Redefining Rest
Apparently, Summer = Rest and relaxation. Two things most of us need more of according to Helen Scheven in this month's Chad Blog.
News
Dementia-friendly Cathedral visit
Tour adaptations to accommodate people living with dementia
Happy birthday to Stoke-on-Trent!
After marking 100 years of a city and 900 years of a village church, Bishop Matthew asks whether anniversaries and commemorations also asks questions too about the present and the future.
Pop goes the atmosphere
Reader and diocesan environmental officer, Dr Jan Firth listens to ice, celebrates the Eco Church Awards received in the diocese in this month's Chad Blog
Are You a Participant or An Observer?
In this month's Chad Blog, Bishop Tim digs lessons from the farmyard and the late pope.
Stop to move forward
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.
On the way to paradise
Manchester to Lichfield... it's a start for Revd Canon Nick Smeeton, our newish Strategy Programme Director, as he contributes his first Chad Blog
Dust that is loved by God
Bishop Sarah is thinking beyond Syrup Tuesday (other pancake toppings are available) to Ash Wednesday in this month's Chad Blog.
A brewing sense of purpose
A pint-sized reflection brings joy to Revd Preb Jeanette Hartwell
Treachery and betrayal
Bishop Matthew's been watching telly and had some thoughts...
Weirdly Christian
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...
Babies don’t wait for us to be ready
Christmas is coming, ready or not, as is a Christmas Eve thought from our newly-arrived Bishop of Wolverhampton, Revd Dr TIm Wambunya.
Peace and Goodwill
The Rt Revd Sarah Bullock, Bishop of Shrewsbury's Christmas message 2024
Light shines in the darkness
Rt Revd Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford prays for Syria today after reading the news; and compares to news in Palestine two millennia ago.
Faith without walls
Bishop Tim on 'sporting' people, connecting with the media and identity without locations.
Love is enough
Young carers, a politician and a little fund-raising put a song in Bishop Sarah's heart at the start of Advent.
A Gospel of Songs
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.
Food for the ears
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.
Stories of life told only after death – and we are the poorer for it
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?
Know our neighbour as ourselves
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?
How awesome is this place!
Bishop Matthew waxes lyrical over a government department.
Foundations of faith
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?
Volunteer!
Bishop Michael ponders the nature of the Church of England and the thousands who make it work in this diocese.
Much more than just a cuppa
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.
Working together to create safer spaces
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.
Pioneering Parishes – Creatively Connecting Church and Community
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?
Hope and peace for the anxious generation
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.
Speak up and be counted
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.
Location, location, location.
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
The Lenten Journey
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?’
