The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland serves for one year and is the most senior office-bearer of the Church, and its chief public representative.
Right Reverend Dr Richard Kerr is the 181st person to hold PCI’s highest office since the all-Ireland denomination was established in July 1840.
Dr Kerr has been the minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian Church in County Antrim for over 20 years. Born in 1965, he was ordained as minister of Templepatrick in 2005, which has been his only congregation. He was brought up in Raphoe, County Donegal, leaving home aged 17 to continue his education at an agricultural college in County Tipperary. Aged 21 he become a dairy farm manager near Dundalk in County Louth.
Married to Brenda, a school teacher, they served together in Malawi for 11 years. Their three children were born during their mission service, and two of them were born in the country. They have four grandchildren.
As well as serving his congregation in Templepatrick, Dr Kerr was convener of PCI’s Global Concerns Committee from 2015-2020 and was convener of the Global Development Committee from 2021-2026. As an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, he is a member of the Presbytery of Templepatrick.
He was nominated as Moderator-Designate on 3 February 2026 when PCI’s 19 regional presbyteries met separately across Ireland to prayerfully consider who should be proposed as Moderator to the General Assembly that June. Dr Kerr was formerly nominated and elected by the Assembly on 12 June, and will serve in PCI's highest office, God willing, until the 2027 General Assembly.
