Vancouver
The Rev. Karen Egan, who has served as director of pastoral studies at Montreal Diocesan Theological College since 2013, was elected prolocutor of General Synod Friday, July 12. Judith Moses, who has extensive experience in the Canadian public service as well as numerous bodies of the Anglican Church of Canada, was elected deputy prolocutor.
Egan succeeds Cynthia Haines-Turner, who was elected prolocutor at the last General Synod in 2016 and whose term ends with the current General Synod.
The prolocutor chairs meetings of General Synod and the Council of General Synod (CoGS) in the primate’s stead if needed. He or she also serves on the planning and agenda committee of both bodies.
General Synod chose Egan over five other nominees: Canon David Harrison of the diocese of Toronto; Haroldine Neil-Burchert of the diocese of Ontario; Archdeacon Alan Perry of the diocese of Edmonton; Archdeacon Tanya Phibbs of the diocese of Huron; and Laura Walton, of the diocese of Toronto. Egan was elected on the third ballot, with 117 of 233 votes cast.
“Karen brings to the position of prolocutor lots of experience, having served as a member of the Council of General Synod’s planning and agenda team for quite some time,” Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said after the results were announced. “She’s done incredible work as a member of CoGS, so we look forward to her leadership.”
Egan, a graduate of Montreal Diocesan Theological College, was ordained in 2003, after which she served as a parish priest in the diocese for ten years. She has also served the national church as chair of the Communications and Information Resources Coordinating Committee.
Moses succeeds Lynne McNaughton, bishop of the diocese of Kootenay, elected deputy prolocutor in 2016.
Moses was elected on the third ballot, with 181 of 232 votes. She was nominated along with five others: Canon Ian Alexander of the diocese of British Columbia; Siobhan Bennett of the diocese of Niagara; Neil-Burchert; Scott Potter of the diocese of Quebec; and Walton.
“You will bring many, many gifts to this office,” Hiltz addressed Moses after the vote. “We are very happy.”
Moses has worked for the federal government as a senior assistant deputy minister in the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and has served in the Privy Council Office. She was for a time acting head of the Indian Commission of Ontario. Moses has served on numerous committees of the Anglican Church of Canada, including the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Vision Keepers; she is also currently chair of the Jubilee Commission, tasked with finding sources of funding for the self-determining Indigenous Anglican church within the Anglican Church of Canada.
