The only church dedicated to James the DeaconDeacon An ordained minister who ranks immediately below a priest in the hierarchy of the Church, who was an Italian missionaryMissionary Someone sent out to share religious faith. sent to England by PopePope Head of the medieval church in the West. Used as a title preceding the name of the Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church Gregory the Great as a companion of St PaulinusPaulinus, St Bishop of York 627-644. Sent to England with Saint Augustine. Accompanied Queen Ethelburga north on her marriage to King Edwin of Northumbria. Converted King Edwin and the Northumbrians in 627 and founded the first York Minster.