John Waller (bishop)

John Stevens Waller (18 April 1924 – 3 September 2015) was an Anglican bishop who served as the seventh Bishop of Stafford, a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Lichfield.[1]

Waller was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford and served during World War II with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). When peace came, he studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge[1] and Wells Theological College before being ordained: made deacon on Trinity Sunday 1950 (4 June)[2] and ordained priest the following Trinity Sunday (20 May 1951) — both times by William Wand, Bishop of London, at St Paul's Cathedral.[3] He began his career with curacies at Hillingdon and Tiverton[4] before incumbencies at Strood and Harpenden. In 1979, he was appointed to the episcopate as Bishop suffragan of Stafford, a post he held for eight years. He was consecrated a bishop on 25 January 1979, by Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey.[5] A man of strong convictions[6] he retired in 1987, becoming an honorary assistant bishop within the Diocese of Bath and Wells.