Lent 2018 Study Guide – Steps in Discipleship

A new home-grown resource for Lent is now available for people across the Diocese – this will be our Chell Parish 2018 Lent Study resource and hard copies will be available for those who attend the Lent Study Group.

‘Steps In Discipleship’ is a 41-page colour booklet suitable for use by individuals or groups in parishes, schools, chaplaincies, and fresh expressions. To download an electronic copy please follow the link below.

https://www.lichfield.anglican.org/documents/steps-discipleship-2018-lent-booklet/

The aim of each of the five sessions is to connect with an aspect of St Chad’s life and explore what relevance it has for Christian people in today’s world.

The first session looks at Chad’s cross and the challenges he faced when he became Bishop of the Mercians. The next three sessions focus on Chad’s vocation, discipleship and evangelistic fervour while the final session looks at Chad in community.

Each section includes biblical reflection, quotes from well-known authors, questions for discussion and suggested actions for the week ahead.

The material has been written by Archdeacon Paul Thomas and the Dean of Lichfield Adrian Dorber, with a preface by Bishop Michael.

Bishop Michael said: “It is a joy to commend this booklet for study, reflection and prayer in Lent and beyond. Chad of Lichfield was a man whose humility, energy and holiness inspire us today, and his story is threaded through the geography and history of this precious part of England. As we seek today to answer Christ’s call to follow Him in our own time, there is so much that we can learn from our first bishop’s lifelong response, made at a time when Anglo-Saxon Mercia was as diverse, conflicted and yet full of opportunity as modern Mercia is today. My hope and prayer is that the resources in these pages will be opened up by individuals and by groups as a way of renewing discipleship, multiplying vocations, and strengthening evangelism.”