Steve Benford

Steven Benford, (born 14 August 1961) is the tenth Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand,[1] ordained and installed on 22 September 2017.[2][3] Since October 2014, he had been the Vicar of The Church of St. Joseph the Worker, Northolt in West London. In the Diocese of London, he was also a bishop's adviser for ministry, a new incumbent's ministry mentor and spiritual director.

Benford at a Sunday service in October 2015

Both the Church of St. Joseph the Worker, Northolt and the Diocese of Dunedin, New Zealand are part of the Anglican Communion. St. Joseph the Worker, Northolt is named after Saint Joseph the Worker, the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Benford has pursued a double career,[1] for many years having worked as a doctor, having specialised as an anaesthetist working in the north of England, then in New Zealand, and then back in the North of England.

"Steven's medical career initially took him to Leicester, Leeds and Gibraltar. Then in the early 1990s, he and his wife Lorraine brought their young family to live in southern New Zealand. From 1991–95 Steven worked as a GP in Oamaru, where he also established a free clinic."[1] After ordination he first worked as both a doctor and a priest and then was licensed the Vicar of St. Joseph the Worker, Northolt in October 2014 and he ceased to be a doctor.

He has been heard to say that he felt a calling to ministry from an early age. He is married to Lorraine who was born in Dunedin in New Zealand.[4] They have four children, Ashley, Jessica, Dominic and Justin.