BEING united in holy matrimony has taken on a whole new meaning for vicars Gill and Terry Dyer.

Not only are they both members of the clergy, but their new parishes in East Lancashire are next to each other!

The Rev Gill Dyer has been made priest-in-charge of St James Lower Darwen while her husband Terry was appointed as priest-in-charge of St James Over Darwen.

Now the couple are settling down in their Darwen home and looking forward to catching up with old friends.

"The reception we have had in Darwen has been fabulous, which is obviously very encouraging indeed," said Terry.

He and Gill are the first clergy couple appointed to adjoining parishes by Bishop the Rt Rev Alan Chesters.

They worked in the Brechin Diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church where they forged closer links between their churches and other denominations. Terry also chaired the Mission Board for the Diocese with just 14 churches compared with around 280 in Blackburn.

But the couple already have some contacts in the area, thanks to work with the Carlisle Diocese. There they developed links with Cursillo, a movement to encourage deeper Christian faith and service.

Terry added: "Blackburn and Carlisle work together so we know a l ot of people which is nice."

They met as students at Sheffield University when Terry was reading electrical engineering and Gill studied politics. They have two sons aged 28 and 25, both of whom work in the police in Cumbria and London.