A METHODIST minister who continued to offer spiritual help and guidance to friends after his retirement has died at the age of 75.

The Reverend John Mason spent five years as minister at Bondgate Methodist Church, in Darlington, before moving to Trinity Methodist Church, in Spennymoor, where he served for 12 years.

Tributes have been paid to Mr Mason by his colleagues in the Methodist ministry, who said he was held in high-regard by the Christian community, in particular in the village of Hurworth, near Darlington, where he retired to 12 years ago.

Born in Wednesbury, in Wolverhampton, in 1937, Mr Mason started his ministry as a local preacher, before he was ordained in Middlesbrough.

He moved to Darlington to take up his post at Bondgate Methodist Church in 1985 and spent five years at the church, where he met his wife Christina, known as Tina.

The pair married in 1989 and moved to Spennymoor in 1990, where they spent 12 years, during which time Mr Mason became Superintendent of the Spennymoor and Ferryhill Methodist circuit.

After his retirement due to ill health in 2000, the couple moved to Hurworth, where he continued to preach and tutored young preachers.

Mrs Mason said: “I feel I’ve lost my best friend but I have a lot of happy memories. John was a wonderful man and a good minister to all.

“His calmness surrounded everyone he met. He loved many people who loved him back.

“He will be remembered with affection for his faith in Christ which helped him during his illness these past weeks.”

Reverend Ruth Gee, chairman of the Darlington Methodist District, said: “John was held in very high regard by the Christian community in Hurworth.

“John believed that he was called to serve God and to serve others and he was faithful to that calling, caring deeply for people right to the end of his life.

“The Methodist people in the Darlington will miss John greatly and we offer our love and sympathy to his family.”

Mr Mason leaves his wife, Tina, two stepdaughters, Julie and Karen, and four grandchildren.

His funeral will be held tomorrow (Tuesday May 22), at 2.45pm, at Bondgate Methodist Church.