A section of the Annual Report is included here

Vicar’s Report

I would like to begin this report by thanking everyone who contributes in any way to the
life of St. James Church.

It is essential to remember that all the activities and initiatives mentioned below have
occurred on the solid foundation of worship, prayer, and service that makes up the
daily, weekly life of St. James Church. Many, many people contribute quietly and
significantly in all kinds of ways to the church. So often the work they do can be taken
for granted but if we would stop a moment we would appreciate them, encourage them
and support them in all that they do.

Mission Agencies and Charitable Giving

This year the church supported the work of Durham-Lesotho Link, Theological students
at Cranmer Hall and the Corrymeela Community through direct giving to these
agencies. Nearly a £1000 was raised for the Children’s Society through collecting
boxes and the Christingle Service. The proceeds of the Coffee Shop during Christian
Aid week went to Christian Aid. The collections from the Crib Service and the Carol
service went towards the work of Willowburn Hospice. There was also an all day coffee
morning for Willowburn Hospice in June.

For many years we have supported the work of the South American Mission Society
and have been linked with Tony and Chris Somervell in Paraguay. Tony and Chris
wished to prioritise their supporting churches and St. James was asked to be one of the
churches to discontinue their links. The money given to SAMS was reallocated to the
Durham-Lesotho Link.

The food donated at the Harvest Thanksgiving service was taken to the Cyrenians in
Newcastle and was again gratefully received.

The Traidcraft stall continues at the church and during Lent people have been
encouraged to buy Fair trade products. A coffee morning was held for Fair Trade
fortnight.

The Historical Churches Trust was supported by the opening of the church for the
Steeple Chase in September and by members of the church taking part in the
Northumbria Steeple Chase.


Reader

Jill Holmes has continued her work as Reader at St. James. She has also taken
services at Annfield Plain and Collierley during their interregnum. She has assisted
with the START course and preparation of children to receive communion. She has led
one of the Lent groups on David. She has also represented the Deanery on the
Diocesan Readers Council and represented Diocesan Readers at a National Reader
conference.

Admission of Children to Communion

St. James Church adopted a new policy towards the admission of children to
communion. Five children were prepared for admission to communion before
confirmation. These five children received communion for the first time on Sunday
October 22nd 2006.

One and All Parish Communions

One and All Parish Communions have begun on the fourth Sunday in a month when
there are five Sundays. These are communion services with the ethos of the One and
All services. One particular aim of the services is to give the young people and families
that attend the One and All Service the experience of a communion service.

Toddler Time

Maggie Birchall oversaw the establishment of Toddler Time for children during the
Parish Communion. Toddlers come through to the vestry (usually accompanied by a
parent) and have craft activities and play around a weekly theme based on a children’s
DVD such as Ballyamory or Pingu.

Shared Lunches

We have begun to have occasional shared lunches after the One and All services.
These are in the church hall strarting at 12.00noon. They have been well attended,
relaxed and an opportunity for people to meet and get to know other members of the
church they don’t know so well.

New Archdeacon

In October The Ven. Ian Jagger was welcomed as the new Archdeacon of Durham.
This means that he is our Archdeacon. There will be an opportunity to meet him at the
Lanchester Deanery Ascension Day Communion on Thursday May 17th at St. Thomas,
Collierley.



START

Rev’d Gary Birchall and Jill Holmes ran a START course in the Autumn. Four people
attended this course that gives an introduction to the Christian faith.

Lent 2007

For Lent 2007 the church looked at the life of King David through words and pictures.
Three groups ran each week and were led by Rev’d Gary Birchall, Jill Holmes and
Cranmer Student, Stephen Moorcroft.

Rededication of Cenotaph

The names of the people of the Burnopfield who died in the Second World War have
been added to the Burnopfield Cenotaph. According to tradition the cenotaph was
rededicated by Rev’d Gary Birchall on Sunday November 26th 2006. The British
Legion were in attendance.

St. John Ambulance

It was a pleasure for St. James to host a Thanksgiving service for the Burnopfield St.
John Ambulance. They were celebrating their 100th anniversary. They are the first unit
in Durham County to do so.

Area Dean

In September 2006 Rev’d Gary Birchall was appointed Area Dean of Lanchester
Deanery. There was an evening service on October 13th 2006 when the Bishop of
Durham presented the Area Dean’s Mandate. The Mandate was read out to the
congregation and it was quite clear that there was lot of extra responsibility involved in
the work of the Area Dean.

