Drivers in 4x4s and a tractor with a plough cleared the steep road outside St Cuthbert’s Church, Benfieldside, near Shotley Bridge, County Durham, for the wedding of Rebecca McKenzie and Daniel Hodgson on Wednesday.

People held shovels above their heads as a guard of honour as they left the church.

The outpouring of community spirit followed a Facebook appeal by the Rev Martin Jackson for volunteers to help clear snow to the church.

The congregation also braved the temperatures during the service as the church’s heating system broke down.

Handout photo issued by Sarah Thew of Rebecca McKenzie and Daniel Hodgson, who were married on Wednesday and were helped by drivers in 4x4s and a tractor with a plough to clear steep roadw outside St Cuthbert’s Church, Benfieldside, in County Durham to make sure that the bride got to the church more or less on time

Rev Jackson said: “There was so much feeling for a young couple and that this was ‘the’ day of their lives.

“This has shown what people are like here.”

Photographer Sarah Thew said: “It was a lovely day, but obviously we were up against the elements.”

She has set up a Justgiving page hoping to raise £200 to cover the cost of heating the church and guests as its heating system broke down before the wedding.

Rev Jackson said it was 3C inside the church…

Dr John McAreavey was Bishop of Dromore. Diocesan secretary Fr Gerald Powell said he had resigned with “immediate effect”.

Fr Malachy Finnegan has been accused of sexual abuse by 12 people.

The bishop said: “Following media reports which have disturbed and upset many people in the diocese and further afield, I have decided to resign with immediate effect.

“I shall make further comment in due course.”

The former teacher at St Colman’s College in Newry from 1967 to 1976 is also allegedly linked to a catalogue of physical and emotional abuse against pupils. He died in 2002.

Amnesty International has called for a public inquiry into clerical sex abuse.

Amnesty’s Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: “To date, clerical abuse victims here have been let down, not just by the church, but also by the authorities.”

Solicitor Claire McKeegan, of KRW Law, who represents a number of Fr Finnegan’s alleged victims, said she had received calls from numerous further witnesses since a settlement by one of her clients was made public recently.

She added: “The message is clear: victims demand a public inquiry into clerical abuse in Northern Ireland without any further delay.

“The victims and survivors deserve to speak about the horrific abuse that took place and be heard in a public forum tasked with sufficient powers to get to the truth.

“This case has brought to the surface…

As his public appearances dwindled in recent years, the preacher began choosing songs, scripture and speakers for the event.

Plans for Friday’s service took shape in the years after his final crusade in 2005 as he huddled with confidants and loved ones in his North Carolina mountain home. Musicians who had shared Graham’s stage would sing. Some of the best preachers Mr Graham knew, his own children, would deliver personal messages.

And evoking the Canvas Cathedral revivals that helped launch his ministry seven decades ago, mourners would gather under a tent to pay their final respects. For his family, the idea became capturing the feeling of the crusades that made Graham “America’s Pastor” and the world’s best-known Protestant preacher of his era.

“His fingerprints are on this service for sure,” family spokesman Mark DeMoss said in a phone interview. “The Graham family has long considered that his funeral eventually would really be his last crusade.”

Mr Graham, who died last week aged 99, brought a message of salvation to millions during visits and live broadcasts to scores of countries. While the invitation-only crowd on the grounds of his Charlotte library is limited to 2,000 or so, internet livestreams are allowing many more to watch at noon.

The service features songs from gospel musicians who performed at…