Have a calm, bright and joyful Christmas
Published: 21st December 2024Christmas Message 2024 from the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield
News
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
Know our neighbour as ourselves
Published: 17th October 2024One 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?
From The Rt Revd Dr Tim Wambunya
Published: 12th October 2024Bishop Tim has sent this letter widely in the Wolverhampton Episcopal Area.
Appointments and Departures
Published: 9th October 20248th October 2024
How awesome is this place!
Published: 1st October 2024Bishop Matthew waxes lyrical over a government department.
Let’s rediscover mystery and hope and wonder and enchantment and yes, faith
Published: 27th September 2024The installation of the new Dean of Lichfield on Saturday 21st September was a sensory feast – in some surprising as well as expected ways.
A new resource for the Diocese of Lichfield
Published: 27th September 2024News of another new cathedral appointment comes even while the sounds of drum fanfares, young voices joining choral singing and messages of hope and love still echo from the installation of Lichfield Cathedral’s first female Dean, The Rt Revd Jan Mcfarlane.
Foundations of faith
Published: 20th September 2024In 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?
Diocesan Secretary Canon Julie Jones announces retirement date
Published: 13th September 2024Canon Julie Jones has announced that she will retire at the end of 2024.
New Assistant Bishop from next-door diocese
Published: 9th September 2024The Bishop of Lichfield will commission the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst as an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Lichfield on 20th September as she leaves her post as Suffragan Bishop of Aston in Birmingham Diocese after nine years.
