He trained for the priesthood at Cranmer Hall in Durham and was ordained in Exeter Cathedral as a deacon in 1972 and a priest in 1973.
He was Joint Director of the South West Ministerial Training Course between 1981 and 1992 and was a member of the General Synod's House of Clergy between 1985 and 1994.
He was consecrated as bishop on 29 April 1994 at St Paul's Cathedral, by George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury.
[5] He relinquished both posts when he took up his role as Bishop of Lincoln in 2002, his appointment having been announced on 4 September 2001 and his election confirmed late December 2001/early January 2002.
"[8] Saxbee is married to Jacqueline ("Jackie"),[9] who was his secretary and with whom he has one grown-up daughter, Helen, who works for the Church Times.
[14] In a joint letter to the Church Times, Saxbee and Selby warned that "this is a time to hold fast to Anglicanism’s inherited culture of inclusion and respectful debate which is our way of dealing with difference rather than require assent to procedures and words that have already shown themselves to be divisive.