Who is St. Chad?

Saint Chad, Bishop of Lichfield in the seventh century, lived during a troubled period of controversy and change in the English Church.  One of four brothers educated at the monastery at Lindesfarne, Chad succeeded his brother St. Cedd, as Abbot of Lastingham.

The Celtic tradition in which Chad was raised and educated had developed independently of the Roman Church of the continent.  At the Synod of Whitby in 664, Chad had defended the liturgical and administrative practices of the Celtic Church; yet when the Synod ruled in favor of the Roman customs, Chad gracefully accepted and supported the Church's decision.

Subsequently, Chad was appointed Bishop of York by King Oswy during the long absence of the previous appointee, who had gone to the continent to receive consecration.  Shortly thereafter Theodore of Tarsus became Archbishop of Canterbury, the first to be acknowledged throughout England as head of the English Church.  In the course of his program to reorganize and unify the Church, Theodore denied the legitimacy of Chad's appointment and questioned his consecration.  Chad willingly and graciously resigned.  Greatly impressed with Chad's humility and devotion, Theodore reconsecrated him and sent him to be Bishop of Lichfield.

As Bishop, Chad was a dedicated and tireless pastor and missionary.  One innovation which he eventually adopted was the use of a horse.  The Celtic bishops, in accordance with the example of the apostles and the strict rule of poverty they embraced, had made all of their journeys on foot.  Archbishop Theodore realized that in order to administer so large a diocese effectively, Chad would need more efficient means of transportation.  According to the Venerable Bede, a historian of that time, "Theodore himself did lift him on horseback with his own hands."  In this way Chad was able to travel widely, visiting, preaching the Gospel, and administering the sacraments.  He journeyed as far as North Lincolnshire, where he is credited with founding the great monastery at Barrow.

Chad remained at Lichfield, living in great simplicity and sanctity, constantly studying, praying and caring for his people, until his death of the plague in 672.  It is said that he greeted with joy the choirs of angels who appeared to escort him to his Lord.

When St. Chad's Church in Albuquerque was founded in 1974, the Episcopal Church was in the midst of much change and turmoil.  The example of Chad of Lichfield as a reconciler in his generation of change, as well as a great missionary, led the founders of this congregation to choose him as an appropriate and worthy patron.

Because of his faithfulness, grace, and humility, Chad is honored as one of the "chosen vessels of God's grace, and the lights of the world in their several generations."  Because he was so firmly grounded in the essentials of the Christian faith and life, he was free to embrace the new ways, different as they were from the traditions of his training.

We, like Chad, are called to know and live the Christian faith, and to serve and worship the Lord.