Service cover at Annfield Plain and Collierley

As Area Dean I have had a particular responsibility in overseeing the two parishes of
Annfield Plain and Collierley. These two parishes have been without a parish priest
since Geoff Lawes retired. This has involved mentoring someone on the Authorised
Pastoral Assistants Course, arranging service cover for worship including taking some
services myself and giving advise and support when required. It was good to welcome
members of the two churches to the Ash Wednesday Service at St. James.

Mentoring Denise Mackie

I have continued to be mentor to Denise Mackie in her training as an Authorised
Pastoral Assistant at St. Thomas, Colliery.

MU Chaplain

Rev’d Gary Birchall was licensed as Durham Diocesan Mothers’ Union Chaplain in
January 2007. This is a six year appointment. The role of the MU chaplain is primarily
to offer support to the Diocesan MU leaders and help in the organisation of the Festival
Service and the Indoor Prayer Members Service at the Cathedral.

MU Wedding Weekend

The Mothers’ Union prepared an excellent exhibtion in St. James church in celebration
of marriage. The Sunday worship was focused on the theme of marriage and couples
married by Rev’d Gary Birchall at St. James were invited to the service.

Heather Murray

Bishop John, Bishop of Jarrow, invited Rev’d Gary Birchall to be Training Incumbent for
Mrs. Heather Murray. Heather will be ordained as Deacon on Sunday July 1st at
Durham Cathedral She will continue in her work as a nurse at Durham University
Hospital and will serve her title as assistant curate at St. James Church.

Student Attachment

We said farewell to Lee Mullen and Alison Dorey and welcomed Stephen Moorcroft on
attachment from Cranmer Hall in October 2006.

Christian Supervision in Ministry

I attended an audited module of the MA in Theology and Ministry at Cranmer Hall. This
was in Supervision skills for Christian ministry. This was to help me in the various
supervisory roles I have at St. James and beyond. This has been backed up by a
course for Training Incumbents of NSM curates in preparation for the arrival of Heather
Murray as NSM curate.

Vocations Team

After 8 years I have stepped down from my role supporting the Diocesan Director of
Ordinands as a member of the Diocesan Vocations Team helping people in their
exploration of vocation to the priesthood in the Church of England. This was in order to
create some space to be Area Dean. It has been very encouraging to see so many
different people embark on the journey of exploration towards ordination, and to see
them serving in the Diocese as curates and now vicars.



Mothers’ Union

The Mothers’ Union has continued to serve local families through the work of the Little
Shells Toddler Group which has between 20 -28 children on any given Wednesday
afternoon. The Mothers’ Union has embarked on following the theme of Celebrating
Marriage in 2006.

Men’s Society

This group continues to provide an opportunity for the men in the church and their
friends to hear a speaker, have a drink, eat pies and peas and enjoy a quiz together.
The last meeting featured a talk on prayer by a man preparing for ministry as a Roman
Catholic priest at Ushaw College.

Parish Magazine

The Parish Magazine has maintained its high quality under the editorship of John and
Joyce Thompson. Alwyn Lucas arranges the distribution of the magazine with all those
who distribute the magazine. This year the Magazine has continued to feature articles
on books of the Bible and articles on the history of the church and parish.

Choir and Musical Development

The Choir continue to play an important role in the worship of the Church, singing on
Sundays, at weddings and rehearsing on Thursday evenings. The choir show a
remarkable ability to sing a great variety of music. Their support and enthusiasm for the
One and All service is a great support and encouragement to the children who attend
that service. The choir have also supported Deanery events such as the Deanery
Ascension Day service. Simon Birchall has also contributed to the music of the church
by playing his violin.

Banners, wallhangings, masks, flowers and cleaning

Visitors to St. James Church often comment on how attractive the inside of the church
building is. This is because it is well cleaned by several teams of people and the
flowers are expertly prepared. Daffodils, carefully presented, were given to all women
at church on Mothering Sunday. Banners of the three wisemen were made by Jennifer
Francis and put in the church for Epiphany. The Easter tomb was placed in the Font
Area for the first time. The Christmas stable was used for Christmas as usual and
reminded us very poignantly of Bob Sowerby who made it for my first Christmas at St.
James.


