AN EAST Lothian minister has been appointed as the new Moderator of the Presbytery of Lothian.

The Rev Neil Dougall, minister at St Andrew Blackadder Church, North Berwick, will take over the role in September for the 2016-17 term.

Mr Dougall said he was delighted and honoured to be chosen by his fellow ministers and elders.

He said: “It is an honour to be selected and I am looking forward to playing a different role in the presbytery.”

Mr Dougall is a third generation Church of Scotland minister who took over the North Berwick role after moving to the county with his wife Helen and two daughter in 2003.

The 53-year-old minister was born in Kenya, where both his parents were missionaries and Church of Scotland ministers, as was his grandfather.

He trained for the ministry at Aberdeen and Glasgow universities, and was ordained by Edinburgh Presbytery in January 1991. He also served as convener of the Church of Scotland’s Ministries Council between 2011 and 2015 after being vice convener from 2008.

As well as currently acting as interim moderator for Chalmers Memorial Church in Port Seton, Mr Dougall is studying for a Doctor of Ministry degree with Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Edinburgh.

But he said he was looking forward to the new challenge of the year ahead: “The moderator is the face of the presbytery. It is an opportunity to liaise with different people in our community. The challenges faced will depend on the events and what happens in the course of the year.”

Mr Dougall takes up the moderator role in September and there will be lots to keep him occupied. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rev Dr Russell Barr, who takes up his post this month, will visit Lothian Presbytery for the first time in 10 years.

Mr Dougall said: “The outgoing moderator Liz [Morton] will be here to welcome him and I will be in place when he is going away.”