The Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn is taking the Goulburn part of his title literally by preparing to reopen the long-dormant bishop's office in Australia's first inland city.
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Bishop Stuart Robinson plans to spend half of each year working and living in Goulburn, which is home to St Saviour's Cathedral.
He will be the first Anglican bishop to be based in Goulburn since Ernest Burgmann moved to Canberra in 1962.
Bishop Robinson said while Canberra was celebrating its centenary this year, Goulburn is marking its 150th anniversary, which was a good reason for him to start spending more time there.
''Given the fact that the city is a city by virtue of the cathedral being there because of the promulgation that took place on March 14 150 years ago, it is in appropriate thing for me to be there during that 150th year, the sesquicentenary year,'' he said.
''The people in Canberra need not feel offended as I'll still be domiciled here and I'll still have an office in London Circuit and I'll still have two assistant bishops based in Canberra as well as myself.''
The bishop's office in Goulburn is being renovated and should be ready by about Easter. Bishop Robinson is also in the process of buying a house in Goulburn.
The move is part of a broader push to focus on regional parts of the Anglican diocese.
''It underscores the fact that we are both a rural and what I describe as a quasi-metropolitan diocese. Being strategically based in our See city is important because I've also got assistant bishops located on the coast and on the Snowy … and also in Wagga and Canberra,'' Bishop Robinson said.
Most Australian Anglican bishops were closely involved in the lives of their cathedral parishes, he said.
''For them is a perfectly normal thing where the bishop would live close to or next door to the cathedral and be involved in the life of the cathedral. For the last 60 years, we've not been afforded that privilege.''