LAY members of the clergy were joined by hundreds of parishioners from across a diocese at a celebration of 150 years of the church reader movement.

More than 80 readers, volunteers trained to perform some clerical duties, attended the special sung eucharist service at Durham Cathedral.

It was staged to mark the 150-year landmark of readers being licensed to serve in the Church of England.

The occasion also featured the licensing of the newest reader in the Durham diocese, Jocelyn Bryan.

Until recently a Methodist local preacher, she will serve in the parishes of Shotton and Haswell, in east Durham.

She was blessed by the Bishop of Jarrow, the Right Reverend Mark Bryant, as warden of readers in the diocese.

He said the role remains “a very important” feature of the Anglican Church.

“Lay people often act as a wonderful bridge between the Church and the wider community.

“Many of them are still working or working in the community and people often look to them to tell them about the Church and about Christian faith.

“Who could have imagined 150 years ago in Durham Cathedral that in 2016 there would be so many readers in the Diocese of Durham.”

Ms Bryan described the occasion as: “A really important new phase in my new home in the Church of England.

“It's very exciting and I feel very privileged at this significant moment in my vocation.”

Her ‘day job’ sees her directing postgraduate studies at Cranmer Hall, which is part of St John’s College, at Durham University.

The college is responsible for the validation of all ordination training in the Church of England.

As a conclusion to Saturday’s (September 24) celebration, balloons matching the blue of readers’ sashes, were released outside the cathedral.