Ref. 30068-19THE first Bishop of Swindon, Michael Doe, will today bid a fond farewell to the town he has served for the past 10 years.

Bishop Michael arrived in the town in September 1994, following his appointment to the post by the Bishop of Bristol Michael Hill and the then Prime Minister, John Major.

In May, he will begin his new job as general secretary of the United Society of the Propagation of the Gospel, based in London a role that will see him travelling across Africa to help spread the Christian message.

He said: "It has been a great privilege to be the first bishop of Swindon particularly at a time of much change for the town.

"I think the fact that a bishop has been sent to come here shows the importance of Swindon as a significant centre of religion in the South West.

"I have enjoyed my time here in Swindon. When I first moved here I was made aware of the town's railway history, but the town has clearly moved on and lost much of the negative feeling felt by those outside the town."

While in Swindon, the Hampshire-born cleric headed up the town's first attempt to win city status and ran the main millennium celebrations in 2000 when, on June 11, all Swindon churches brought a congregation of 4,000 people to the County Ground.

He said the town had been through difficult times in the past decade, most notably the Paddington and Southall rail accidents and the war in Iraq.

Speaking before the conflict started, Bishop Michael said: "An armed response to Iraq will exacerbate rather than mitigate this underlying crisis."

More recently, in the Evening Advertiser he spoke out about Mel Gibson's film, the Passion of the Christ, condemning it as a "bad film".

"It was violent to the viewer by the way it was presented," he added.

Yesterday, he told the Advertiser: "I am particularly pleased with the creation of Swindon Churches Together and the ecumenical council which has given the churches in the town a new focus.

"But now I need to move on and find a new challenge and there is still much work to be done for the second Bishop of Swindon."

He did admit however that he wouldn't miss the M4 motorway and the trips he had to make to Bristol as often as three or four times a week.

But as a keen football supporter, he said he hoped to see Swindon Town reach Division One and wished them the best of luck.

Anthony Osborne