The Bishop of Wolverhampton is set to retire at the end of the year following 13 years in the post. The Rt Rev Michael Bourke said he was hoping to take a year off before finding another “useful” role for God.

|TOP|Bishop Bourke said he wanted to become a better husband and father as well as develop his hobbies during his retirement.

Leading the tributes to him, the Bishop of Lichfield has testified that he was one of the most “gifted” bishops.

In his 13 years in the post he has had to deal with a number of serious incidents including a machete attack on pupils at a Church of England infants' school in Wolverhampton, the desecration of a grave in Yoxall and the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and London. Yet none of these incidents has shaken his belief in God.

He says: “I don't think there is any way of preparing oneself for major incidents like the machete attack. The best preparation is daily prayer which helps us to be open to whatever comes along; but there's always a sense of interruption and of being caught unawares. The most important thing is to be able to drop everything else. I remember that when the attack happened at St Luke's, I went straight round to the school, and was in touch with the parish.

|AD|“Curiously, it's often when these unplanned things blow all our priorities out of the water that we can feel the reality of God most strongly. If people ask: 'where is God when things like this happen?' I can only answer: 'He's there in the suffering, on the receiving end of it, as He was in Christ's cross. Go there and you will find Him - and He will find you.'

“The nature of creation is that life is extremely vulnerable and fragile. For much of the time we are shielded from this, but we cannot forever be protected from the elemental forces which make life possible in the first place - and this includes the historical and psychological forces of which human beings are often the victims.

“Exposure to these realities can make God seem absent, but they can also make us more aware of God than we are in the settled, superficial routines of life. At these times we stand along side people and cry out: 'Lord, have mercy.'”

Bishop Bourke, who has been the Bishop of Wolverhampton since 1993, has been responsible for 259 ministers and 197 churches across the Black Country and south Staffordshire.

In addition, he is also the co-chair of the Meissen Commission, which promotes relationships between the Church of England and the German Protestant churches.

He said, “In retirement I hope to be a better husband, father and grandfather, to catch up on friendships, to take the dog for long walks, and to enjoy my hobbies of astronomy and model railways.

"Wolverhampton is a big demanding area and I look forward to having a year off. After that, the good Lord permitting, I would like to do something useful, but I don't yet know what.”

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, said: “Mike is one of the most gifted bishops on the bench and has devoted himself to the area and to the Diocese in a way which has won hearts and borne much fruit. We will all be very sorry to see him go.”