Our Vision - Next Steps

our vision statement - "Come follow Christ in the footsteps of St Chad"

In this section

More than 100 churches and other groups across the Diocese recently had their say as part of an ongoing conversation about our Next Steps together.


Diocesan Chief Executive Julie Jones praised the “very encouraging” response to the survey which came in the wake of the Diocese’s new direction of travel to ‘Come follow Christ in the footsteps of St Chad.’ Some of the 108 responses came at a parish or deanery level – representing several churches – while others came from Messy Churches, prison chaplaincy and one of the Diocese’s overseas partnerships.

Some of the responses are in the coloured boxes below.

How people in our Diocese are seeking to follow Christ as disciples:

"Working with a group of younger parents on the fringe of church to develop faith and commitment," St Mary's, Sheriffhales.

"Two 'discipleship huddles' offering intensive discipleship to potential leaders, equipping them to be disciples who make disciples," St Matthews, Wolverhampton.

"We are going to be putting into place follow-up from doing the LICC 'Whole Life Worship' course for all of use on our frontlines," Christ Church, Bayston Hill.

“Jesus calls you and me, as he called Chad our first bishop, to walk with him as disciples, in trustful and joyful confidence; through that discipleship, to discover the particular vocation to which we are summoned; and as we walk along the way, to invite others to join us in our pilgrimage.”

How people in our Diocese are responding to God's call on their lives:

"We are considering a gifts audit as we continue to encourage each other to engage with the contexts God has placed us in and the gifts God has given us," All Saints, Wellington, with St Catherine's Eyton.

"Forget Me Not - responding to people with dementia and their carers," St Andrew's, Shifnal.

"We have made encouraging vocation a priority on the church's mission action plan for this year," St Bartholemew's, Penn.

Resources to help people consider Discipleship, Vocation and Evangelism in their local context are in the Documents section below.

How people in our Diocese are seeking to share the Good News of Christ with others:

"Pop Up Coffee sessions have been successful with support from members of the congregation which has enabled us to welcome people from the local community into the church building," St Stephen, Wolverhampton.

"Open The Book, Messy Church, Carols by Candlelight, invites to all local farmers at harvest with the opportunity to request prayer for their livelihoods," St Thomas, Mow Cop.

"Visiting all the houses with a welcome pack for new residents," St Andrew's, Shifnal.

"We pray regularly for the streets around our church. Our vision is to see St Paul's buzzing with life - and opportunities to naturally share our faith coming from that," St Paul's, Burslem.

"Building on our links with local schools and starting to build a team for this...Serving the community and demonstrating the love of God in practical ways such as litter picks, collecting school uniforms to pass to struggling families, toy library and visiting team," St Matthews, Wolverhampton.

Bishop Michael outlined his vision of the direction of travel for the Diocese of Lichfield at the 'Come Follow Christ' event in May 2017.

Building on the Five Themes he encouraged us to see the bigger picture of the life of the Church of England in this area - in this area through schools, chaplaincies and fresh expressions as well as parishes, and commissioned four new mission initiatives around the Diocese, one grounded in each of those forms of local presences.