopate. In February 2010, it was announced that Foster would be the new Bishop of Portsmouth. He was enthroned on 18 September 2010.

Welfare reform

Foster has spoken out against the Conservative government's changes to the welfare state and austerity measures. In October 2015, he called proposed cuts to tax credits "morally indefensible":

It’s clear to me and many others that these proposals blatantly threaten damage to the lives of millions of our fellow citizens. This must not be the way to achieve the Government's goal at a cost to those, who if we believe the rhetoric, the Government intends to encourage and support. To many in my diocese and beyond this seems punishing rather than encouragement.

Foster's first wife died in 2001. He married his second wife, Sally, in 2006. He has one adult son and one adult daughter.

• The Reverend Christopher Foster (1981–1994)
• The Reverend Canon Christopher Foster (1994–2001)
• The Right Reverend Christopher Foster (2001–present)