Working ecumenically

Despite the holy as well the 'notorious' Rectors of the past, it is not for nothing that Weardale has traditionally been a Methodist dale. Apart from the personal ministry here of John Wesley himself in the eighteenth century, generations of Anglican clergy grew rich on tithes exacted on the local lead miners. This practice has long since been abolished and recent clergy have not been so financially rich! Today ecumenical and community relationships are also far more cordial. Like the legend of St. Thomas taking wealth from a King to give to the poor, today's Church seeks to use its inherited resources for the wider good. As a major sign of growing Christian unity, the current Anglican priests and local Methodist Minister (the Revd.Les Hann) were licensed together to their ministries in Stanhope. This joint licensing began in the Methodist Chapel in Stanhope and then concluded, after a short pilgrimage, in the parish Church. It builds on many years of close co-operation by local clergy and lay people in Stanhope, including the Wear Valley Pilgrimage Plus in 1997.