CAPTION: During the service Bishop Robert removed his mitre and handed back the Diocesan Crozier
Tributes Paid to Bishop of Exeter at Farewell Service
Tributes have been paid to the Bishop of Exeter in a moving farewell service at Exeter Cathedral.
The Rt. Rev’d Robert Atwell is retiring at the end of September after nearly a decade leading the Church of England in Devon.
Devon’s Lord Lieutenant, David Fursdon, thanked Bishop Robert for his presence during the Covid pandemic and the deaths of the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen, as well as the Coronation of the King.
He said “You were key to all those occasions. Thank you for your leadership and thank you for being you. Farewell.”
Bishop Robert is thanked by Rev’d Mike Partridge, Chair of the House of Clergy
Annie Jefferies, Chair of the House of Laity, thanked Bishop Robert for inaugurating the annual St Boniface Awards, which champion the volunteer work of lay people in the Diocese.
She also thanked him for encouraging Anna Chaplaincy in the Diocese, and said that Exeter now had the highest number of Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends, with 48 trained in the last four years.
Rev’d Mike Partridge, who represents clergy in Devon, said “You have been our shepherd.” He particularly thanked the bishop for his regular online presence during the pandemic.
Speaking with emotion, the Bishop of Credition, the Rt. Rev’d Jackie Searle, said: “We thank you with all our hearts for being the Bishop of Exeter and for all the fruitfulness of the last nine years, and all that God has done through you. We will miss you.”
Exeter Cathedral was packed for the farewell service, which featured hymns and readings chosen by Bishop Robert.
Addressing the congregation during his final sermon as Bishop of Exeter, he said: “The time has come to lay down my crozier and pass the baton of leadership on to whomever the Lord calls to be the 72nd Bishop of Exeter.
“I do so with thanksgiving for all that you have taught me about being a Christian.”
The Bishop of Crediton said Bishop Robert would be missed
Later in the service came the moment when the bishop removed his mitre and knelt in prayer before the altar, before handing the Diocesan Crozier back to the Dean of Exeter Cathedral for safekeeping for the next bishop.
The Dean, the Very Rev’d Jonathan Greener, said “We thank you for keeping watch over the flock of which God appointed you shepherd and pray for you as you journey on.”
The bishop then made a solitary walk down the Cathedral nave, in keeping with tradition.
He said he had been told that his was: “One of the best jobs in the Church of England.”
“And so it has proved to be,” he added.
The Bishop of Crediton will be the Acting Bishop of Exeter from 1 October.
The appointment process to find the 72nd Bishop of Exeter is expected to take about a year.
