The troubled Presbyterian Church in Ireland has selected Rev Richard Kerr as its next leader after the first tied vote in 12 years.
Rev Kerr is the minister of Templepatrick Presbyterian Church in Co Antrim, and vowed to rebuild trust in the church after it was shaken by scandal last year.
Known as the Moderator-Designate, the 60-year-old grandfather of four will be officially nominated, elected and installed as Moderator of the General Assembly when it meets this June.
He will succeed Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray, who will continue in office until then.
Rev Kerr, who served as a mission worker in Malawi for over a decade, 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 Co 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.”
Mr Kerr’s election comes at a critical time for the church, the biggest Protestant church in Northern Ireland, which has been rocked by controversy in recent months.
Last year’s elected moderator – Dr Trevor Gribben – stood down in an unprecedented move last November after an internal report uncovered serious safeguarding issues in the church.
A previous moderator, Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray, stepped into the gap, and will be replaced by Rev Kerr.
The Moderator-Designate said: “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.”
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.
While he was born in Banbridge in Co Down, Rev Kerr grew up near Ramelton in Co 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 Co 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 Co Louth, saying “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 Co Louth, before going to Malawi as one of PCI’s mission workers.
“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 in the African nation, their first two children were born.
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.
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.
How the vote went
Round One
Rev Richard Kerr 6 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 Stanfield 3 votes: The Presbyteries of Ards. South Belfast, Dublin & Munster
Round Two
Rev Richard Kerr 10 votes: The Presbyteries of Ards, South Belfast, East 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.