Rev Finlay Holmes:VERY REV Prof Finlay Holmes, who has died aged 81, was moderator of the Presbyterian Church in 1990 and principal of Union College between 1987 and 1992.
Presbyterian moderator Dr Donald Patton described him as "an enthusiastic servant of Christ and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, who enjoyed a reputation within the church and the world of academia alike as an authority on the history of Irish Presbyterianism".
Born in north Belfast in 1926, he was the son of William and Sophia Holmes. He moved to Ballymena when his father was appointed principal of the Model School. He excelled academically throughout his studies at the Model School, Coleraine Academical Institution and Ballymena Academy, eventually taking first place in Northern Ireland in English language and literature in the senior certificate examinations of 1944.
Awarded a State exhibition, he enrolled at Trinity College Dublin to study modern history, and after taking first place in the annual examinations in each of his four years, graduated Bachelor of Arts with high honours in 1948.
After a further year at Trinity he was accepted as a student for the ministry and was awarded a scholarship to study theology at Westminster College, Cambridge. He completed his studies for the ministry at the Presbyterian College in Belfast and served a period of assistantship in Belmont Presbyterian Church, Belfast.
A founder member and the first president of the Christian Union at Ballymena Academy, he became president of the Christian Union at Trinity, as well as student president of the historical society.
His lifelong love of rugby began at "Inst" and he was a regular on the Trinity and Cambridge first 15s, missing out on a "blue" through a serious knee injury that ended his playing career.
He had been provisionally accepted for air crew training in the RAF before deciding to enter Trinity. But when an appeal was made for an additional RAF Presbyterian chaplain in 1954 he responded, serving for six years.
In 1960, now married to Josephine, he returned to Belfast on his appointment as chaplain at Campbell College, where he also taught history and divinity. In 1963 he was appointed lecturer in church history and systematic theology at Magee Theological College, Derry. During this time he completed a thesis on the life and work of Henry Cooke, for which Trinity awarded him an M Litt.
In the 1970s, the General Assembly moved the Magee Theological College to Belfast, later combining it with the Presbyterian College to become the Union Theological College. Finlay became the first occupant of the Magee Chair of Christian History. He was principal of Union College from 1987 to 1992 before becoming head of church history until he retired in 1996.
He served the wider Presbyterian Church through regular preaching and involvement in its committees and boards. He wrote a number of books including Magee 1865-1965: the Evolution of the Magee College (1965), Our Irish Presbyterian Heritage (1985) and The Presbyterian Church in Ireland: a Popular History (2000).
He enjoyed the respect of all groupings of the Presbyterian Church as he strove to bring people together, believing that the unity of the people of God and the unity of the church should be an inspiration to a divided world.
He is survived by his wife Josephine, two sons and a daughter.
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Robert Finlay Gregg Holmes: born July 19th, 1926; died July 14th 2008