Footsteps of St Chad


St Chad came from Northumbria and was one of four brothers, all of whom became priests. He is known and remembered for his profound humility and simplicity of life.

He succeeded his brother St Cedd as Abbot of Lastingham in Yorkshire in 664 before becoming the first Bishop of Lichfield in 669. He died on 2 March 672.


Bishop Michael (the current Bishop of Lichfield) has invited us to focus afresh on what following Christ means in our lives and in the lives of our Christian communities and he has suggested three words to help with that. They are: discipleship; vocation; and evangelism.

Discipleship is the first challenge for us all: to walk more closely with Jesus, to enjoy learning more about him, to shape our lives on his in loving God and neighbour. This is the first task for us all.

Discipleship is the same for all, but vocation is different for each one of us. Vocation is the call of God into my life and yours, and into the life of our church. God calls us by name to be the people he wants us to be.

Evangelism: as we are renewed as Christ’s disciples, as we respond to God’s call into our lives, we will want to tell our story to others, and we will want to invite them to make God part of their story too.


Bishop Michael hopes that Chad’s example will inspire and encourage us to think about discipleship, vocation and evangelism and to see how it can transform our lives and the places where we live and work.


To find out more about St Chad click here.

For information on the Christian faith click here. 

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