Mervyn Stockwood was the most controversial diocesan bishop of his generation. An innovator and enabler, he encouraged far-reaching experiments in Southwark, and recruited the most able and energetic clergy ever to enliven a cathedral chapter. Through a barrage of criticism he supported John Robinson when he published Honest to God; he put into operation the Southwark Ordination Course, which became a blueprint for the Church of England; he chose as his suffragans men like David Sheppard and Hugh Montefiore, who went on to become household names as diocesan bishops. A socialist, he was appointed by a Tory prime minister, an Anglo-Catholic by upbringing, he was a friend and supporter of evangelical missioners like Billy Graham and Bryan Green.