People have until Friday 25 August to sign up for an historic walk of friendship from Birmingham to Lichfield inspired.
Midlands Church leaders will take part in the St Chad Pilgrimage on Saturday 23 September to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
The walk will begin at the Midlands hub of the Roman Catholic Church the Metropolitan Cathedral Church and Basilica of St Chad, Birmingham and end at Lichfield Cathedral, the mother-church of Mercia, and the seat of St Chad.
St Chad, who became the first Bishop of Lichfield in the seventh century, was noted for his passion for the gospel and for the humility with which he shared it. Though rooted in a Christian community in Lichfield, his was a travelling, pilgrim ministry. He took to the road to share the good news of Jesus with the Mercian people. The word Mercia means border people and Chad was a pioneer bishop crossing boundaries and borders and establishing new Christian communities across his vast diocese, which included all of the modern-day Midlands at the time.
The St Chad Pilgrimage celebrates the fact that, 500 years on from the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have resolved many of the doctrinal issues that once separated them and are now, more than ever before, walking, praying and working together in respect, friendship and co-operation. The pilgrimage is open to Christian people of all denominations old and new, as well as to people of goodwill who are in sympathy with its aims and ethos.
Church Leaders walking some or all of the 18 miles between the two Cathedrals will include Chad's successor, the 99th Bishop of Lichfield, the Right Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave, along with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham and the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham.
The full list is:
- The Most Revd Bernard Longley, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham
- Mgr Timothy Menezes, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Birmingham
- The Right Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave, Anglican Bishop of Lichfield
- The Right Revd David Urquhart, Anglican Bishop of Birmingham
- The Right Revd Anne Hollingshurst, Anglican Bishop of Aston
- Revd Rachel Parkinson, Chair of the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District of the Methodist Church
- Revd Ian Howarth, Chair of the Birmingham District of the Methodist Church
- Revd Adrian Argile, Regional Minister Team Leader for the Heart of England Baptist Association
- Revd Steve Faber, Moderator of the West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church
- Majors Peter and Julie Forrest, Divisional Leaders, The Salvation Army West Midlands Division
Pilgrims will be sent on their way with a blessing by Canon Father Gerry Breen, Dean of St Chads Cathedral, and will receive an official welcome upon arrival at Lichfield Cathedral.
To find out more, and to register before 25 August, click here.