The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has elected Rev Trevor Gribben (63) as Moderator-designate, its leader role.
He will succeed Dr Richard Murray in June and hold office for one year. The Church elects a Moderator in February every year and he leads it for a 12-month period, from June of that year.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland differs from the two other main churches on the island – the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland – in that it changes its leader annually.
Where the Catholic Church is concerned its Archbishop of Armagh, and so Primate of All-Ireland, holds office until he is 75, when a letter of resignation must be sent to the Pope.
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In the Church of Ireland, its Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland tends to stand down on reaching the age of 70, though some have done so earlier.
Rev Gribben on Tuesday night received 16 votes from the Presbyterian Church’s 19 regional presbyteries across the island of Ireland, while the other candidate, Rev Richard Kerr, received three votes.
From Tandragee, Co Armagh, Rev Gribben was born in 1961 and ordained in 1988 as assistant minister of Duncairn and St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church in Belfast. From 1990 he was Minister at Leckpatrick Presbyterian Church in Co Tyrone and from 1996 served at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church in Co Antrim.
In 2008, he was appointed the Church’s Deputy Clerk, becoming Clerk of the General Assembly and the Church’s General Secretary in 2014.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has around 185,000 members in 500-plus congregations across 19 regional presbyteries throughout the island.
Irish Presbyterianism has its origins in Scottish migrations to Ulster in the early 17th Century.
Ballycarry Presbyterian Church in Co Antrim is the oldest congregation, dating back to 1613. The newest, Donabate Presbyterian Church in Co Dublin, opened its doors in 2010.
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