PCI General Assembly

Meet the Moderator

Rev Dr Norman Hamilton

The next Moderator of the Presbyterian Church will be Rev Norman Hamilton (63), minister of Ballysillan Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

Mr Hamilton was nominated by 11 out of the 19 Presbyteries who met in March throughout Ireland to vote in a supplementary election for a new Moderator following February's tied vote with Rev Norman McAuley. He will take up office on the 7th June in succession to Dr Stafford Carson who continues as Moderator until that time.

Commenting on his election Mr Hamilton who has been minister of Ballysillan for the last 22 years said, "I am greatly humbled and surprised that this has come to me. I hope during my year to bring a very Biblical perspective to a wide range of issues that are important to both church and society,"

Voting for each candidate was as follows:

Rev Norman Hamilton (Ballysillan) 11 Votes: Ards, North Belfast, East Belfast, South Belfast, Carrickfergus, Coleraine/Limavady, Derry/Donegal, Down, Dromore, Dublin/Munster, Monaghan,
Rev Norman McAuley (Greenwell Street, Newtownards) 8 Votes: Armagh, Ballymena, Iveagh, Newry, Omagh, Route, Templepatrick, Tyrone.

Well known for his involvement in the community life of North Belfast Mr Hamilton argues that there must be a "proper" place for the church in the life of our communities.

"The way our society works is through the democratic process. Issues that affect people in the pews affect people in the community and affect our politicians and leaders too. The church needs to rediscover its place in civic society so that it plays an active and valued part for the benefit of all in our communities rather than just being one element among many looking after their own interests."

Born in Lurgan on 6 October 1946 Thomas Norman Hamilton was brought up in First Lurgan Presbyterian Church and was educated at Portadown College graduating with a BA from Trinity College Dublin in 1969.

He then began what he expected to be a life long career in the Civil Service but after seven years joined the staff of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, first as a regional worker in the North East of England and then taking responsibility for the work of the organisation in colleges across the UK. Then in 1980 he began training for the Presbyterian ministry at Union Theological College and graduated with a BD from Queen's three years later.

Mr Hamilton was ordained as assistant minister in Lowe Memorial congregation in Finaghy before being called as minister to Ballysillan in 1988 where his ministry has been marked by extensive involvement in community relations work and for which he was awarded an OBE in 2007.

He is presently a member of the General Assembly's Church and Society Committee.

A French and German speaker, Mr Hamilton is also a keen photographer and is married to Evelyn with one daughter, Julie.

A Message Worth Sharing

Norman Hamilton was a name that people were familiar with even before his nomination as Moderator Designate. His active involvement in the life of north Belfast, both standing up for his community and trying to exert a calming influence in more troubled times, has made him a familiar face and voice in our media. Austin Hunter spoke to him about what makes him so passionate about community involvement and his hopes for the moderatorial year ahead.

The first thing you notice about Rev. Norman Hamilton's manse is the four tons of topsoil in the driveway.

Norman and his wife Evelyn are very keen gardeners and despite what is bound to be a busy diary as Moderator he hopes to keep up his interest.

"We really enjoy working in the garden," explained the man who will take over the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on June 7th.

"It is one of the ways we relax. We have had 20 tons of soil delivered to the manse on three occasions now. I am delighted that we have got the latest pile down to about four tons.

"I will be working on getting it all into the garden, even during my year as Moderator."

In the hallway of the manse, there are 150 photographs, all of outdoor scenes. Norman is a keen amateur photographer and the pictures on the wall show a keen eye and a decent level of skill.

"I take a particular interest in the natural world," he said.

"Shape is what interests me. When I look at something I see shape before colour. One of my favourite photographs is a single stalk of oats, set against a blue sky. It is a vertical line waving in the wind.

"My wife and I love to walk, often in Cavehill which is really our backyard or when we are on holidays. I also like to take photographs when I go on walks."

The manse is on the Crumlin Road, a short distance from Ballysillan Presbyterian Church, where Norman Hamilton has been minister since 1988.

His congregation clearly knows he has a passion for photography and when he was elected as Moderator they presented him with a digital SLR camera, which will see a lot of use. The congregation also know they will see little of their minister during the next year as he leads the Presbyterian Church during an exciting and challenging time.

Sitting on top of a pile of books in the manse is Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama.

"I admire him as a leader but I think you have to recognize there are big cultural differences between here and the United States," he said.

"In the United States, there is an attitude of can do-will do. We are not particularly good at that. We need to learn how to relate to the society in which God has placed us."

As Norman Hamilton talks the words "society" and "community" keep cropping up.

"I want Christian people to work for the welfare of the whole community, as Jeremiah told the exiles to do," said Norman. "That is fundamental to everything I believe.

Rev. Norman Hamilton was born in Lurgan in 1946 and educated at Portadown College before graduating from Trinity College in Dublin in 1969.

