Presbyterian Presbyteries meet again this Tuesday, 2 March, to try to nominate a Moderator Designate to succeed Dr Ivan McKay when his year of office ends in June.
Last month, for the second year in succession, the annual election for the 'principal public representative' of the Presbyterian Church ended in a tie. Dr Harry Uprichard from the Trinity congregation in Ahoghill and the minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast, Rev Ken Newell, who last year tied with Dr McKay, both polled ten votes from the 21 presbyteries. The remaining vote from the Monaghan Presbytery was for Rev Alistair Kennedy of Trinity, Bangor.
Under the rules of the General Assembly a second election now takes place with only the two tied candidates being voted on when the presbyteries meet this Tuesday at separate locations around Ireland.
Presbyteries are the governing bodies responsible for groups of approximately 25 congregations in different geographical locations around Ireland. Each one has a membership composed of all the ministers and a representative elder from every congregation in its area. The members of Presbytery will vote among themselves to decide who their presbytery will nominate as the Moderator Designate as he is officially known. Each presbytery has just one vote. The presbyteries meet independently of one another at locations all around Ireland and their nominations are communicated to Church House in Belfast. A result is expected to be declared by 9.30pm on Tuesday evening.
Voting is expected to be close with no clear consensus emerging since the first round last month. With an odd number of presbyteries a result is assured and even if some presbyteries decided not to make a nomination and a tie resulted, the rules of the General Assembly declare that the candidate with longer years of service would be elected.
In February's election the voting for each person was as follows:
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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