# Alan Chesters > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Chesters > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Chesters.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chesters > Source revision: 1355942352 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox Christian leader | honorific-prefix = [The Right Reverend](/source/The_Right_Reverend) | name = Alan Chesters | title = [Bishop of Blackburn](/source/Bishop_of_Blackburn) | church = [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) | diocese = [Diocese of Blackburn](/source/Diocese_of_Blackburn) | enthroned = {{circa|1989}} | term_end = 2003 (retirement) | predecessor = [Stewart Cross](/source/Stewart_Cross) | successor = [Nicholas Reade](/source/Nicholas_Reade) | other_post = [Honorary assistant bishop](/source/Assistant_bishop) in [Southwark](/source/Diocese_of_Southwark) and in [Chichester](/source/Diocese_of_Chichester)
2011–present
Honorary assistant bishop in [Chester](/source/Diocese_of_Chester)
2003–2010
Honorary assistant bishop in [Europe](/source/Diocese_in_Europe)
2003–present
[Archdeacon of Halifax](/source/Archdeacon_of_Halifax)
1985–1989 | ordination = 1962 (deacon); 1963 (priest) | consecration = 24 April 1989 [http://europe.anglican.org/prayer-diary/april-2012 Europe diocese Prayer Diary, April 2012]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1937|8|26}} | religion = [Anglican](/source/Anglicanism) | parents = Herbert & Catherine Chesters | alma_mater = [St Chad's College, Durham](/source/St_Chad's_College) | module = {{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes | office = Member of the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords) | status = [Lord Spiritual](/source/Lord_Spiritual) | term_label = [Bishop of Blackburn](/source/Bishop_of_Blackburn) | term_start = 12 December 1995 | term_end = 31 August 2003 }} }} '''Alan David Chesters''' [CBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (born 26 August 1937) was the [Bishop of Blackburn](/source/Bishop_of_Blackburn) from 1989 to 2003. ==Early life and education== Chesters is the son of Herbert and Catherine Chesters, of [Huddersfield](/source/Huddersfield), West Yorkshire. He was educated at [Elland Grammar School](/source/Elland), [St Chad's College, Durham](/source/St_Chad's_College) (Bachelor of Arts, 1959), [St Catherine's Society, Oxford](/source/St_Catherine's_College%2C_Oxford) (Bachelor of Arts, 1961), [Oxford Master of Arts](/source/Master_of_Arts_(Oxbridge_and_Dublin)) (1965) and [St Stephen's House, Oxford](/source/St_Stephen's_House%2C_Oxford) (1959–1962). He was ordained [deacon](/source/Deacon) in 1962, [priest](/source/Priest) in 1963 and [bishop](/source/Bishop) in 1989. ==Ministry== Chesters served as [assistant curate](/source/Curate) of [St Anne's](/source/Saint_Anne) [Wandsworth](/source/Wandsworth) from 1962 to 1965. He then became chaplain of [Tiffin School](/source/Tiffin_School) (1966–72), a post that he soon combined with that of honorary assistant curate of [St Richard's](/source/Richard_of_Chichester) [Ham](/source/Ham%2C_London) (1967–72). Returning to the [north of England](/source/Northern_England), where he was to spend the rest of his ministry, he became director of education for the [Diocese of Durham](/source/Diocese_of_Durham) and [rector](/source/Rector_(ecclesiastical)) of [Brancepeth](/source/Brancepeth%2C_County_Durham) (1972–85). He was an [honorary canon](/source/Canon_(priest)) of [Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral) from 1975 until 1984. In 1985, he was appointed [Archdeacon of](/source/Archdeacon) [Halifax](/source/Halifax%2C_West_Yorkshire) in the [Diocese of Wakefield](/source/Diocese_of_Wakefield). In 1989, the [Queen](/source/Elizabeth_II) appointed him [Bishop of Blackburn](/source/Bishop_of_Blackburn) on the advice of the Prime Minister, [Margaret Thatcher](/source/Margaret_Thatcher). He took his seat in the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords) in 1995. He retired in 2003, and became an [honorary assistant bishop](/source/Assistant_Bishop) in the [diocese](/source/diocese)s of [Chester](/source/Diocese_of_Chester) and [Gibraltar in Europe](/source/Diocese_of_Gibraltar_in_Europe). He moved from the diocese of Chester in 