St. James Church

Welcome to St James Church ! We are a small, friendly church in Burnopfield, a village in County Durham.

We have a strong tradition of prayerful worship and community service, as well as playing a key role in the life of the village.

You are assured of a warm welcome, both at our regular services and also at our special services held to mark Christmas,  Easter and the other significant events in the church calendar. We also plan a number of community-based events throughout the year.

Our services

We currently hold one service a week, a spoken Eucharist each Sunday at 11.15 am. In addition we also now hold a Morning Prayer service each Thursday at 10.00am.

You can also access streaming services from Durham Cathedral via the Durham Cathedral Facebook page.

Safeguarding.

The Parochial Church Council of St James, Burnopfield & Dipton is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for everyone, especially for children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You can find out more about this in detail by visiting the safeguarding page on this site.

Please contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor Beth Miller  07968 034075  beth.miller@durham.anglican.org as a point of contact .

Welcome Father Keith Freeman to St. James Church.

  On July 5th we welcomed as the new Vicar of this parish the Father Keith Freeman along with his wife Dionne (Dee) and thir son Luke. Keith and Dee will live in the Vicarage in Burnopfield .We will be sharing  Rev. Keith with Harelaw church,   and will be part of the Derwentside East Group (Harelaw, Annfield Plain, Burnopfield and Dipton).

Fr Keith ,Dee, Luke and would like to thank everyone for such an incredible welcome into your newly formed benefice, your church and your lives. We are truly humbled by your generosity, thankful for being our family, and excited about the future. Our love and prayers go with you each and every day.

An end of Year message from Father Keith.

Dear friends,

May I take this opportunity to firstly thank you for your faithfulness, hard work, generosity and friendship over the past year. 2025 has seen a lot of changes at St James, and your grace and patience has enabled it to bear much fruit for the kingdom of God. And above all may I wish you, and all those you love, a blessed Christmas and peaceful New Year.

Your brother in Christ Fr Keith

Benefice magazine.

Pauline Meek, Lay Reader at St Thomas’, is in the process of trying to put together a simple benefice magazine where things of interest, amusement or comfort could be shared across our benefice. It doesn’t have to be churchy, just something to inspire, inform and keep in touch. But this very much depends on you, the congregation members, and if you are prepared to contribute. If you would like to do so, please send items to Pauline at: Pauline_gangof4@hotmail.com, or you can give a hard copy to Fr Keith and Pauline will type it up. Thank you.

Prayers for the Ukraine .

Fundraising .

Would you like to help in our fundraising ?

We are looking for volunteers who would like to join our fundraising committee ? You don’t have to be on the PCC, just someone who would be willing to come together with others to discuss and plan events that will raise much needed funds for our church and its mission. If you re interested please speak to Pam Martin.

Shoping Online ?

People shopping on line can register with ‘Easy Fundraising’ and they will send a donation to St. James on your behalf at no extra cost.
It really is easy ! Click on the link easy fundraising

Can you help.

St James church relies on the generous donation of time, talents and money by individuals to maintain its buildings and ministry.

If you would like to donate, you can do so using your Smartphone by scanning the QR code below:

Foodbank.