|
The Lichfield Diocese is the Church of England in the north West Midlands. It
traces its roots back to AD 656 when the Diocese of Mercia was formed. In AD
664, Saint Chad moved the seat of the diocese to Lichfield from Repton. The
city's name means "Field of the Dead" and is believed to stem from the
slaughter of 1,000 Christians in the city at the hands of the Roman emperor
Diocletian.
Lichfield has had a troubled past having been ravaged by the Vikings and laid
siege to during the English Civil War. Over time the seat of the diocese was
transferred to Chester, Coventry and then back to Lichfield in order to provide
protection.
In Chad’s time the diocese stretched from the Welsh border to the North Sea; and
from Northumberland to the Thames. And, despite having shrunk somewhat over the
years as bits and pieces were chopped off to form neighbouring dioceses,
Lichfield remains one of the largest in the Church of England, serving a
population of just under two-million people in 1,744 square miles. The Diocese
has 583 churches and 427 parishes in Staffordshire, the northern half of
Shropshire, Wolverhampton, Walsall, half of Sandwell and even three parishes
which straddle the Welsh border.
The diocese is headed up by the 98th Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan
Gledhill, and is served by 294 full time stipendiary (paid) clergy and an even
larger number of non-stipendiary (volunteer) clergy and lay ministers.
Today, it enjoys missionary partnerships with the Dioceses of
Kuching, Sabah
and West Malaysia
in South East Asia; the Diocese of
Qu’Appelle in Saskatchewan, Canada; the Diocese of
Matlosane in South Africa; and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg in north-east Germany.
A Vision for
Growth for Lichfield Diocese 2008 - 2010
Vision
That we should fulfil our calling from God to be,
together with all our partner churches, the good news of Christ’s love made
real for our part of the West Midlands and across the world.
That, with his grace, we can fulfil our calling from God to be his Church for
the world, creating and sustaining Christian communities in which
-
the poor hear good news
- the prisoners are released
- the stranger
finds a welcome
- the sick are healed
- sinners are forgiven
- enemies
are reconciled
- and love overcomes hate.
We build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets so that all can know
that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
Strategy
Building on the 1990’s document Growing the Kingdom, we reaffirm the “Four
Primary Purposes”:
-
Worship and Prayer
- Evangelism and Outreach
- Teaching and Nurture
- Social
Justice.
After a period of numerical decline, especially among children, we have agreed
a strategy of “Going for Growth.” This strategy is not a finished but a
working document. The Diocesan Synod has unanimously agreed its
successive drafts.
It is not about cold numbers but about health, life and relationships.
We believe that healthy churches produce new disciples and fresh initiatives.
We look for growth in disciples, welcome for children and young people and
transformation of communities.
Programme
Each parish, chaplaincy and network is called by God to be the church in its
place, serving its community in a way that
-
listens to it attentively
- respects its history
- and also looks
for fresh and creative ways of commending the eternal good news of salvation.
The diocese and its travelling ministers are called
-
to sustain the morale of the clergy and lay leaders, by providing practical
help and equipment,
- to support all the churches,
- to remind them
of the four primary purposes, and
- to encourage them to believe that
they can grow again in all the ways that God opens to them.
For their part the diocesan ministers resolve to cut down on ministries,
meetings and structures which are no longer necessary and to concentrate on
growing the kingdom among us in response to God’s love.
Prayer
Already there has been a large increase in giving over recent years, and the
decline in numbers has slowed almost to a standstill. Fresh challenges
have thrust themselves upon us, but we trust God will show us how to tackle
them together as we wait on him.
We pray that the turn-around will continue and that our churches will open
their doors to all those in an uncertain world who are searching for a Love
that will not let them down but will lead to life in eternal abundance.
|