Today, the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney will hang up his cassock and mitre and heads for pastures greener.
Having just turned 65, The Right Reverend Dr Bob Gillies believes it is the perfect moment to bid a fond farewell to the 45 congregations across the diocese.
However, as he embarks on a new chapter, he admits that leaving his role as the figurehead of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the north will leave a big hole in his life.
Elected to the post in April 2007, Rt Rev Gillies was consecrated at Aberdeen’s St Andrew’s Cathedral on September 22 that year.
From the outset, he said his top priority for the diocese was growth in the depth and quality of faith.
Now he can look back with pride at the headways the church has made.
“We have seen growth in quite a number of our churches over the past nine years,” he said.
“The Westhill community is a great example – what they have done is absolutely superb.
“We have also seen growth at Inverurie, Rhynie, Insch, Stromness in Orkney and Lerwick in Shetland.
“It has been fantastic.”
The father-of-three said quality leadership was the main reason for these success stories.
He added: “The only alternative to growth is decline, it is not the status quo.
“If you have good quality leadership, you expect things to happen.”
As well as the opening of Westhill’s brand new church, Rt Rev Gillies has also overseen the opening of CAF4E at Bridge of Don, which has been touted as a “fresh expression” of the church.
He said: “It is a group of people who meet at tables, rather than sitting on pews.
“Many churches are laid out in a Victorian fashion with hard wooden pews for people to sit on.
“No-one, in these days, wants to go to a building that is not that warm and sit on a hard wooden bench for an hour.
“People expect a level of comfort and warmth and welcome.
“What they are doing in Bridge of Don is just that – welcoming and comfortable, not bleak and stark and cold.
“That is growth on the ground.”
Rt Rev Gillies is also proud of the church’s involvement in Aberdeen Street Pastors – a project in which church members work alongside police and emergency services to help late night weekend revellers in the city centre.
He said: “When Street Pastor started working the streets, crime levels fell. It is about the church being out and about in the community helping people.”
However, despite these advancements, Rt Rev Gillies believes now is the right time to go.
As the church enters a new era of change in terms of funding and training new clergy, he said: “If I stay I would need to be here for another five or 10 years so it is best that I go and let someone fresh and vigorous come in.
“It is one of those perfect moments in time.”
The process of selecting his successor will take between six and nine months, so it will be early next summer before a new bishop is appointed.
In the meantime, the Right Reverend Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, will temporarily take care of the diocese.
Rt Rev Gillies admits he will miss the job.
“I will particularly miss the congregations,” he said.
“It is the people up here and contacts I have made in the north-east and the Northern Isles that really will leave a big hole in my life.”
But it is unlikely he will take up the pipe and slippers lifestyle as he and wife Liz set up home in Ceres, near St Andrews.
He said: “I need to get fit and I want to start hillwalking again.
“I have also been awarded a research fellowship at Glasgow University on theology so I will be working on one medium-sized book and one small one.”
Asked if he would return to the north-east to visit, he said: “When you leave, you are expected to leave.
“You are not really supposed to come back and haunt your successor so I will probably follow that advice.
“It seems right.”
