Diocese of Lichfield
| Diocese of Lichfield | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Canterbury |
| Archdeaconries | Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Salop, Walsall |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 429 |
| Churches | 582 |
| Information | |
| Cathedral | Lichfield Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield |
| Suffragans | Clive Gregory, Bishop of Wolverhampton Mark Rylands, Bishop of Shrewsbury Geoff Annas, Bishop of Stafford |
| Archdeacons | Chris Liley, Archdeacon of Lichfield Godfrey Stone, Archdeacon of Stoke Chris Sims, Archdeacon of Walsall Paul Thomas, Archdeacon of Salop |
| Website | |
| lichfield.anglican.org | |
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
[edit] History
The Diocese of Mercia was created by Bishop Diuma in around 656 and the see was settled in Lichfield in 669 by the then bishop, Ceadda (later Saint Chadd), who built a monastery there.[1] At the Council of Chelsea, Bishop Higbert was raised to the rank of archbishop and given authority over the dioceses of Worcester, Leicester, Lincoln, Hereford, Elmham and Dunwich. This was due to the persuasion of King Offa of Mercia, who wanted an archbishop to rival Canterbury. On Offa's death in 796, however, the Pope removed the archiepiscopal rank and restored the dioceses to the authority of Canterbury. In 803 the Council of Clovesho accepted this decision.
During the 9th century, the diocese was devastated by the Vikings. Lichfield itself was unwalled and had become rather poor, so Bishop Peter moved the see to the fortified and wealthier Chester in 1075. His successor, Robert de Limesey, transferred it to Coventry and the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield. At this stage it also covered Derbyshire and most of Warwickshire.
In 1539 the see was transferred back to Lichfield and the name was reversed to become the Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry. In 1837 Coventry was transferred to the Diocese of Worcester.
The diocese was one of the largest in medieval England and was divided into five archdeaconries roughly coinciding with the constituent counties or parts of counties: Chester (covering Cheshire and south Lancashire), Coventry, Derby, Salop and Stafford. In 1541 the diocese of Chester was created and parishes in south Lancashire, Cheshire, Denbighshire and Flintshire were transferred to the new diocese. In 1836 the archdeaconry of Coventry was transferred to the diocese of Worcester and in 1884 the archdeaconry of Derby was transferred to the new diocese of Southwell.[2] In 1877 part of the archdeaconry of Stafford became the archdeaconry of Stoke-on-Trent and in 1981 the remainder was renamed the archdeaconry of Lichfield. In 1997 another part of the archdeaconry (of Lichfield) was removed to form the new archdeaconry of Walsall, covering Trysull, Walsall, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. [3]
The present bishop of Lichfield, the 98th, is Jonathan Gledhill.[4] He is assisted by the area bishops of Shrewsbury (responsible for the Salop archdeaconry), Stafford (responsible for the Stoke archdeaconry), and Wolverhampton (responsible for the Lichfield and Walsall archdeaconries).
[edit] See also
- Bishop of Lichfield
- Lichfield Cathedral
- Dean of Lichfield
- Archdeacon of Salop
- Archdeacon of Stafford
- St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury
- Christ Church Shelton and Oxon
[edit] References
- ^
"Lichfield". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. - ^ From Parson to Professional: The Changing Ministry Of the Anglican Clergy In Staffordshire, 1830-1960. A thesis written by the Rev. Dr. John W. B. Tomlinson (2008 Birmingham University)
- ^ "Diocese of Lichfield". http://www.archives.staffordshire.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=DserveV.ini&dsqApp=Archive2&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo=='CA1'). Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ Who's Who - ecclesiastical structure, Diocese of Lichfield website
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