outdoor baptisms and meeting people in town pubs will be part of a five-day visit to the Tavistock area by the Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Rev Michael Langrish.

The top churchman in Devon, who also sits in the House of Lords, is making the visit as part of celebrations marking the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Exeter.

It will be the first time a Bishop of Exeter has visited for that length of time for 'absolutely centuries', according to the Rev Michael Brierley, of Tavistock.

Mr Brierley said an 'innovative and exciting' programme had been put together. 'It is a massive event, not only for all local churches, but for the whole town,' he said.

The Rev Geoff Lloyd, Rural Dean of Tavistock and Vicar of Horrabridge, said it was in 909 that Eadwulf was consecrated at Crediton as the first Bishop of Exeter and the Diocese of Exeter was founded at the same time.

As part of a series of events taking place across the county, the current bishop, together with the Suffragan Bishops of Plymouth and Crediton, 'has been spending four days in deaneries, encouraging church leaders, calling out those who are looking to serve in their community in a new role, telling the Christian story afresh in a variety of venues and baptising and confirming new disciples of Jesus,' Mr Lloyd said.

The visit to Tavistock will start on Wednesday, June 17 with a welcome service of celebration at Tavistock Methodist Church at 7.30pm, to which all residents and churches of the area are invited.

This will be followed by a breakfast for the farming community in Lifton at 8.30am on Thursday and a reception for the business and working community in Tavistock Town Hall at 7pm the same day.

Further events will include an all-day visit to Tavistock College on the Friday, with an 'Evening with the Bishop' at 7.30pm with the emphasis on Christian calling and vocations.

On the Saturday a men's breakfast at the Moorland Links Hotel at 8.30am will have the bishop as speaker and he will visit Tavistock public houses from 7pm to talk with people about his and their faith.

An open air service of baptisms and confirmations on Sunday at 10am in St Eustachius Churchyard, with the Stannary Brass Band, will conclude the visit.

There will be no other church services in the deanery that day as all Church of England congregations have been invited to the service with the bishop.

Mr Lloyd said the bishop was 'passionate about the Middle East, as far as international affairs are concerned, and about farming and rural issues as far as domestic affairs are concerned'.

'He is a proven orator and preacher and this opportunity to meet him and listen to his words during his visit is not to be missed,' he said.

The events around the county will culminate on June 27 with open air services and entertainment outside Exeter Cathedral and seminars, including one by the Archbishop of Canterbury.