Bishop seeks to attract more young Christians to priesthood

The Bishop of Lichfield is encouraging young Christians mulling their future course in life to consider becoming a priest in the Church of England.

The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill today launched a recruitment drive across the Diocese of Lichfield to increase the number of 18 to 35-year-olds offering themselves for full-time service in the Church.

His message to young Christians is: “Don’t settle for anything less than God’s best.”

“One of the most satisfying careers of all is to spend one’s creative energies in building Christian community: in preaching and teaching the Christian faith, leading worship, making new disciples, transforming communities,” the bishop told reporters.

“It is a way to become rich beyond one’s wildest dreams; not financially but in every other way, as all the surveys show.”

A video report has been produced to coincide with the launch of the campaign, which will be broadcast in churches across the diocese on Sunday.

In it, the bishop challenges young people to consider what God might want to achieve in their lives.

“The moment you start a conversation with God anything can happen,” he says. “It is my experience that sometimes people are called to the opposite side of the world, a new career, something new in a voluntary kind of way and even for ordination.”

The four-minute video will be available to watch on the Diocese of Lichfield’s YouTube channel, pewtube.org.uk, from Sunday.

The diocese has launched a new vocations website, itmightbegod.org, to provide young people with more information about ordination.

In April, the diocese will hold a weekend vocations course for young people to explore whether a life of service is for them.