The Reverend Richard Kerr, the minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian Church in County Antrim, who served as a mission worker in Malawi for over a decade, will become the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) next Moderator, after he was elected Moderator-Designate this evening in the Church’s annual election for its senior office bearer.
Rev Richard Kerr, minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian Church, PCI's Moderator-Designate
The 60-year-old grandfather of four received the most votes in a second round of voting, having tied initially with Rev Ker Graham, minister of Clarkesbridge & First Newtownhamilton Presbyterian Church, Garmany’s Grove and McKelvey’s Grove Presbyterian Churches.
The Church’s 19 regional presbyteries had been meeting separately in various locations across Ireland to elect the Moderator-Designate, and were required to vote again on the two minsters who had tied. This is the first time that a second round of voting has taken place since 2014. Mr Kerr, who has been minister of Templepatrick for the past 20 years, will be the 26th Moderator to come from a County Antrim congregation and the 180th person to hold PCI’s highest office since the establishment of the Church in 1840.
The County Antrim minister was one of four nominees for the Church to consider this year, which traditionally elects the Moderator-Designate on the first Tuesday in February. He will be formally elected as Moderator by the Church’s General Assembly in June. Until then he will be known as the Moderator-Designate and continue to serve his congregation in Templepatrick.
Speaking about his election, Mr Kerr said,
“I feel deeply humbled, and I’m very conscious that I cannot do this by myself, or in my own strength. I pray that God’s Spirit will grant me the wisdom and guidance that I will need to reflect His mission to the Church, wider society and our global community. I also recognise that I serve in partnership with God’s people who’ve elected me, and their prayers and support I deeply value as I seek to serve God faithfully in the year ahead.
“My overriding desire in this year would be to encourage the church, reminding us of the confidence we have in Christ, encouraging us to serve the wider community, and world, out of that place of knowing we are deeply loved by Him.
“I’m also conscious of the significant central church failings in safeguarding that came to light last year, and my heart goes out to those who have been hurt by our failure. It is important to reiterate the apology made by the Moderator at December’s Special General Assembly, as we are sorry to all who we have failed, I want to do what I can to build on the contrition already expressed in December, seek to ensure that we learn from and address our failings, and work with all involved to rebuild trust that has been broken.”
Ministers who were considered by Presbyteries for PCI's highest office - Moderator of the General Assembly. Top left clockwise are Rev Richard Kerr, Rev Ker Graham, Rev Dr Jonathan Curry and Rev Mairisíne Stanfield.
Following the first round of voting, Rev Dr Jonathan Curry, minister of First Magherafelt Presbyterian Church, and Rev Mairisíne Stanfield, minister of City Church Bangor did not progress to the second round, having received the votes of four and three presbyteries respectively.
The voting in the second round was as follows:
Rev Richard Kerr 10 votes: The Presbyteries of Ards, South Belfast, East Belfast, North Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine & Limavady, Dublin & Munster Dromore, Monaghan Templepatrick
Rev KerGraham 9 votes: The Presbyteries of Armagh, Ballymena, Derry & Donegal, Down, Iveagh, Newry, Omagh, Route, Tyrone.
While he was born in Banbridge in County Down, he grew up near Ramelton in County Donegal with his parents and five siblings, where his father worked for the Reformed Presbyterian Church (RP). The family worshipped at the local RP church in Milford. Having become a Christian at the age of 12, he spent sometime during his teens in the Derry/Donegal Christian Fellowship.
When he left home aged 17 to go to Gurteen Agricultural College in County Tipperary, and subsequently on to an apprenticeship in farm management, he attended church services of a number of different denominations during this time. He joined Dundalk Presbyterian Church in County Louth, “It was very much my ‘home’ congregation and when I was licensed in 2004 as a trainee minister, it took place there”, Mr Kerr said.”
Long before he became a trainee minister, following the conclusion of his apprenticeship on farms in counties Monaghan, Louth and Galway, he worked for a number of years as a farm manager in Castlebellingham in County Louth, before going to Malawi as one of PCI’s mission workers.
