|PIC1|The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) has announced the Moderator-Designate of its next general assembly.

The Rev Maurice Roberts, who is currently serving as a minister in Inverness, is expected to take up his position next May.

Born in Cheshire in 1938 to a Welsh father and English mother, Rev Roberts was educated at Lymm Grammar School and Durham University, where he took a BA degree in Classical Languages and Literature before commencing a teaching career.

He later became involved in the work of the Christian Union after his conversion to faith in Christ from a non-Christian background in 1957, partly through the influence of a fellow-student. He became an avid reader of the great Puritan theological works which were being reprinted at that time, and came to love and respect the teaching and principles of the Free Church of Scotland.

After his marriage in 1965 he moved to Edinburgh where he was involved in outreach work to the children housed in the Castle Barracks and also started a branch of the Evangelical Library in Edinburgh. While teaching and living in West Lothian he was instrumental in starting a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland in Whitburn.

His studied for the ministry at the Free Church College in Edinburgh and also obtained a BD from the University of London. Mr Roberts in the meantime acquired a knowledge of Gaelic sufficient to enable him to preach in it.

He became minister in Ayr Free Church 1974 where he remained for twenty years during which he helped to start Ayr Bible Conference and the Scottish Reformed Conference.

He accepted a call to Inverness Greyfriars in 1994 where he remained for five years until difficulties in the Free Church of Scotland eventually led to a division in the denomination. Since then he has ministered to that portion of his congregation which adhered to the Free Church (Continuing).

Mr Roberts was editor of the Instructor magazine for a number of years and edited the Banner of Truth magazine from 1988 to 2003.

Since the inception of the Free Church Seminary in 2002 he has been lecturer in Greek and New Testament Studies and has travelled internationally as a conference speaker. He has also penned a number of devotional books.

Mr Roberts is married to Sandra. They have a married daughter, Mary, and two grandchildren.

His deepest desire is to see religious revival in the United Kingdom and beyond, believing that this alone will be the solution to the many problems and difficulties that are so visible in both Church and State.