Church elects new moderator

Dr Uprichard said he felt honoured by the appointment

The next moderator of the Presbyterian Church will be Dr Harry Uprichard, the minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Ahoghill.

Dr Uprichard was nominated by 12 out of the 21 Presbyteries which met on Tuesday.

He will take up office in June in succession to Dr Ken Newell.

Dr Uprichard said he was humbled that the church had "resided its trust in him" and he was honoured to be called to "so important an office".

He said his ministry was one of "teaching the scriptures in order to bring people to faith and to develop their witness".

Conservative evangelical

Dr Uprichard is the author of several books on New Testament theology.

He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1967 and for three years was assistant minister in the Ballymacarrett congregation in Belfast.

In 1970 he was called to Trinity, Ahoghill, County Antrim. where he has continued his parish ministry until now.

Dr Uprichard told BBC Radio Ulster on Wednesday that he came from the conservative evangelical side of the church.

"(I want to) preserve the biblical emphasis of our church and the traditional side of Presbyterianism in terms of biblical basis, but also use that to forge forward and promote the gospel," he said.