The Revd Professor Rab Mollan is to succeed Bishop James Moore as President of CMS Ireland - the Church Missionary Society Ireland - from 1 July.

Dr Mollan is a Professor of Orthopaedics, and was the youngest-ever president of the British Orthopaedic Society. For a number of years he has been Medical Adviser to CMS Ireland, and in this capacity has visited almost all CMS Ireland's mission programmes overseas.

Dr Mollan, who was ordained into the auxiliary ministry in 1997, lives in Downpatrick and is NSM curate of Comber Parish, Co Down. His wife, Rev Dr Pat Mollan, was ordained the same year and is NSM curate in the Lecale Group in the Diocese of Down.

Professor Mollan says his appointment as President of CMS Ireland "comes at a time when the whole concept of mission is undergoing radical change." He first became engaged with mission 20 years ago. "I had undertaken a number of lecture tours in South Africa and was unhappy with apartheid and the urban poverty, which contrasted harshly with European lifestyles," he says.

As chairman of the education committee of the British Orthopaedic Association, he was approached by Dr John Church, an orthopaedic surgeon and missionary with Mid Africa Ministry (MAM), son of Dr Joe Church the medical missionary of Rwanda who witnessed the East African revival. John was keen that young trainee orthopaedic surgeons should be seconded to Africa and invited Rab and Pat to accompany him on a fact-finding visit to south-west Uganda. By this time, Pat and Rab were training for the non-stipendiary ministry and were attending the Belfast Bible College. Their training inevitably focused on modern mission, and Rab recently completed an M.Th. in Missiology at Queen's University, Belfast by examination and thesis.

An invitation from Canon Cecil Wilson, General Secretary of CMS Ireland, for Rab to undertake medical visits to Uganda resulted in the first foreign educational meeting of the British Orthopaedic Association, when 15 surgeons and 10 nurses and other medical professionals visited Kampala and outlying hospitals. Rab and Pat continued their visits to East Africa for the next 20 years.

As Uganda emerged from the civil war and its economy developed, Rab has been drawn further north, firstly to the Rhino refugee camp and vocational training centre of Madi/West Nile Diocese and more recently to support those returning to Southern Sudan. He has led teams, including one from Saintfield Parish, which built a dormitory at the vocational training centre in Arua, and visited parishes throughout the diocese.

Rab has also visited Albany Diocese in New York as part of the diocese's plan to advance mission in partnership with Down and Dromore. He believes this link is very special for Down and Dromore and looks forward to developing this relationship within CMS Ireland.

Rab says he comes to CMS Ireland with "a strong sense of vocation to advance the mission of the church through developing personal links with dioceses in the developing world." He has a particular burden for informing the Church of Ireland about the effects of poverty and inequality, particularly on the quality of life and health. "Through understanding of the issues and practical experience of the developing world," he says, "great blessing will come to our church people, and CMS Ireland can be the catalyst and mechanism by which people can engage and respond to the huge gap that exists between us and our Christian brothers and sisters in the developing world."

Paying tribute to Bishop Moore, whose term of office as President finishes at the end of June, the General Secretary of CMS Ireland, Canon Cecil Wilson, said: "In spite of having a large and complex diocese to run, Bishop Moore was unstinting in sharing his time and spent many hours and days chairing committee meetings and attending functions. He also steered us through the process of integration with Mid-Africa Ministry and the process of updating our Articles of Association."

"The new constitution of the Church Missionary Society Ireland brings with it a huge challenge to move forward in how the society functions," said Canon Wilson. "The new board of directors will have personal responsibility for the actions and management of the society which will enhance accountability and strategic thinking. This in turn will place more responsibility on the membership both in terms of financial and time commitment to the society, however this will permit members to use their various gifts, in teamwork and fellowship, to advance God's kingdom."

[For further details please contact Dr Mollan is available for interview.]