Mark Rylands, the bishop of Shrewsbury, will leave the grand office of bishop at the tender age of 56 and return to parish ministry. The decision prompted widespread surprise and praise with one blogger even asking: 'Is Mark Rylands the humblest bishop in the Church of England?'
But any danger of the accolades going to Rylands' head was stamped out when his son text him the answer yesterday afternoon: 'Probably not.'
'He absolutely burst the bubble,' Rylands told Christian Today in an interview after announcing his resignation.
'For 16 years [as Canon Missioner in Exeter from 2002-09 and then bishop of Shewsbury] my job was to help church embody the gospel,' he said.
'Really a lot of my job here in Shrewsbury is to say "how can our church smell more like the Kingdom of God and make a difference in the community".
'Having done that I just felt God prompting me to say "well why don't you go back and do it. Go and walk the talk."'
As of July Rylands will become the priest-in-charge of Ashburton and Moorland Team in Exeter diocese, where he will also be an assistant bishop.
While he is not the first to step down from a role as bishop to return to humble parish ministry, it is particularly unusual for someone who is still relatively young in the Church of England.
Asked whether he will miss the status and authority the office of a bishop gave him he cited speaking to 700 troops from the Irish Regiment returning from Afghanistan. 'That is great privilege. You also get to speak to civic groups, the mayors, the high sheriffs and those people involved in local government and that is a great opportunity.'
He admitted to being 'daunted' by the return to everyday ministry and had 'a lot to learn'.
'You are still going to be praying, you are still going to be reading your Bible, you are still enabling others. It is just on a different scale,' he said.
'When I'm bishop of Shrewsbury I'm particularly working with churches to enable them, to resource them. But if I am a vicar, or team reactor, it is working with the people in the parish there to enable us to be the church.'
He added simply: 'It is about helping the church to look more like Jesus Christ.'
Unsurprisingly the things he won't miss include dealing with fallouts and discipline issues in parishes.
'That is really quite hard work because by the time it gets to your desk as a bishop the knot is really quite right.
'There are very thorny problems and reconciling groups which of course as vicar you are doing but on a different level. They are really quite a challenge.'
He is leaving being a bishop at a time when the Church of England is under intense scrutiny over how it responded to allegations of child sexual abuse but said he was leaving Lichfield in a much better state when it comes to safeguarding than it was when he arrived in 2009.
'The churches here are grounded in their communities so they are good places to be a safe haven victims can find support in. And of course people should tell the authorities if they have got something to say.
'We as a church nationally are trying to get our house in order. We recognise we've dropped the ball. Wicked people will try getting into institutions and we have not been vigilant enough in the past.
'However we are putting more resources into that nationally and as a diocese.'
He added: 'But you never can be fully sure and we have to be vigilant.'
But what about Rylands suggestion it was time for him to 'go and walk the talk' as a parish priest - was that a challenge to other bishops?
'I certainly didn't mean it like that,' he said.
'I just felt it is for me. Other bishops...have got other gifts - they will be writing a book and very good at meetings and encouraging and that is very important at that level and at a national level in the House of Lords.
'I'm just saying for me it seems like the right thing because of the gifts I have got which are much more about being with people, motivating, challenging.
'I think that is much more who I am. But it is not for every bishop.'
