Mr Henry received the most votes of the Church’s 19 presbyteries, which met independently across Ireland this evening to elect a successor to the current Moderator, Dr Charles McMullen. Mr Henry will be formally elected Moderator by the Church’s General Assembly in June. Until then he will be known as the Moderator-Designate.
Reacting to the news Mr Henry said, “I am deeply honoured to have been chosen in this manner, and thank God for the opportunity to serve Him in a new way over the next year. I will trust Him for the way ahead.
“I have a strong belief that the gospel is good news and that the Church is to do good for people. In many aspects, both inside and outside the Church, I believe this part of Christian discipleship can be overlooked. I need to remind myself of the many practical expressions of Christian love that are demonstrated daily.
“Countless times I have been overjoyed when I see members of my church showing compassion and respect to those people who are in need - whether that is shown to neighbours, work colleagues, prison inmates or to the homeless. Thankfully that story is repeated in church after church up and down the length of Ireland.
Enjoying God
“For me it comes down to this experience of ‘Enjoying God,’ and perhaps that is what I’d like to develop into a theme for my year in office. When we enjoy God, prayer and worship become real and meaningful because there is a sense that God has come near. That will result in practical service for Jesus,” he explained.
“Encountering God is always radical and disruptive. However, the Church can become casual and forgetful of the presence of God; and wider society has a tendency to be self-contained or self-reliant - the effect for both is that they attempt to live without a recognition of dependence upon God.
“I would wish to use the year ahead that I have to speak about this message and explore with people what it means to ‘Enjoy God,’ both to the Church and wider society. I want to bear witness to what I might call the surprising and unsettling presence of God - the one who offers fullness in Jesus.”
The election takes place on the first Tuesday of every February and out of this year’s four nominees, Mr Henry received the most presbytery votes to become Moderator-Designate. Along with Mr Henry, Rev David Bruce, Secretary to PCI’s Council for Mission in Ireland, Rev Albin Rankin of Stormont Presbyterian and Rev MairisÃne Stanfield of First Presbyterian Church, Bangor were also nominated. They received the following votes:
- Rev. William Henry: 11 votes: The Presbyteries of Armagh, Ballymena, North Belfast, Coleraine & Limavady, Down, Iveagh, Newry, Omagh, Route, Templepatrick, Tyrone
- Rev David Bruce: 4 votes: The Presbyteries of Derry & Donegal, Dromore, Dublin & Munster, Monaghan
- Rev Albin Rankin: 1 vote: The Presbytery of East Belfast
- Rev MairisÃne Stanfield: 3 votes: Presbyteries of Ards, South Belfast, Carrickfergus
Born in Belfast and brought up in Mallusk, County Antrim, Mr Henry attended Hyde Park Presbyterian Church and went to Mallusk Primary School, before going on to Antrim Grammar and Queen’s University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1990.
Leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit
Having been offered a sponsored PhD in Chemistry, or a career in finance, Mr Henry said that he followed “the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit,” which led him at age 22, to the Presbyterian Church’s Union Theological College in Belfast and his theological studies.
Graduating in 1993 he was licensed in Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, his home congregation, the same year and ordained assistant minister in Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church in 1994. He was installed as minister of Maze Presbyterian in 1997 and in 2001 he was given the additional responsibility of Ballinderry Presbyterian, where he is the Stated Supply minister.
Describing his ministry as ‘open, welcoming and caring’ he says it is “centred on focusing on God’s Word and encouraging the people of God to live out authentic changed lives as passionate disciples of Jesus. It is also centred on demonstrating God’s love in simple practical ways to their friends and neighbours, showing care and compassion.
“Maze is a vibrant, youthful congregation and our activities are summed up in our motto ‘Knowing, Serving and Sharing Jesus’, which highlights some very important aspects of the Christian life. For us it is experiencing and learning about God, serving our Saviour as a practical response and sharing the person of Jesus with others – all in all, it’s not rocket science, it’s all about relationships and making the most of where God has set us. Our aim at Maze and Ballinderry is that people in church simply enjoy God and being with one another,” Mr Henry said.
At Maze there are 240 families of 600 people in total, while Ballinderry has 100 families of around 200 people in total. “Looking to God and relying on Him, we have worked hard over the years on our involvement with a whole family focus, demonstrated by a strong focus on youth work, with a contemporary feel,” Mr Henry explained. “The result has been a youthful church where attendance over 20 years has doubled and the Sunday school tripled in size.
Married to Nora, the father of three is looking forward to his year in office and being used by God to bring encouragement to the wider church, particularly to the leadership and younger ministers. “Recognising that I myself entered ministry at an early age, and benefited from the assistance and advice from those older than me, I would now wish to do the same for others.
“I look forward to seeing the breadth of our denomination first hand and being an active encourager reminding us all to simply enjoy God and glorify Him. I also look forward to seeing the scope of our Church from the largest of congregations to the smallest, from the oldest and longest established to those places where the Church is just emerging as believers are being gathered.
“I expect that I will learn even more than I am personally able to contribute, but I anticipate gaining insights into the complexities of ministry and mission in specific areas and be able to highlight positive messages of how God is working in local contexts,” he explained.
PCI: A specific purpose in 21st Century Ireland
“The Church has a specific purpose and an active role to play in 21st Century Ireland. It is doing an incredible amount of work in the name of Jesus, reaching out and serving the community. I am looking forward to going out and about to see that work.
“In those journeys there will be lots of individuals to encourage, reminding them of the sheer privilege of ‘Enjoying God.’ I anticipate doing my very best in all these contexts, while serving the cause of Christ. I sense one of the pressing needs of the Church is to look creatively and confidently to the future as convinced followers of Jesus believing that our relationship with Jesus really does make a difference.
“Our younger generation, and how they demonstrate their commitment to Jesus, will be key to that future. Having observed plenty of examples in my own congregation of the vital and real faith our young people demonstrate, I will want to highlight many more demonstrations of this throughout our wider church. I pray that God might equip me with the gifting I need to model servant leadership in His Church this year,” he said.
With a soft spot for DIY, Mr Henry also says that he ‘tinkers with technology’ and has an active interest in all aspects of gadgets and devices. His greatest passion is travel though he admits, “the destination is probably not the significant thing- it’s the time it affords with family.” A keen reader of historical novels, he also relaxes by, in his own words, ‘running slowly’.
Mr Henry will be officially nominated to this year’s General Assembly at its Opening Night in Belfast on Monday, 3 June when he will succeed the current Moderator, Rt Rev Dr Charles McMullen, who continues in office as the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s principal public representative until then.
Mr Henry will be the denomination’s 175th Moderator since 1840 and the fifth to come from a Lisburn congregation.