Published on: 27/01/2026
This month’s blog posts are based around the theme of ‘vision’. Our vision for discipleship in the Diocese of Sheffield is that every follower of Jesus will ‘shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father’.
This idea of being Lights for Christ in the world today isn’t one that we’ve come up with – it’s an image of discipleship taken directly from the words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. In chapter 5, Jesus says to his followers:
‘14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’
Our baptism and confirmation liturgies also draw upon this theme. When someone is baptised and/or confirmed in the Church of England, the priest or bishop says to them:
‘You have received the light of Christ;
Walk in this light all the days of your life.’
Then, the congregation encourages them to ‘shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father’. This is our ‘baptismal vocation’ – a calling that every baptised person has in common. It doesn’t matter when someone was baptised, how long they’ve been a Christian or what sort of church they attend – they are called to be a light for Christ in the world today.
I remember Bishop Pete once saying that our aim is for every baptised person in the Diocese to enter into the ‘full dignity’ of their baptism. Our Lights for Christ resources have been created to support people to do just that – to think about how they can live as intentional Christian disciples in their different contexts and communities.
If you’re a church leader, I encourage you to think about how you are supporting the people in your congregations to live out their baptismal calling. You might like to use some of our Lights for Christ resources to introduce this idea – we have suggestions for children, youth and families, seasonal resources and materials to help people develop a Personal Rule of Life.
We also have a new small group resource called ‘Being Lights for Christ’ which is a simple introduction to the idea of Christian discipleship through the lens of our diocesan vision. These sessions would work well as a Lent course but can be used at any time of year. You can download a pdf of this resource at www.sheff.dio.org/lent .
If you’d like to have a chat about how you can encourage people in your church community to see themselves as lights for Christ, get in touch with me at hannah.sandoval@sheffield.anglican.org.
This week’s blog post has been written by Hannah Sandoval, Lights for Christ Enabler