London, Ont.
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada has elected Archdeacon Tanya Phibbs, currently its deputy prolocutor, as its new prolocutor and Brian Lee, a lay member of General Synod from the diocese of Brandon, as its deputy prolocutor.
The prolocutor is the most senior member of General Synod save for the primate, responsible for helping in the administration of General Synod meetings and business and chairing meetings in case the primate is unavailable. They are also responsible for serving as the chair of the Order of Clergy during primatial elections, alongside the deputy prolocutor, who chairs the Order of Laity. The deputy prolocutor shares the prolocutor’s duties and may perform any of them at the prolocutor’s request.
Phibbs is the secretary-treasurer of the diocese of Huron and was previously its executive archdeacon. She has served as honourary clerical secretary for the ecclesiastical province of Ontario and a member of the Ontario Provincial Commission on Theological Education. She served on the planning committees for General Synod 2025 and 2023 and, as deputy prolocutor, an ex-officio member of the Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice Committee and the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee. She began her career in the church as a part-time assistant curate at St. Jude’s Anglican Church in London while also working at a pharmacy. Phibbs holds an M.Div. from Huron University College in the University of Western Ontario.
Phibbs says during her time as deputy she has come to understand the role of the prolocutor as one of making sure the church’s leaders—both the primate, but also the officers of General Synod and the members of the Council of General Synod (CoGS)—are familiar with all the information they need to make the best decisions. To do that, she says, it is important to form connections with people across the country, building a network of the best people to help understand the church’s work and the needs of its parishioners and clergy, and a pool of candidates for committees and working groups.
“If you’re not prepared it’s hard to make good decisions, it’s hard to help others make good decisions, to help them find their way through,” she says. That means both being well-versed in the material but also having an idea of how to best help other decision-makers understand it, she says. For that reason, she and other organizers have been working on encouraging novel presentation formats at CoGS, such as an interview-style chat on finance. Breaking away from the standard “talking head” approach helps keep things fresh and make the material more digestible, she says.
Phibbs says the next triennium will be particularly challenging as the church seeks solutions to what she calls very real financial difficulties which will make starting new work increasingly difficult.
“And that’s hard because we are at a time in the life of the church where changes need to be made to how we operate and change is hard for everybody,” she says. “How do we help people follow God’s will for that change so that we can be a stronger church—a church that follows God’s will more clearly, that reaches out to others in a better way?”
It can be easy to get caught up in the procedures and work of General Synod and forget that it’s more than just a business meeting, she says—but it’s also always vital to remember that the church is striving to do God’s work. That means it can count on his presence as well, she says.
Lee, meanwhile, is a lawyer from Birtle, Manitoba, focusing on real estate, wills and corporations. He holds a B.A. in English literature from the University of Winnipeg and graduated from Robson Hall law school at the University of Manitoba in 2013. Lee serves as the people’s warden in his home parish of St. George’s Church in Birtle and was a delegate at Brandon’s diocesan synod in 2024.
A relative newcomer to church governance, Lee says he allowed himself to be nominated for deputy prolocutor after his bishop, Bishop Rachel Parker, suggested he pray about whether it was the right path for him.
“I said, ‘When am I going to get a chance to pray? General Synod goes ‘til 10:30,’” he laughs. “She says, ‘Find a moment.’” So he did, and in the process found his mind resting on the words of Jesus: “From one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.”
He says that reframed the question as being about not whether he wanted the role but whether he had anything to offer. He decided he did. And he also remembered a phrase he uses in his work with his clients, he says: “You are not alone.” It reminded him he would be a member of a team, not bound to figure out the job by himself.
Accordingly, he says, Phibbs helped to demystify the role for him. She also assured him they would divide the workload between them according to their respective strengths. He believes his background in law will be of help, both in picking up the complexities of the church’s canons and procedures and in the specifics of the prolocutor’s job. He says two diocesan prolocutors approached him after the election with tips about the role, telling him the job is often about being in the middle of disputes, mediating them, hearing out opposing viewpoints and finding solutions to the problems they present. These are all core skills in his day job, he says, where he is often called upon to make sure both parties in disputes feel heard and walk away with a sense of having gained something valuable. That experience will be vital as the church expands on the work prescribed by the primate’s commissions pathways for transformational change, he adds.
“As long as everybody feels that their perspectives are valued, then there’s not going to be resentment and there’s not going to be as much conflict,” he says.
This article has been corrected to reflect that Brian Lee is the people’s warden at St. George’s Church and was at the diocese of Brandon’s synod.
