Ivan Foster
| Ivan Foster | |
|---|---|
| Religion | Free Presbyterian |
| Church |
Bethel Free Presbyterian Church (1968 - 1978) Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church (1978 - date) |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Northern Irish |
| Born | 1943 County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland |
| Senior posting | |
| Period in office | 1967 - date |
Ivan Foster (born 1943) is a retired senior minister in the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and a former Democratic Unionist Party politician. He is a lifelong friend and associate of the Democratic Unionist politician and Free Presbyterian Church leader Ian Paisley. But in November 2006, he became the most prominent Free Presbyterian to openly challenge Ian Paisley's decision to enter into a power-sharing government with Sinn Féin and went on to denounce Ian Paisley from the pulpit of his church in January 2007.
Foster was born into an old County Fermanagh Protestant family which had a strong tradition in the Orange Order. Although he had a Pentecostalist uncle Foster's immediate family was not particularly religious and in his youth he had little interest in any sort of Protestantism. Foster found employment with Ulster Television as a trainee film editor and enjoyed a somewhat raucous private life before turning to religion. However once he heard Ian Paisley, whom Foster refers to as "the Big Man", speaking he immediately became a devoted follower of both his religious and political views. Foster promptly entered training for a ministerial life in the Free Presbyterian Church.
Foster was ordained a minister of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1968. His first pastoral charge was as minister of Lisbellaw (later called Bethel) Free Presbyterian Church in April 1968. Since 1978, he has served as minister of Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church, Old Junction Road, Kilskeery, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His weekly sermons are broadcast in parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on Christian and community radio stations, including Community Radio 102.9 FM (County Mayo), Radio Star Country, 981 AM (County Monaghan) and Radio North Country, 846 AM (County Donegal).
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