Speaking of his time in Malawi, the Moderator-Designate said,
“I spent 11 years in the northern part of the country, firstly as a short-term volunteer and another 10 years, together with my wife Brenda, as missionaries. It was a wonderfully fulfilling time, as I was part of a team of expatriates and Malawians working to make a difference in rural communities who lived around the poverty line. While Brenda and I were serving in Malawi, our first two children were born there.
While in Malawi he studied remotely for an MSc in Agricultural Development from the University of London, which he was awarded in 1998. “It was a great way to study, with lots of opportunities to reflect on theory and practice”. He was also awarded a Masters in Divinity from PCI’s Union Theological College (2001-2004) when studying to be a minister.
On his journey towards ordained ministry, Mr Kerr said,
“I had always seen service as part of my calling. I had served in various capacities in church through the years, not least in Malawi where I was an elder with the Church of Central Africa, Synod of Livingstonia, and had many opportunities to teach and preach. It was not however, until a number of people I respected suggested I might consider ordained ministry, that I took the idea seriously.”
In 2005 he became minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian. The Church can trace its history to the 1620s and today Mr Kerr ministers to around 330 families in the County Antrim congregation totalling over 800 people.
Talking about the Church in general,
“We live in a society that is demanding, challenging, and increasingly godless, or at least not God centred. Church is one among many options vying for attention. As people deal with these things, I have always tried to support them and encourage them to see that there is a better, God-gifted way to live.
“Developing community and a strong supportive fellowship are key aspects of my ministry. I see church as a family where we all look out for each other. I want each one of us to engage with God and His will for us. Prayer is key to this, and is an acknowledgement that we need God to move and work in our lives, homes, community and world. I’m very grateful for the people I serve and the support they provide to me.”
The single biggest influence on his mninistry, he says, are his parents,
“For me, they model what it means to live out Christian faith day-by-day. Most notable is their devotion to the Lord and their love for people. Their Christianity is not simply a private faith, but one which is lived out.” Other significant influences were his time in Malawi and the different people he encountered in the churches he worshipped in across Ireland after he left home."
Mr Kerr also spoke of his involvement with migrants as a key influence. “My involvement was fuelled by encounters with people I met in Belfast as a student for the ministry. In contrast to the way I was so welcomed in Malawi, I found that many of those I met who had come to these shores were treated with suspicion and even hostility. I wanted to do something to show that God loved them.” That commitment to them continues, as he coordinates a chaplaincy service to Larne Immigration Detention Unit.
Thinking about his forthcoming year in office, Mr Kerr said,
“I am looking forward to meeting people, seeing and hearing what God is doing in people’s lives across our denomination, and encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone and share the gospel, wherever God has placed them.
“I have been enriched through the years as I’ve engaged with people in different contexts, and I’m confident that I will be blessed as I meet with people, and I hope that God will use me to be a blessing to them.”
He also accepts that there are challenges outside of those relating to the central safeguarding failures.
Speaking of these, the Moderator-Designate said,
“Perhaps the biggest challenge is that people see the church as somewhat irrelevant, no longer worth listening to, and having little to offer society in the 21st century. Yet the Church is here to make the Good News known, to reach out to a world that needs hope, and to know God does love them, especially younger people.”
When he is not in the pulpit, or visiting members of his congregation, Mr Kerr says that he enjoys sport. Participation is now, however, limited to a parkrun on a Saturday morning and an occasional game of tennis. And to relax? “I like to grow vegetables, and enjoy providing food I’ve grown for the table. In every way, I like to get my hands dirty,” he said.
Mr Kerr will be officially nominated to this year’s General Assembly when it gathers in Belfast in June, succeeding the current Moderator, Right Reverend Dr Richard Murray, who will continue in office until then.
First round of voting
In the first round of voting, each minister received the following votes:
Rev Richard Kerr6 votes: The Presbyteries of North Belfast, East Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine & Limavady, Monaghan, Templepatrick Rev Dr Jonathan Curry 4 votes: The Presbyteries of Dromore, Iveagh, Route, Tyrone Rev Ker Graham 6 votes: The Presbyteries of Armagh, Ballymena, Derry & Donegal, Down, Newry, Omagh Rev Mairisíne Stanfield3 votes: The Presbyteries of Ards, South Belfast, Dublin & Munster.
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