The Church of England is encouraging Anglicans to use Lent as an opportunity to go deeper in their faith.

Two new books have been published this week for the Church's national discipleship, Pilgrim, and bishops say Lent is an "excellent time" to make use of them.

The books cover teachings in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes of Jesus, and a discussion will be encouraged online using the Twitter hashtag #pilgrimprogress throughout Lent.

The Christian discipleship course is intended for church congregations and groups of all traditions, and is the first national course commissioned by the House of Bishops.  It is endorsed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

The Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Reverend Steven Croft said: "Pilgrim aims to be a rich resource for teaching and learning the Christian faith to enquirers and new Christians in every kind of parish.

"Christians began keeping Lent as a period of preparation for baptism for enquirers. Lent is an excellent time to offer a Pilgrim course to anyone wanting to explore the Christian faith for the first time."

Pilgrim has been created on the premise of "participation, not persuasion", and is published by Church House Publishing.

It is suitable for newcomers to the faith as it assumes little or no knowledge of Christianity. However, it can be used by Christians at any stage of their faith journey and from every tradition in the Church of England.

The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell added: "The Pilgrim course follows a long tradition of nurturing faith, especially during the season of Lent which was set aside as a time of preparation for Baptism.

"We're delighted that the new books allow people to continue their pilgrimage to faith in Jesus and enable parishes to provide courses of discovery and discipleship."