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.
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.
“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.'