He then began what he expected to be a lifelong career in the civil service but after seven years joined the staff of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, first as a regional worker in the north east of England and then taking responsibility for the work of the organisation in colleges across the United Kingdom.

In 1980 he began training for the Presbyterian ministry at Union Theological College and graduated with a BD from Queen's three years later.

Norman was ordained as assistant minister in Lowe Memorial congregation in Finaghy before being called as minister to Ballysillan in 1988, where his ministry has been marked by extensive involvement in community relations work and for which he was awarded the OBE in 2007.

Norman Hamilton became a well known public figure during the Holy Cross dispute in 2001 and became a regular face on television during that time.

"I often describe myself as the Presbyterian minister on the wrong side of the Holy Cross dispute," he said. "It was a quagmire. It was a protracted and bitter public dispute, involving young children, parents and the wider community."

Norman Hamilton has never shied away from his responsibilities to the community.

He is certainly prepared to put himself on the front line and he has good contacts on all sides.

"Community relations in north Belfast are tied up with territory and identity," he went on.

"I had to take a decision on how to handle this. In the new situation Northern Ireland finds itself in, we must revisit the relationship between the churches and community relations. But we still live in a very divided society.

"We need to learn to have gracious informed public discourse on a wide range of issues that trouble our community. We live in a society that has not yet learned the difference between challenge and opposition."

Many Moderators take office with low public profiles. They will have worked successfully in the Presbyterian Church for years, but it will be different for Norman Hamilton.

He already has a public profile and is well known to the media and has built a strong working relationship with journalists.

"In many ways journalism is the only effective mechanism left in this society for accountability and transparency," he said.

"I am pro good journalism. The reporters live here like the rest of us and they are part of this broken society and want to see it improved."

Norman Hamilton takes up the reins at a time when the Presbyterian Church is suffering from declining numbers and the aftermath of the debacle of the Presbyterian Mutual Society. Most of his flock are unionists but unionism is fragmented and uncertain about its future. Many are looking for strong political leadership.

"I want a healthy civic society that will focus on what we share rather than on micro divisions of individual communities. I am more interested in what we can do together.

"As Presbyterians, we sometimes overstate the biblical teaching on individual accountability and understate the biblical command to live peacefully in the community one with another.

"I want to bring the teachings of scripture, the power of Jesus to the whole society."

Norman Hamilton accepts that people have suffered as a result of the PMS going into administration and that it was a damaging time for the reputation of the Church. He welcomes the recent progress to bring a proper resolution to the problem.

"It will stay high on my agenda and I will make sure I keep the PMS as a priority, as we work our way through it. We must get a satisfactory solution."

Views on the position of women in the Church can often be controversial and usually attract media attention.

"We have women elders in Ballysillan Presbyterian Church and I do not see the role of woman as being a significant or controversial issue during my time as Moderator," he said confidently.

The relationship with the Catholic Church is also a subject always guaranteed to attract attention and strong views.

"I have friends who are Catholic clergy and we work together regularly for the welfare of the local community as best we can. There is a difference between working together for the welfare of the wider society and engaging in overtly ecumenical enterprise.

"There must be a proper relationship between the local church and the local community and the wider church and the wider society."

Rev. Norman Hamilton knows that the Presbyterian Church needs to have a relationship with the structures of government. "We need to engage," he said clearly. "The relationship needs to be open, public and rigorous."

And the new Moderator also accepts that as society becomes more secular, there are big issues facing Presbyterians.

"The Church has taken a serious battering and not without reason. We need to rebuild the credibility of the gospel, in private and in the public arena. There is no quick fix to the problem. It needs to be dealt with in the long term.

"Sometimes we are quick to embrace the parts of scripture that we like, much less ready to embrace the difficult bits of scripture."

"I suppose the big themes for me will be, gracious debate, the interests of the wider society and biblical teaching.

"At the end of my term I would be happy if people said I had honoured the Lord, was faithful to scripture and helped them to build a new confidence in their Christian faith so they did not need to be frightened of the wider world.

Norman Hamilton knows he cannot move heaven and earth in a year as Moderator, although he does intend to move the earth in his driveway.

He certainly has the network of contacts, built up over many years, to achieve a lot for the Presbyterian Church.

He will be articulate, honest and direct and hopefully the Church and the whole community will listen to what he says.

And with the interview done, the new Moderator was off to lunch with another man of strong Christian faith, Matt Baggott, the Chief Constable.

It will be a year when networking moves centre stage in the Presbyterian Church.

AUSTIN HUNTER is an Elder in Second Comber Presbyterian Church. Working in the media since 1970 he is now a freelance media and public relations consultant and is a frequent broadcaster, public speaker and writer.

Reprinted from the Presbyterian Herald with permission