Revd Mark and Julie Harrison

Julie and I have been married for nearly 40 years and have four children and seven grandchildren.

We were both born and raised in Stockton-on-Tees and found faith as young people in the church we attended.

The Baptism journey that we both have experience of has taken us to ministry in many parts of the country with early pastorates in Middleton Cheney and Prenton. 

In 2016 we left Stockton for Durham University, where I studied at Cranmer Hall as preparation for Curacy at St Mary and St Cuthbert's Church in Chester-le-Street. After completing nearly four years in that post God presented to me a new call of becoming Vicar of Holy Trinity Murton, Holy Trinity South Hetton and St Andrews Dalton-le-Dale.

We have now reached our first year of being in post and have met so many wonderful people in the churches and in the parishes. But I do wonder what questions are there that some may need to have answered.

Your question might be, 'what are you here for?' My reply can only be that I have followed the leading of God and responded to his call to lead three churches into a season of church growth. 

You also might ask, 'why are you here?'  We are here because of our faith in the love of Jesus Christ. We have a long experience of seeing the Lord at work in similar ways as found in the Holy Bible, and so we are here to tell the story of Gods love for everyone. We are here to pray and witness to Gods presence which we believe can change the atmosphere in our parish.

We would also say that in every church there is space for new things to happen and for people to do things they have never done before. I believe I am here to help people find God and to find that one thing they can do to make the world a better place.

Here is another question. What are your hopes for the next years. We are hoping in God, and we already sense that He is leading people to be part of our three churches. We are hopeful that new families will have a desire to join with us and the same for children and young people. For that reason we have initiated family friendly Cafe services and Family services that take place monthly. But services aside we are hoping that we will make many new friends. 

Your final question might be, can we talk about faith?  Yes is the answer. If coming to church is too much right now then we are happy to receive an invite from you to meet in a public place for a coffee and a chat about faith in the Lord Jesus and the Christian life.

Why not give call us on 07975782891.