If you live in the Midlands of England and have any interest in the history of the region, you will realise that the area is more or less that covered previously by the Anglosaxon kingdom of Mercia. You may also be aware that this was a pagan area for a long time, with one of the more prominent of its rulers, King Penda, resisting Christianity well after the surrounding kingdoms had been largely converted. He didn't persecute the Christians, however, and even let them operate to some extent in his area of influence, which stretched well beyond the borders of Mercia. Yet with a pagan king, any missionary work was very slow.
After Penda was killed in battle, in 655 AD, his son Paeda reigned for a year in the south of the kingdom under Northumbrian overlordship. Paeda had become a Christian a couple of years earlier and actively invited in missionary work, by all accounts with some success. After he died, his brother, Wulfhere, took back control of the whole kingdom and eventually requested a bishop of their own for Mercia. The semi-retired Chad was appointed in 669 AD and became the fifth Bishop to operate in the region, but the possibly the first to make it his home. He set up his base there by establishing a monastry at Lichfield, as well as another in the north of what is now Lincolnshire. This enabled him to set about preaching the Good News of Jesus in earnest.
Chad is generally credited with 'Christianizing' Mercia. This is perhaps a little unfair on those who had undertaken the initial pioneering work, but he does indeed seem to have been the first to take this on as his core ministry work and to see major success. This is in part down to his approach of walking. Given the option, he would always travel on foot, even for long journeys. This meant that he was amongst the people. He didn't keep himself aloof, working from his study in one of the monastries, but went to where the men, women and children were, telling them the message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and following that up with pastoral care.
Let's not imagine that he walked along the pavements and verges of major A roads from Lichfield to the huge conurbation in Birmingham and then perhaps up to the big city at Stoke-on-Trent and then across to Derby and Lincoln. Cities, such as they existed were small, most of the population worked the land from their homes in the numerous villages, many well-known place names today didn't exit then; there were large areas of forest and the fens were a vast undrained wetland. Non-essential travel was for the intrepid or determined. Chad was probably both, with a clear intention that this large kingdom would be evanglized and discipled as much as humanly possible in his lifetime. In fact he had his own core group of seven or eight disciples whom he trained to continue his work.
This region, which is currently my homeland, owes a great debt to Chad's humility, courage, holiness, energy, godliness and gifting as an evangelist. In the two and a half years that he was bishop here, the population changed from predominantly pagan to mainly Christian. Yes, Christianity is lived out in church, which is the gathering of Jesus' friends; it is lived out at home, where we can pray, study and worship alone and with family, without the distractions of the outside world; but it is also lived out in the streets of the towns, villages and hamlets around us, as well as on the airwaves and internet connections between us, which is where it grows as we preach the Good News, testify to what God has done in our lives, heal the sick and look after those in need. A quick search uncovers lots of links to internet articles with names containing 'the footsteps of Chad', and for good reason. Let us follow in his footsteps across this nation and take the message and power of the gospel to those we meet.
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