A FORMER lawyer who has worked across three continents has been appointed curate at St Mary’s Church, in Gainford.
As well as Gainford, Revd Moji Jaiyesimi, will help vicar Revd Eileen Harrop serve parishioners in Ingleton, Staindrop and Winston.
The curate was born in Nigeria where she studied law and practised commercial law, before marrying her husband Yemi, now a retired Methodist minister, at St Mark’s, in Kensington, London, in 1984.
Since then, she has worked back-and-forth between the countries and also spent several years in Canada.
She said: “For a very long time I have always had a sense of God calling me into vocation.
“I come from a culture where it is mainly men who are at the forefront of ministry, so when we were in London my priest was instrumental in guiding me and helped me discern God’s call in my life.”
In 2019 she began studying theology at St Mellitus College, in London, and two years later she was ordained as a deacon at Chelmsford Cathedral, in Essex.
She moved to Gainford in August this year and was ordained at St Mary’s on September 17.
Revd Harrop said the new curate had had to “hit the ground running” to help cover the four church congregations and it was not long that she was doing services alone, including interment of ashes.
She completed her first local baptism at the end of October.
Revd Jaiyesimi has also taken to volunteering at Gainford CoE Primary School, each Friday.
She said: “I have always been involved with schools, from being a dinner lady to an education practitioner, so I have done everything, which is why I enjoy what I do at the school here.”
Of the local community she said: “The fact that people have accepted me and given me that room to be myself [is wonderful]. That acceptance has made me thrive and grow. I love the people.
“I went to visit one of the parishioners at her home – she is 94 – and she said she had kept me a photo of the church, she wanted me to have it, and to me that was really heart-warming. And the fact that she walked me up the road at that age, it was a really lovely visit.”
The curate has also fallen in love with the Teesdale countryside.
She said: “Each time I drive I am looking around at the scenery. When you stand outside the church at Winston the landscape is so beautiful and it reminds me of Canada. Being here is wonderful.”
