A special service of thanksgiving took place on Saturday at Leicester Cathedral to say farewell to the Bishop of Leicester Tim Stevens as he retires.
The service included a sermon by the Bishop as well as readings and presentations from different faith groups from across the city.
Following the service Bishop Tim said, “Its been a terrific 16 years, probably the most exciting of my life and today we are celebrating that and saying goodbye to lots of people that have become good friends and people that we will remember forever”
“I feel sad to be saying goodbye buts its been a wonderful service, its been a day we will never forget and we feel very proud and grateful to everybody who is here and so many others for making it so special for us”
Speaking about his greatest memories while serving as Bishop, he said, “I suppose the Queens visit for the Golden Jubilee and the reburial of Richard III and our big Diocese celebration for the 80th year of the Diocese have been some of them, but also just ordinary meetings with ordinary congregations and ordinary people all around the city and the county”
The Right Reverend Bishop Tim Stevens was made Bishop of Leicester in June 1999. During his 16 years in Leicester he took on a variety of roles both in the local community and at a national level including sitting on the membership board at De Montfort University, serving as elected member of the Archbishops’ Council and becoming a member of the House of Lords in 2003.
Before becoming Bishop of Leicester, he served as the Bishop of Dunwich, Archdeacon of West Ham, Team Rector of Canvey Island and Team Vicar in the East Ham Team Ministry.
