The world is a busy place. And Our lives at church can be no different and it can be hard to find the time, or the energy to stop and think about anything, let alone our ‘calling’. We all have one. Even serving coffee is one. Helen Scheven from our Vocations team writes on slowing down and taking stock during Easter week in our latest Chad Blog.
Manchester to Lichfield... it's a start for Revd Canon Nick Smeeton, our newish Strategy Programme Director, as he contributes his first Chad Blog
Bishop Sarah is thinking beyond Syrup Tuesday (other pancake toppings are available) to Ash Wednesday in this month's Chad Blog.
A pint-sized reflection brings joy to Revd Preb Jeanette Hartwell
Bishop Matthew's been watching telly and had some thoughts...
Some elements of the Christian story are easily described as weird. We’ve not long heard the age-old story of Christmas and gone again in our hearts and minds to that hillside in Bethlehem. It’s so traditional that we maybe no longer hear the weirdness of it. But a horde of angels appearing to shepherds is not part of a communications strategy Arun Kataria has ever written...
Christmas is coming, ready or not, as is a Christmas Eve thought from our newly-arrived Bishop of Wolverhampton, Revd Dr TIm Wambunya.
The Rt Revd Sarah Bullock, Bishop of Shrewsbury's Christmas message 2024
Rt Revd Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford prays for Syria today after reading the news; and compares to news in Palestine two millennia ago.
Bishop Tim on 'sporting' people, connecting with the media and identity without locations.
Young carers, a politician and a little fund-raising put a song in Bishop Sarah's heart at the start of Advent.
Christmas and New Year are on the horizon – but for the church, a new year has just started. The next twelve months at church will be full of readings from Luke’s Gospel.
The Lichfield Diocesan Digest Sound Magazine passes its thirty-five year anniversary this autumn. Founded in 1989 under the leadership of Dean of Lichfield, John Lang, former Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC, it is an audio publication dedicated to serving the Lichfield Diocese.
Who will you remember this All Souls Day or Remembrance Sunday and how will you remember them? Will you recall the life of a Saint and their extraordinary life of faith lived out as an ordinary mortal on All Saints’ Day?
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is why we need a Black History Month, what does it mean for the church and our lives today?
Bishop Matthew waxes lyrical over a government department.
In the Diocese of Lichfield, we have 206 Church of England schools. Could you help us by becoming a local governor in a school or an academy?
Bishop Michael ponders the nature of the Church of England and the thousands who make it work in this diocese.
Places of Welcome are a network of hospitality, safe spaces in the local community where people can connect, belong and participate. Registration to the national network is free, but the coffee morning or drop-in should fulfil five criteria to join.
In June's Chad Blog, our senior lead for Safeguarding, Neil Spiring shares some stories of how training in safeguarding has had practical positive results.
Maybe you have a great idea for how your parish church could connect more with its local community, but you don’t know how to make this vision a reality?
In a fretful, lonely and competitive digital world, your church, with all its grace and messiness, joys and frustrations, can be a place of hope and peace for the anxious generation.
So often diocesan synods are perceived as boring, dry and bureaucratic. This should not be the case! Rather they should exist to serve the mission of the wider Church, to make strategic decisions, and to encourage the growth of mission and ministry in our diocese.
After the furore of Holy Week, the joy of Easter Day many will have been out and about, avoiding pranks on 1 April, bank holiday Monday. Bishop Sarah gets away and stays connected
Four weeks into Lent, Clare Whitney sees in the saints of old the roots of good Christian habits and principles for ministry resulting from them asking ‘What is it Lord, that you have called me to do?’
In the Chad Blog at the start of Lent, Jonathan Hill, Lichfield Diocese’s Director of Finance contemplates an alternative understanding of ‘giving up for Lent’
Bishop Matthew has indigestion as we approach the start of Lent
On the first Sunday of Advent, Isaiah’s words rip through the air and his prophecy will continue to thunder around us Sunday by Sunday. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus cries ‘Keep Awake!’ and we hear his passion for this world to flourish and for his followers to take their place on the side of hope.
Helen Scheven extols the virtue of our introductory course for thinking about vocation
Bishop Sarah, Matthew and Jonathan mull over themes of the season