It was a joyful morning at St Mary’s Gainford when the 4 parishes of St Mary’s Gainford, St Andrew’s Winston, St Mary’s Staindrop and St John The Evangelist Ingleton, joined together to welcome and celebrate the licensing of our new assistant curate, The Reverend Moji Jaiyesimi, by The Archdeacon of Auckland, The Venerable Ric Simpson. The church was full with very good support from all the parishes. Representatives from the various parishes participated in the service – Graham Young from Winston led the prayers of intercession, Sarah Fells from Staindrop read the first reading, Wendy Broderick from Gainford assisted at Communion and Joyce Mead from Ingleton made and presented a beautiful handmade welcome card to Moji on behalf of all the parishes. Moji will be ministering alongside The Reverend Canon Eileen Harrop in all the parishes where Eileen serves as Priest in Charge.

The Archdeacon, Ric Simpson, spoke in the service about identity; how do we see ourselves and others in our current social media orientated generation where image seems to matter and selfies are frequently taken and shared on the various platforms? He encouraged the congregation to reflect upon how God wants us to find our identity and purpose in Him, to discover His love for ourselves, which then helps us focus away from self and onto the needs of others.

Three of our church members were also commissioned by the Archdeacon as they embark on a mix of ministry training supported by the Diocese of Durham. Claire Mead begins training at Cranmer Hall, Durham for ordination, Tom Deakin is training as an Authorised Lay Minister of the Word and Sarah Fells (our new Children, Youth and Families Missioner) is starting training as a Licensed Lay Minister; both through the Lindisfarne College of Theology. (Images below)

Tea, coffee and a wonderful spread of cakes were shared at the end of the service as everyone had a great time of fellowship together.