Hundreds of people from across the region attended a farewell service for the Bishop of Liverpool. The celebration for the Rt Rev James Jones, at Liverpool Cathedral, was held ahead of his retirement on his 65th birthday in August. Parishioners, families, school children, clergy and dignitaries from across Merseyside and beyond, including Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, packed the cathedral to mark the Bishop’s retirement from the post he has held since 1998. Families of the Hillsborough victims also attended including chair of Hillsborough Family Support Group Margaret Aspinall and Jenni Hicks, mum of Sarah and Victoria Hicks. In his final sermon last night, the Bishop thanked the people of Liverpool. He said: “There’s so much to say that I feel tonight I have nothing to say. Yet the word in my heart is simply to say “Thank you”. “Thank you to God for calling me to Liverpool. Thank you to you for your ministry to me. “Thank you to my close colleagues in the Core Group with whom in 15 years of working together there has never been an angry word. “Thank you to the household at Bishop’s Lodge whose support and love has sustained me and my family throughout. “Thank you to my family and especially Sarah, without whom I would not and could not have been Bishop of Liverpool.” The Bishop added that he was honoured to have signed his name ‘James Liverpool’ for the last 15 years. He said: “Just as Jesus was known as ‘of Nazareth’, so I have been privileged to be known as ‘of Liverpool’ and the city and the Diocese, with its humour and honesty and wearing its heart on its sleeve.” The Diocese also received a specially commissioned portrait of the Bishop, which will now hang in Bishop’s Lodge alongside those of his predecessors. The portrait – of Bishop James standing on the Dulverton Bridge of the cathedral – was painted over a period of six months by Aberdeen artist Nicole Porter. She said: “It was an honour to paint Bishop James and the experience is one I will treasure forever. I hope the portrait will inspire people to reflect on all the great things he has done throughout his career.” The Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Rev Richard Blackburn, will have pastoral oversight of the Diocese of Liverpool until a permanent replacement is appointed to one of the most senior roles in the Church of England. The service closed with Bishop James formally handing over the pastoral staff to Bishop Richard. He said: “We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Bishop James for the way in which he has skilfully, sensitively led our Diocese over the past 15 years.” Bishop James’s profile increased hugely after he was appointed chairman of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and helped to produce the definitive report into the disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool FC fans. The report produced by the Panel last September finally revealed the scale of the cover- up following the disaster in which 96 Liverpool FC fans died. The Bishop will continue to have a role within the Hillsborough process as an advisor to Home Secretary Theresa May after his retirement. The next Bishop will not be announced until the spring of next year.