Roger Forster, the founder of Ichthus Christian Fellowship, has died aged 90.
A husband to Faith and father to three children, he was a well-respected theologian, best known for founding the neo-charismatic Ichthus Christian Fellowship in 1974.
Born on 1 March 1933, Forster was brought up a Methodist, but found that the faith became real to him during his time studying at Cambridge University. He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force for a short time, before serving as a itinerant evangelist.
In 1974, Roger and Faith met with 14 believers in their home, which marked the start of the Ichthus Christian Fellowship. Their evangelistic vision was to help Christians to be disciples of Christ, and to promote more spiritual life in London.
Forster served in various different ways as the Ichthus Fellowship grew. He, along with leaders from Pioneer and Youth with a Mission, started ‘March for Jesus’, and he also served as the vice-president of Tearfund and chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Alliance.
Forster stepped back from his role as leader of the Ichthus Fellowship in October 2021. The Ichthus Fellowship now has 21 congregations across the UK, as well as one in Norway. Forster died peacefully at home on 17 January 2024.
Graham Kendrick, a former Ichthus Fellowship member who has written over 400 Christian songs, paid tribute to Forster, saying: ‘Roger’s evangelistic “DNA” permeated Ichthus, and from the start it was outward facing, with its eyes and prayers fixed on both near-neighbours and far-distant unreached people groups.
‘He felt injustice keenly, and it seemed to me that the theological issues he debated most fiercely (though respectfully in the Oxbridge debating tradition), were those he perceived could do most damage to people and rob God.
‘Intellectually, he was in a league of his own, but he was an approachable, patient, gracious teacher. It is impossible to measure the influence Roger Forster had on my life and that of my family – but I was not unusual, countless others would say the same.’
