The Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 church in the British Armed Forces

British Armed Forces

The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...

 falls under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, however for all practical purposes the function is performed by the Bishop to the Forces. His full title is "The Archbishop of Canterbury's Episcopal Representative to the Armed Forces". The Bishop to the Forces is not a military chaplain

Military chaplain

A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...

.

The current holder of the office is the Rt Revd Stephen Venner

Stephen Venner

Stephen Venner DL is the present Bishop to the Forces and Bishop for the Falkland Islands in the Church of England.-Education and career:Venner studied English at the University of Birmingham and is a qualified teacher...

.

There is sometimes confusion between the (Anglican) "Bishop to the Forces" and the (Roman Catholic) "Bishop of the Forces"

Bishopric of the Forces

The Bishopric of the Forces is the Latin-rite Catholic military ordinariate which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces across the United Kingdom and overseas. The chaplains are drawn from the dioceses of England, Wales and Scotland, and from some religious orders...

: for this reason the latter is normally given his title in full, i.e. "The Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces".

List of Bishops to the Forces

No.	Incumbent	From	Until	Notes
1	Cuthbert Bardsley Cuthbert Bardsley Cuthbert Killick Norman Bardsley CBE was the Anglican Bishop of Coventry from 1956 to 1976.- Early life :He was born on 28 March 1907, the younger son of a Church of England Canon. He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. He died in 1991....	1948	1956	also Bishop of Croydon Bishop of Croydon The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England.... ; later became Bishop of Coventry Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the Ordinary of the England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield....
2	Stanley Betts	1956	1966	also Bishop of Maidstone Bishop of Maidstone The Bishop of Maidstone was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent and had a similar though subordinate role to that of the Bishop of... ; later became Dean Dean (religion) A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...  of Rochester Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...
3	John Hughes	1966	1975	also Bishop of Croydon Bishop of Croydon The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England....
4	Stuart Snell Stuart Snell Stuart Snell was a British Anglican bishop. He was born in Devon on the 25 October 1920 and educated at Exeter School and St Peter's College, Oxford. Snell entered the Anglican ministry from the parish of Emmanuel, Northwood, London where he was a member of the laity...	1977	1984	also Bishop of Croydon Bishop of Croydon The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England....
5	Ronald Gordon	1985	1990	also Bishop at Lambeth Bishop at Lambeth The Bishop at Lambeth is a position within the hierarchy of the Church of England. It is a non-diocesan appointment in which an experienced bishop acts as head of staff to the Archbishop of Canterbury.-Past and present bishops:-References:...
6	David Smith David Smith (bishop) David James Smith is a retired Anglican bishop of the Church of England.Born on 14 July 1935 and educated at King’s College London, he was ordained in 1959. His first post was as a curate at All Saints' Gosforth, after which he became the Vicar of Monkseaton. He was subsequently the Rural Dean of...	1990	1992	also Bishop of Maidstone Bishop of Maidstone The Bishop of Maidstone was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent and had a similar though subordinate role to that of the Bishop of... ; later became Bishop of Bradford Bishop of Bradford The Bishop of Bradford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Bradford, in the Province of YorkThe diocese covers the extreme west of Yorkshire, and has its see in the city of Bradford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter.The Bishop's residence is...
7	John Kirkham	1992	2001	also Bishop of Sherborne
8	David Conner	2001	2009	also Dean of Windsor Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as primus inter pares.-List of Deans of Windsor:* William Mugge, 1348* Walter Almaly, 1380...
9	Stephen Venner Stephen Venner Stephen Venner DL is the present Bishop to the Forces and Bishop for the Falkland Islands in the Church of England.-Education and career:Venner studied English at the University of Birmingham and is a qualified teacher...	2009	present	also Bishop for the Falkland Islands