Burnopfield School

Rev’d Gary Birchall has continued his involvement with Burnopfield Primary School. He
has spent time with most classes through class assemblies, lessons and visits to the
church. The lessons and visits to the church are curriculum based and cover subjects
from baptism, miracles, Christmas, Advent, Ash Wednesday, pilgrimage, Holy Week
and Easter. The school choir also sang at the Church Carol Service and thanks go to
Miss Claire Pringle for organising things from the school end. Mrs. Scott and Mrs.
Leitch also read at the Carol Service. This year an assembly was prepared with all the
Junior School children. The assembly was a presentation of Holy Week and Easter.

Church Hall

A great deal of work has been done on the Church Hall in the last year. The work done
is detailed later in this Annual Report but I would like to thank everyone who worked
very hard and significantly improved the Church Hall plant.

Deanery Chapter and Synod

Deanery Synod is well attended by St. James Deanery representatives.
Irene Fearon is Deanery Treasurer.

Ecumenical

The service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was held at Burnopfield
Methodist Chapel January 2007. It was good to receive a gift of commuion wine made
in Bethlehem. This was given to St. James by Rev’d Enid Gordon, Methodist minister
at Burnopfield Chapel. Members of both churches also gathered for worship and
prayers at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. On Good Friday, for the fifth time,
we processed from St. James Church to the Chapel and sang When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross in the Gospel Fellowship car park with members of the Gospel
Fellowship. Jean Carr, from the Methodist Church, has continued to support the
monthly communion services at Leazes Hall and Pickering Lodge.

Lighting of Village Christmas Tree

The Burnopfield Partnership arranged for there to be a Christmas tree in the village for
Advent and Christmas. I was invited to prepare a service of blessing for the lighting of
the Christmas tree. This was very well attended and many people also came to the
church and community hall for refreshments afterwards. This year the school choir
joined St. James choir to lead the singing of carols.

Women’s World Day of Prayer

St. James hosted the Women’s World Day of Prayer in March 2007. Rev’d Enid
Gordon was the preacher.
Fr. Constantin

I was invited to be part of the Diocesan link with the Diocese of Alba Iulia. This is a
Romanian Orthodox diocese in Romania. The main ingredient of the link was to
receive three Orthodox priests into the diocese in July. We hosted Fr. Constantin Savu
from the parish of Valea Larga. Fr. Constantin had many opportunities to experience
the North East and the life of the church in this area and Burnopfield. He will be
especially remembered for his singing. In September I went to Romania with three
priests from this diocese for two weeks. This was an excellent experience and learning
opportunity. The good news is that Fr. Constantin will be visiting us again this July and
I will be returning to Romania in September.

Coffee Shop

The Coffee Shop in the Church Hall on Friday mornings continues to be a time to meet
socially and to enjoy cakes, pies, scones and more. There are special mornings set
aside to raise money for Christian Aid, Traidcraft and Willowburn Hospice.

Administration of the elements of Holy Communion, Home Communions and
Residential Homes

Harry Charlton, David Hodgson, June Morrison, Daryl Smith, Roy Beckwith, Audrey
Clark, Beryl Davies, Jennifer Francis, Jill Holmes, Alex Nelson, Kathy Nevin and Alan
Simpson are Administrators of the elements of Holy Communion in the Parish.
Members of this team have also taken communion to housebound members of the
church. This is an important extension of their ministry.

There have been monthly communion services at Leazes Hall and Pickering Lodge
Residential homes. A small team of people regularly attend and assist at these
services and are great encouragement to the residents and to me. We also remember
Lilian O’Neil who had a great ministry in the residential homes.

Parish Share

It is important to record that St. James Church paid its Parish Share in full. This money
is our contribution to enabling ministry in the Diocese of Durham. We have been
thanked and commended by the Diocese for this achievement

GEM

The PCC decided to invite the Diocesan Stewardship Adviser, John Roberts, to help us
plan a funding prorammed in 2007. Early preparations have begun in preparation for
the Autumn. GEM means Giving Enables Ministry.


Church Fair

These were Autumn fund raising events. The Church Fair was well supported and
almost a £1500 was raised in one morning.

Thanks to...

I would like to thank Roy Beckwith and Alan Simpson for all they do as Churchwardens
of St. James Church and also Irene Fearon and Joan Bell as PCC Treasurer and
Secretary respectively. I have also been well supported by Vida Elcoat who does most
of the church photocopying.

Not every ongoing activity of the Church can be mentioned in this report but it does not
mean that it is not appreciated or important. Thank you to all those who haven’t been
specifically mentioned. Well done. Finally I would like to thank Maggie, Simon and
Rosie for all their support.