Worship continued as usual at St Giles's Church, Copmanthorpe, yesterday, despite sadness among the congregation at the departure of their vicar following an affair with a parishioner.

During the service the Archdeacon of York, the Ven Richard Seed, said prayers for the Rev Eric Lomax, who quit on Friday, and also for his wife, Lesley, and the couple's two children. But apart from that, there was no mention of the affair which has stunned the community and given them fresh sorrow. Their previous vicar, the Rev Joe Stonehouse, died while on holiday in Malta in August 1999. After the service, the Archdeacon told the Evening Press: "I wanted the words of the service to speak for themselves. They had a visiting speaker who was involved with the church in Africa and I thought that was the best way to remind ourselves that we are not just a local congregation, but we belong to the worldwide church of Christ. I wanted comforting words to serve to just speak to the congregation so that anyone who is having a hard time and going through grief and anxiety could be comforted."

The Archdeacon said the Rural Dean of New Ainsty, the Rev Colin Cheeseman, would take over at the church for the time being, as is usual in these situations, and the Archdeacon and the Bishop of Selby, the Right Rev Humphrey Taylor, would be seeking an early meeting with the churchwardens and the parochial church council to see what lies ahead. He said: "The diocese will care for Mrs Lomax and the children and then we'll start to move forward to identify a new vicar. We hope that process will happen in a few months."

Updated: 11:26 Monday, April 30, 2001