2010,[http://www.chester.anglican.org/news.asp?Page=196 Chester diocese – A farewell Eucharist for Bishop Alan] ceasing to be an assistant bishop in Chester, remaining one in Europe and becoming one in Southwark (where he lives) and Chichester. Chesters was a [Church Commissioner](/source/Church_Commissioners) from 1982 until 1998. He was first elected to the [General Synod](/source/General_Synod) in 1975. He was a member of its standing committee from 1985 to 1989 and 1990 to 1995, and served as vice chairman (1984–90), and later chairman, of the [Board of Education](/source/Church_of_England_Board_of_Education)."Distinctive or Divisive? The Role of Church Schools." Alan Chesters (bishop), [Bishop of Blackburn](/source/Bishop_of_Blackburn): [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London), [Hertford](/source/Hertford). Hockerill Educational Foundation 2001 and Chairman of the Schools Committee. In October 2000, Chesters officially opened an extension at a school in [Oswaldtwistle](/source/Oswaldtwistle).{{cite web|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6062192.Delighted_pupils_move_into_new_extension/|title=Delighted pupils move into new extension|work=Lancashire Telegraph |date=14 October 2000|accessdate=3 July 2017}} His involvement in Anglican education continued as he became a member of the board of governors of his old [college](/source/University_of_Durham) at [Durham](/source/University_of_Durham), [St Chad's](/source/St_Chad's_College) (1980–89), and chairman of the board of governors of [St Martin's College](/source/St_Martin's_College) (1991–2003). In 2003, he was appointed to [St Martin's College](/source/St_Martin's_College)'s first honorary fellowship. He has also been chairman of the [Higher Education Funding Council for England](/source/Higher_Education_Funding_Council_for_England) Advisory Committee on Church Colleges and president of the [Woodard Corporation](/source/Woodard_Schools). ==Memberships and honours== Chesters was a member of the [Countryside Commission](/source/Countryside_Agency), and chairman of the North West Rural Affairs Forum. In the [New Year Honours List 2007](/source/British_honours_system), he was appointed a [Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire), for services to the community in the [North West](/source/North_West_England). He was awarded an [Honorary Fellowship](/source/Honorary_title_(academic)) in 2007 from the [University of Cumbria](/source/University_of_Cumbria).{{Cite web|url=https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/about/organisation/honorary-fellows/2007/|title = 2007 | University of Cumbria}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1841703.stm Bishop dices with casino future, ''BBC News'' (26 February 2002)] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061026112051/http://www.ucsm.ac.uk/about/news/2003/honorary-fellowship.php SMC awards Honorary Fellowship to Bishop of Blackburn (15 January 2004)] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070209190734/http://www.tfccinternational.com/public/department36.cfm Trinity Foundation for Christianity and Culture] *[http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=31483 Glyn Paflin, Honours for work with children and families, ''Church Times''] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6217257.stm Gerrard and Hatton head honours, ''BBC News'' (30 December 2006)] *''Debrett's People of Today'' *''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' {{Archdeacons of Halifax}} {{Bishops of Blackburn}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chesters, Alan David}} Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Category:Alumni of St Stephen's House Category:Alumni of St Chad's College, Durham Category:People associated with Lancaster University Category:People from Huddersfield Category:20th-century English Anglican priests Category:Archdeacons of Halifax Category:Bishops of Blackburn Category:20th-century Church of England bishops Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Clergy from Yorkshire --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alan Chesters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chesters) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chesters?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.