Moderator-designate of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Richard Murray, promises to show compassion towards trans people and their families

Rev Richard Murray, the current minister of Drumreagh Presbyterian Church, north Antrim, who was elected moderator-designate this week, said he wants to be “compassionate and supportive” to transgender people and their families.

“We want to help both the person themselves and also their family members who often are affected by it as well – we want to stand with them too. We want to deal with it case by case rather than produce a large broad brush stroke policy.”

Rev Murray will be formally elected as moderator by the church’s General Assembly in June, taking over from Dr Sam Mawhinney who, shortly after his appointment said in an interview with BBC NI he did not approve of the ordination of women.

However, Rev Murray said: “The PCI (Presbyterian Church in Ireland) has ordained women as elders since the 1920s and as ministers since the 1970s, and that's the settled position of our church. I've been an ordained minister 27 years and across those years I've worked with many women ministers and elders. I have always respected the women elders and ministers.”

Rev Murray added that if a woman had been elected moderator (Rev Mairisíne Stanfield of First Presbyterian Church, Bangor, was the only woman in this year’s list of five candidates) he would have “been on the phone, congratulating her and assuring her of my prayers for the year ahead.”

In terms of same-sex marriage, Rev Murray said: “We hold to the view that God's plan for marriage is one man and one woman in a lifelong committed relationship. That's what Jesus taught, and that's what we teach as well.

“On the issue of abortion, as a church we believe in life before birth and that the unborn child should be protected. That's where we stand and, again, that's consistent.”

Rev Murray added he and his congregation are praying for King Charles and the family of former Taoiseach John Bruton who died this week.

“Both families are going through different stresses and different problems, but we're all human and we all have our our human heartaches.”