Yesterday the presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland met to select their moderator-elect for their 2007 General Assembly in June.  The Rev. John Finlay was nominated by 9 of the 21 presbyteries with five other candidates receiving votes from the other presbyteries.  The PC Ireland selects their moderator-elect by vote of all of the presbyteries meeting on the same day for that purpose.

The Rev. Finlay is the pastor of Harryville Presbyterian Church in Ballymena.  He is 61 years old, the son of missionaries, and spent his younger years in Argentina.  He has served at Harryville for almost 25 years.

The PC Ireland has issued a press release today about Rev. Finlay and his election as well at two previous press releases (Feb. 5 and Feb. 6) about the election and the procedure.  It should be noted that under the polity of the PC Ireland only ministers may serve as GA Moderator.  Unlike many other Presbyterian Churches, including the Church of Scotland and the PC(USA) elders are not eligible.

The new moderator-elect held a press conference this morning where he talked about the decrease in sectarian violence and his hope to continue that trend.  The press conference was reported by several outlets including the Irish Times on ireland.com.