Rt Rev Andrew Watson has been remembered as a man of family and faith, at his funeral service in Guildford Cathedral on Monday.
The late Bishop of Guildford died aged 64, four weeks after receiving a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
The Dean of Guildford, Very Rev Bob Cooper, opened the service. He said those in the cathedral, and watching in the diocese’s churches, gathered “not only in grief, but in the faith that Andrew proclaimed and embodied: that life is stronger than death, and love is stronger than the grave".
“Woe betide us if we don’t celebrate that, because Andrew certainly wanted us to," he added.
Hymns included All Creatures of Our God and King, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and In Christ Alone. The service, which included a celebration of the Eucharist, was led by the Bishop of Dorking, Rt Revd Paul Davies. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev Sarah Mullally, gave the blessing at the end.
The Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, gave the sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:13-18, the salvation through Jesus Christ. He met Bishop Andrew in 1984 and spoke of the love for his family and dedication to the church.
He said: “Andrew longed passionately for the good news of what God has done for the world in and through Jesus Christ to be proclaimed fruitfully, in every school and congregation and chaplaincy on his patch”, then evoking verse 15, “so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.”
Bishop Pete remarked on the “fortitude and gratitude” to which Bishop Andrew faced his diagnosis, which he said was the "fruit of a long obedience, the daily discipline of following Jesus [...] the habit of hope in Jesus”.
“What a harvest that habit of hope has now reaped,” he added.
Bishop Andrew’s wife Beverly Watson led prayers of intercession, including thanks for Bishop Andrew’s “love of life” and “calm and assured faith in the risen Christ, to the very end of his life". She was joined by daughter Lydia Padfield.
Family tributes were shared by brother Nicholas Watson and son Joseph Watchwell.