Posted on: 16th July 2024

The Rt Revd Tony Robinson, Bishop of Wakefield said many goodbyes at a special service of gratitude for his 27 years of service in our diocese.

Wakefield Cathedral was packed with well-wishers, bishops and clergy, reflecting Bishop Tony’s great popularity as both a priest, and as a person throughout a total of 42 years of ministry.

Ordained in 1982 in the Diocese of London, he began ministry as assistant curate at St Paul’s Church in Tottenham and later moved to be Team Vicar in the Parish of The Resurrection, in Leicester. In 1989 he was made Team Rector and in 1992 the Rural Dean of Leicester North.

On December 6, 2002 he was consecrated as Bishop of Pontefract in York Minster by the then Archbishop of York, David Hope and after the creation of the Diocese of Leeds in 2014, he became its first Bishop of Wakefield in 2015.

In his sermon, Bishop Tony said, typically : “This final Eucharist is not really about me.

“It’s a celebration of the life and witness of the diocese. As the Wakefield episcopal tree is pruned and I lay down my responsibilities, it’s actually about you and God and your calling, to be faithful, to use your gifts and to serve others in so many ways.

“Faith really matters. Faith is life and pilgrimage and progress. My prayer is that, under God, you continue to flourish in all that you do.”

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