Norman elected new Moderator
He defeated Newtownards Minister, the Rev Norman McAuley, 11-8 in a vote of the Presbyteries around Ireland.
The 63-year-old Moderator-Designate has been Minister of Ballysillan Presbyterian Church in North Belfast and has been prominently involved in peace and reconciliation work along the peace line in that area for the past two decades.
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Hide AdFor this work he was awarded an OBE in 2007 and he said he was greatly humbled and surprised at his elevation to Moderator.
“I hope during my year in office to bring a very Biblical perspective to a wide range of issues that are important to society,” said Mr Hamilton, a former civil servant who entered the Church ministry in 1980.
Mr Hamilton, who was educated at Portadown College and Trinity College Dublin, belonged to First Lurgan Presbyterian Church and he is married with one daughter.