One of Tamworth's longest-serving and most-beloved religious leaders is leaving the city, after his promotion to the same high rank his father held.
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Reverend Rod Chiswell was elected to Bishop by the Armidale Diocese Anglican Synod on the weekend. He will take up the role in Armidale in February.
He said he'll miss his home of 13 years at the South Tamworth Anglican church.
"You come to love the people you minister to, as a clergyman. There's four congregations [at the church]. A lot of people in the 8 o'clock, the early congregation, are getting really elderly now. These are people you visit when they're not well. You go through the hard stuff of life [with them]," he said.
"I think that congregation is hard to leave. These are people who would have been hoping that eventually I would bury them because I know them so well, and I've journeyed with them through some recent tough times so that's hard."
His father, Peter Chiswell, served as the Bishop of Armidale from 1976 to 1999.
The younger Reverend Chiswell switched from a career as an engineer to the ministry 25 years ago. He has served in the Armidale Diocese ever since, as Vicar of Mungindi, Walcha and finally at St Peter's Anglican Church, South Tamworth.
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The Reverend, who describes himself as an "evangelical" Christian, said he was surprised by his election to the higher role.
"It is an interesting situation with dad having done that job for all those years in the past. There is some common ground between the role of Reverend and of the role of Bishop, and there are some differences," he said.
"All of us are on about introducing people to Jesus and helping them home to heaven, but the Bishop has oversight to the clergy in doing that."
The other thing he'll miss is the work the church does in Coledale, he said.
They've just purchased land for an undercover area for an outdoor gathering place for Coledale's Front Yard Church.
"You get over 90 people gathering each week on a Wednesday night there to actually hear the Bible taught and to sing songs about the Lord Jesus - mostly Aboriginal people.
"I'm going to really miss that work."
