New Archdeacons for Walsall and Salop appointed from Oxford and Manchester
Published: 15th January 2025The Revd Canon Elizabeth Jackson is to be the next Archdeacon of Walsall and that the Revd Nick Watson is to be the next Archdeacon of Salop
News
Wednesbury welcomes Canon Ben
Published: 14th January 2025Cathedral appointment supports Wednesbury parishes.
Weirdly Christian
Published: 13th January 2025Some 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...
Safeguarding & Dementia
Published: 8th January 2025Neil and Peter from our Safeguarding team shared some great wisdom and best practice in conversation with Dementia-freindly Churches/Schools enabler, Sarah Thorpe.
Faith without walls
Published: 1st January 2025Bishop Tim on 'sporting' people, connecting with the media and identity without locations.
Babies don’t wait for us to be ready
Published: 24th December 2024Christmas is coming, ready or not, as is a Christmas Eve thought from our newly-arrived Bishop of Wolverhampton, Revd Dr TIm Wambunya.
Caring Community Carols
Published: 23rd December 2024St Mary’s Church in Uttoxeter was one of just fifteen locations around the country chosen to host a royal carol service earlier this month. The services, supported by The Royal Foundation, complement The Princess of Wales’s ‘Together at Christmas’ service at Westminster Abbey, celebrating love, empathy and community spirt.
Light shines in the darkness
Published: 23rd December 2024Rt Revd Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford prays for Syria today after reading the news; and compares to news in Palestine two millennia ago.
Peace and Goodwill
Published: 22nd December 2024The Rt Revd Sarah Bullock, Bishop of Shrewsbury's Christmas message 2024
Have a calm, bright and joyful Christmas
Published: 21st December 2024Christmas Message 2024 from the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield
Appointments and Departures December 2024
Published: 20th December 202419th December 2024
A Gospel of Songs
Published: 15th December 2024Christmas 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.
Racial Justice and Bishop Selwyn… what we can learn from history!
Published: 9th December 2024Bishop Michael recently hosted the first Selwyn Lecture since before the Covid 19 pandemic, based around three perspectives on racial justice. The final one, offered by the Bishop of Lichfield, drew on his recent brief sabbatical in New Zealand which afforded him the opportunity to study the ministry of the Rt Revd George Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, and the 90th Bishop of Lichfield, after whom these lectures are named.
£2million church repairs on knife edge
Published: 9th December 2024Uncertainty over a government grant scheme that has run for over twenty years and could end in weeks is threatening completion of more than £2m of repairs to a Hanley church.
Love is enough
Published: 1st December 2024Young carers, a politician and a little fund-raising put a song in Bishop Sarah's heart at the start of Advent.
A village remembers the day the dump went up
Published: 28th November 2024Staffordshire communities were at the heart of the largest explosion in the UK. And a link via a vicar's trainset.
Food for the ears
Published: 26th November 2024The 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.
Teacher’s mission in Stoke via China and Sri Lanka
Published: 25th November 2024Alex Wolvers, who currently works within the Education Team at Lichfield Diocese, will lead the work of ‘Encounter,’ the first of two key appointments planned in the seven-year programme to revitalise the Christian presence in Stoke on Trent funded by up to £5.9m by the Church of England.
Dementia-friendly physical environment for churches
Published: 25th November 2024In our buildings, what’s helpful or unhelpful for someone with dementia?
Safeguarding every Sunday
Published: 14th November 2024The resignation of Archbishop Justin this week is a stark reminder of just how important our safeguarding practice and policy is in all our churches. The Lessons Learnt Review into the horrific abuse by the late John Smyth is a reminder of the lifelong effects on victims and survivors, and we pray for them.
Resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Published: 12th November 2024The Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield, has received the news of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation this afternoon with sorrow, acknowledging that the Archbishop has acted honourably in resigning.
New cash can fuel Stoke churches' new chapter
Published: 11th November 2024Newly announced funding of up to £5.9 million (£5.1 million is conditional) from the Church of England will be spent by the Diocese of Lichfield on revitalising the Christian presence in Stoke on Trent, largely among younger communities across the city.
200 Places of Welcome offer friendship, chat and free refreshments
Published: 8th November 2024Over two-hundred Places of Welcome are now supported by the Diocese of Lichfield across the Black Country, Staffordshire, Stoke-On-Trent and northern Shropshire - that’s one in four of the Places of Welcome within the national network created by Church Urban Fund and Near Neighbours across England and Wales.
Independent review into Church’s handling of Smyth case published
Published: 8th November 2024To the best of our knowledge none of John Smyth’s victims has come forward from within this diocese, but anyone at all who is affected by this news is encouraged to use the support services offered (click for contacts and the report).
A new lease for life
Published: 6th November 2024The village of Ellastone in the Staffordshire Moorlands is celebrating this week as a partnership between the Diocese of Lichfield, local residents and businesses brings major benefits for the community with improvements to the village playing field.
Assisted Suicide
Published: 5th November 2024The bishops of the diocese have written to clergy and Readers about the Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill, now before Parliament, unequivocally expressing their concerns about the Bill and setting out an alternative:
We're greener than you might think!
Published: 5th November 2024A new report from A Rocha shows aha a third of churches in the diocese are taking steps towards various Eco Church awards.
Stories of life told only after death – and we are the poorer for it
Published: 30th October 2024Who 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?
Fifth Bishop of Wolverhampton welcomed in Walsall’s Church on the Hill
Published: 23rd October 2024The Rt Revd Dr Timothy Livingstone Wambunya may be only the fifth Bishop of Wolverhampton since the first in 1979, but the welcome given to him as he took up office and began his ministry was historic.
Welcoming, Connecting, Friendly
Published: 22nd October 2024Dementia awareness service at East Telford benefice – and for your church
