Rev Richard Murray was ‘humbled’ to be chosen as the next Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland following an island-wide vote amongst the denomination’s 19 Presbyteries.
A native of Finaghy, Richard is currently Minister of Drumreagh Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney where he has occupied the pulpit since September 2016.
Although Richard’s parents were not professing Christians as he was growing up, they were loving guardians who sent him to Sunday School, Boys’ Brigade, Christian Endeavour and Youth Club; all of these gave him a solid background in the things of God.
He recalls: “I first responded to the Gospel when I was 11 at a Christian Endeavour Summer Camp in Tollymore Forest. I had gone to Christian Endeavour for years and that is where I realised that I had to do something about the Gospel and respond to it. The commitment I made was very real at the time. It was emotional and powerful. I came home from the camp and told my parents and that was the first time.”
“I drifted away from God as a teenager; my secondary school years were a prodigal period for me. I was 20 when God came into my life in a powerful way again and since then I have lived the life of a Christian.”
After leaving Wallace HS in Lisburn, Richard works as a Distribution Clerk for Arthur Guinness & Company before taking up employment with the Ulster Bank. It is during a three-year stint there that he felt the Lord call him into the Presbyterian ministry.
In preparation for this, the aspiring preacher undertook a degree in History before enrolling at Union Theological College in Belfast for three years. His final year of study there overlapped with the start of his assistantship in Terrace Row Presbyterian in Coleraine he worked under another future Moderator, Rev. David Clarke.
Recalling this fondly, Richard said: “David and I worked well together. I had lots of involvement with the youth and became a BB Officer when I was there and I ran the Youth Fellowship too. We did a lot of visiting and David gave me lots of scope for preaching as well.”
Richard’s first solo charge was in the idyllic setting of Hilltown & Clonduff. Situated at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, this proved to be paradise for the committed hill walker, his wife Lynne and their son, Andrew, who all enjoyed seven very happy years there before the Lord called him to Connor Presbyterian Church in County Antrim.
Much of his ministry there centred on a renovation project which saw the old halls there knocked down and rebuilt to an incredible standard. Richard also relished the opportunity to minister in the original location of the 1859 revival; the keen reader is quick to recall sense of history that exists there as well as some of the lovely people he, Lynne and Andrew met during this eleven years there.
The subsequent call to what is then a joint charge of Drumreagh & Dromore perhaps came as something of a surprise to Richard. However, he went there is response to a clear call from the Lord.
Following the amalgamation of the two congregations, Drumreagh is now home to 360 families. It is a busy place with numerous organisations and a deep hunger for God’s Word.
Says Richard: “It’s a very warm hearted and evangelical congregation as well. They love the preaching of the Gospel, and they egg you on. You always feel that you haven’t gone far enough for them and that they want you to go further. We love the people there and have a really harmonious relationship with them.”
The incoming Moderator admits to being ‘humbled and overwhelmed’ by his upcoming role; a position that his late father-in-law, Rev. Dr David McCaughey performed with distinction exactly 30 years ago.
He reflects: “Your primary job is to be the Moderator of the General Assembly and the chairman of the big proceedings for the time it meets in June. Apart from that you have a year of engagements you are preaching in different congregations morning and evening, you go to bereaved Ministers or ‘manse families’ who are in trouble to offer pastoral care.”
“In addition, you are invited to occasions such as the Royal Garden Party. The Presbyterian Moderator is also a delegate to other denominations’ equivalent of the General Assembly or Synod. He has a representative role; he are not head of the Church – Christ is the head of the Church. Rather, the Moderator is just a figurehead for the year – someone who gives a focus and a lead. I think that my role may not be just as intense as it was in the days of ‘the troubles’ which the Moderator had to respond to every atrocity”, added Richard.
Primarily, Richard hopes that he will not let the Lord down during his year as Moderator. His desire is to preach Christ in all His fulness and to offer compassion for those who are in need:
“A lot of people out there are discouraged, or their lives are in trouble for different reasons. I want to be a listening ear and to pray with thpse people and to show them they are not forgotten. An important part of the work as well is to encourage believers, to stoke the fire in their hearts and to remind them that their labour for the Lord is not in vain. That is the case especially in smaller congregations where people are struggling but who remain faithful as the preach the Gospel and wait on God to produce the results”, he concludes.
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