Sunday, February 06, 2011

Presbyterians choose new Moderator

The next Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will be the Rev Ivan Patterson, minister of Newcastle Presbyterian Church.

Mr Patterson was nominated by 12 out of the 19 Irish presbyteries, who met yesterday to vote for a new Moderator. 

He will take up office in June in succession to the Rev Dr Norman Hamilton, who continues as Moderator until that time.

Mr Patterson, minister of Newcastle for the last 20 years, said: “I am absolutely overwhelmed to be elected as Moderator. I am very happy to serve the Church and to represent its members but am somewhat daunted by the thought of the year ahead.”

Voting for each candidate was as follows:

- Rev Ivan Patterson (Newcastle) 12 votes (Armagh, North Belfast, East Belfast, South Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine/Limavady, Dromore, Dublin/Munster, Iveagh, Omagh, Route, Templepatrick.
Presbyteries).

- Rev Roy Patton (Ballygilbert) three votes (Ards, Monaghan, Newry).

- Rev Joseph Andrews (Ballee, Ballymena) two votes (Ballymena, Tyrone).

- Rev Roy Mackay (Second Comber) one vote (Down).

- Rev Rob Craig (Kilfennan, Londonderry) one vote (Derry/Donegal).

The Moderator-designate, 62, describes his ministry as “conservatively Biblical with a strong evangelical outlook.

“I get great satisfaction from helping people and would love them to become more knowledgeable about the God of the Bible and the implication of that for their lives. We cannot expect people to come and find us so we have to be open to be found. That means being and active in our communities, making our Christian voice heard and having confidence in Christ to share our faith through being involved in what is going on outside the walls of our church as well as inside,” he says.

To emphasise this his congregation of some 350 families have just completed a development programme creating a new reception area and other facilities that make their church, which faces directly on to Newcastle Main Street an open and welcoming building for everyone, everyday.

Mr Patterson was brought up in the Co Antrim village of Buckna, where he attended the local Presbyterian Church. 

After schooling at Rocavan Primary School, Ballymena Intermediate School and Ballymena Technical College he worked as a television repair engineer before continuing his studies to gain admission to Queen’s University.

After graduating in semitic studies he completed his training for the Presbyterian ministry at Union Theological College gaining a Masters in Theology in 1979 and also studied for a short time at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem

Mr Patterson was ordained in 1980 and served for two years as assistant in First Bangor Presbyterian church before becoming minister of the Bushvale congregation near Ballymoney in 1982. 

In 1991 he was called to Newcastle Presbyterian church.

Throughout his ministry Mr Patterson has taken particular interest in youth work and overseas mission.

He served a convener of the Presbyterian Church’s Youth Board between 1989 and 1993 and was the first chairman of Youth Link, a body set up by the Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic churches to provide support and training for youth leaders and community relations experiences for young people.

He has also travelled to Kenya, Nepal and India to see church work there and has a particular interest in Romania, establishing a twinning arrangement between his church in Newcastle and a congregation of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Hodos, Romania.

Mr Patterson is married with a married son and two grandsons.