Rt Rev Francis Evered Lunt (15 October 1900 – 27 May 1982) was the 9th

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Bishop of Stepney The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of ...

from 1957. Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

,''1911 England Census'' Lunt initially trained for ministry at

London College of Divinity St John's College, Nottingham, founded as the London College of Divinity, was an Anglican and interdenominational theological college situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, England. The college stood in the open evangelical tradition and stated that i ...

being ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1925 and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1927, beginning his ordained ministry as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

. He subsequently graduated from

University College, Durham , motto_English = Not for ourselves alone , scarf = , established = , principal = Wendy Powers , vice_principal = Ellen Crabtree , undergraduates = 698 , postgraduates = 153 , coordinates = , location_map = Durham , map_size ...

and from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. becoming in turn

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

, and

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

St Aldate's, Oxford St Aldate's () is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street. The street runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax. The Town Hall, which includes the Museum o ...

. He became

Dean of Bristol The Dean of Bristol is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Bristol, England. The Dean is Mandy Ford, since her installation on 3 October 2020. List of deans Early modern *1542–1551 William Sno ...

in 1951, and served there until his consecration to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1957. He was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Downing College, Cambridge in 1966. An Evangelical in churchmanship, as his appointments show, much of his career saw him involved with providing spiritual care to students through the Cambridge and Oxford Pastorates. He nonetheless maintained friendships with clergy of other ecclesiastical leanings, most notably with

John AT Robinson John Arthur Thomas Robinson (16 May 1919 – 5 December 1983) was an English New Testament scholar, author and the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich. He was a lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later Dean of Trinity College until his death in ...

the author of

Honest to God ''Honest to God'' is a book written by the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich John A.T. Robinson, criticising traditional Christian theology. It aroused a storm of controversy on its original publication by SCM Press in 1963. Robinson's own evaluati ...

, whose views caused controversy among more traditional believers. He was also a close friend of the staunchly Evangelical

Thomas Sherwood Jones The Rt Rev Thomas Sherwood Jones (also rendered Sherwood-Jones) was the Anglican Suffragan Bishop of Hulme in Manchester, Britain, from 1930 until 1945. He was born on 4 March 1872 and educated at Durham University and ordained in 1899. He was ...

, who, at age 85 was among the bishops who participated in Lunt's consecration and would become in due course one of the few English bishops to achieve

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cente ...

status. Although many Bishops of Stepney have gone on to higher office in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, and Lunt's career in the Church had involved a number of distinguished appointments, his comparatively late elevation to the episcopate - and relatively low profile in comparison to his immediate predecessor and indeed successor - may have militated against his translation to a more senior position and even contributed to the nickname "Evered the Unready" his clergy gave him. One of his contributions to Church life was an interest in ministry to the deaf, and in 1963 he presided over one of the first televised services which was also translated into sign language. He also supported

Cicely Saunders Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders (22 June 1918 – 14 July 2005) was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasising the i ...

in persuading various London authorities of a need for support of the terminally ill through the hospice movement., and was instrumental in the setting up of St Christopher's Hospice in South London, as the following excerpt from its history shows: "Soon a small but enthusiastic group of supporters had been formed, including: Dr Glyn Hughes (author of a recent report on the state of terminal care in Britain); Betty Read (head almoner at St Thomas’s Hospital); and Jack Wallace (an evangelical friend and lawyer). It was then joined by Evered Lunt (Anglican Bishop of Stepney); Sir Kenneth Grubb (of the Church Missionary Society); and, very significantly, Dame

Albertine Winner Dame Albertine Louisa Winner (4 March 1907 – 13 May 1988) was a British physician and medical administrator. After graduating from UCL Medical School, University College Hospital Medical School, Winner practised at the Elizabeth Garrett Ande ...

(Deputy Chief Medical Officer). Led by their enthusiasms and the inspiration and energy of Cicely Saunders herself, they set about raising funds to bring the enterprise to realisation...".Early Origins of St Christopher's Hospice
Accessed July 18, 2015 Lunt retired from active ministry in 1968, and lived near

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns ...

until his death in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunt, Francis Evered 1900 births Alumni of University College, Durham Bishops of Stepney 20th-century Church of England bishops Deans of Bristol Fellows of Downing College, Cambridge 1982 deaths Clergy from Liverpool