AFTER seven years of service as bishop of the Ballarat Anglican diocese, Michael Hough will conduct his final Ballarat service this afternoon.Yesterday, the 57-year-old recalled some of his highlights during his ministry."I think Anglicans are prouder for being Anglican now than they were seven years ago," Bishop Hough said."The old reputation of the Anglican church in Ballarat was as an old- fashioned, conservative, traditional and male-dominated church and I think while we're still traditionalist we're very modern as well and that's what I take great pride in," he said.The bishop experienced a number of challenges this year with calls for him to resign after concerns his leadership had failed.He said his departure from the diocese was to save the church from its ongoing battles.He said he was not satisfied with the way in which the church had handled the situation."We don't need to fight those things," Bishop Hough said."The church should be focused on the poor and the marginalised, not on internal fighting."At the last general synod the church said it had done it all wrong."The Bishop now hopes to stay as equally active in the Anglican community, writing a series of books based around his faith.He said he was currently feeling a mixture of emotions."There's still a lot of work to do but I think there's a foundation there," Bishop Hough said."I'm happy with that side of it but always at the end of one thing you feel sad."There are lots of great people in this diocese."Today's service will be at 4pm at the Cathedral Church of Christ the King in Lydiard Street.Bishop Hough will conduct his final service for the diocese in Hamilton at 11am tomorrow.