Bishop's Campaign heats up for 'Back to Church Sunday'

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, is continuing his passionate evangelism drive via a new advertising campaign to invite people 'Back to Church' in what he believes is the first time a Church of England bishop has appeared in radio adverts for evangelism.

The campaign features both radio and road-side poster advertising and is timed to coincide with Back to Church Sunday on 30 September.

The radio advert features Brighton singer Louise Fellingham singing In Christ Alone - voted one of the top ten hymns in the Lichfield Diocese by visitors its website throughout August.

Bishop Gledhill says: "This Sunday is Back to Church Sunday when thousands of people are expected to come back to church. Why not Join them? Many people say they would come back to church if somebody invited them. Well, I'm the Bishop of Lichfield and I'm inviting you."

The radio adverts will be broadcast on Beacon Radio's Black Country and Shropshire services, Classic Gold, Signal 1 and Signal 2 over the next week.

Supporting the radio adverts is a road-side poster campaign. The roadside posters feature six colourful balloons and the words: "Three million adults say they would come back to church if asked. We're asking! See you Sunday. Bring a friend."

The roadside posters will be displayed in Cannock, Hanley, Telford and Wolverhampton.

Back to Church Sunday began as an initiative in the Diocese of Manchester with 160 churches in 2004. This year more than 1,700 churches across 19 dioceses are involved - with the largest contingent coming from the Diocese of Lichfield where more then 360 churches are taking part.

The Diocese of Lichfield launched its 'Going for Growth' strategy three years ago to ensure everyone in the diocese - parishes, deaneries, support staff administrators and bishops - focuses their attention on mission and evangelism.

The diocese is now reporting that the strategy is bearing fruit with increasing attendances across the diocesan area.

The Diocese of Lichfield serves around 1,981,000 people across 1,744 square-miles of Staffordshire, the northern half of Shropshire and most of the Black Country. It also includes three parishes across the Welsh border.

Around 40,000 people attend Church of England services in the Diocese of Lichfield each week. Results elsewhere from previous Back to Church Sundays suggest that around 3,600 people could go 'Back to Church' in the Lichfield Diocese on 30 September.