Presbyterian Church in Ireland selects Rev Richard Kerr as its next Moderator

Rev Richard Kerr, who grew up near Ramelton, will become the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) next Moderator, after he was elected Moderator-Designate in the Church’s annual election for its senior office bearer.

While he lived with his parents and five siblings, his father worked for the Reformed Presbyterian Church (RP), worshipping at the local RP church in Milford. Having become a Christian at the age of 12, he spent some time during his teens in the Derry/Donegal Christian Fellowship.

Born in 1965, Richard was convener of PCI’s Global Concerns Committee from 2015-2020 and has been convener of the Global Development Committee since 2021.

The 60-year-old grandfather of four is the minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian Church in County Antrim, who served as a mission worker in Malawi for over a decade. Mr Kerr received the most votes in a second round of voting, having tied initially with Rev Ker Graham, whose congregations of Clarkesbridge & First Newtownhamilton Presbyterian Church, Garmany’s Grove and McKelvey’s Grove Presbyterian Churches, cross the Armagh / Monaghan border minister of

The Church’s 19 regional presbyteries, including the Presbytery of Derry and Donegal, had been meeting separately in various locations across Ireland to elect the Moderator-Designate, and were required to vote again on the two ministers 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.

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.

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“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.”

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.

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, East Belfast, South Belfast, North Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine & Limavady, Dublin & Munster, Dromore, Monaghan, Templepatrick

Rev Ker Graham 9 votes: The Presbyteries of Armagh, Ballymena, Derry & Donegal, Down, Iveagh, Newry, Omagh, Route, Tyrone.

Mr Kerr 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.

He 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 that lived around the poverty line.” 

While in the African nation, their first two children were born there. 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.

Speaking about his journey into the ordained ministry, the Moderator-Designate said that he had always seen service as being part of his 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 Church in general, he said: “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 the 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 ministry, 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 said.

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He also accepts that there are challenges outside of those relating to the central safeguarding failures. “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.