A prolocutor is a chairman of some ecclesiastical assemblies in Anglicanism.

Usage in the Church of England

In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, the Prolocutor is chair of the lower house of the

Convocations of Canterbury and York The Convocations of Canterbury and York are the synodical assemblies of the bishops and clergy of each of the two provinces which comprise the Church of England. Their origins go back to the ecclesiastical reorganisation carried out under Ar ...

, the House of Clergy. The Prolocutor presides in that house and acts as representative and spokesperson in the upper house. They are elected by the lower house in the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

and

Province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 12 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...

for a period of five years at the beginning of each quinquennium of the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

. The two Convocations each also elect two deputies, known in the Northern Province as the Deputy Prolocutor, and in the Southern Province as the Pro-Prolocutor. The Prolocutor plays a role in the Confirmation of Election of a bishop or archbishop, 'supporting' (in some cases) a member of the lower house moving to the upper house. Following the inauguration of the General Synod in 2015, Simon Butler was elected as the Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury.

Cherry Vann Cherry Elizabeth Vann (born 29 October 1958) is a British Anglican bishop serving as Bishop of Monmouth in the Church in Wales. She previously served as Archdeacon of Rochdale from 2008 to 2020, having served all of her ordained ministry with ...

was elected as Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of York, but on her being made Bishop of Monmouth in January 2020, Chris Newlands was elected in her place. The term means one who speaks for others (Lat. ''pro'', for, and ''loqui'', to speak).

Usage in the Anglican Church of Canada

In the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church counted 359,030 members on parish rolls in 2,2 ...

, the Prolocutor of the General Synod acts as the deputy to the

Primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

. As such, he or she ranks as the second executive officer of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. The current prolocutor is the Cynthia Haines Turner, who previously served as Deputy Prolocutor. Each of the four Ecclesiastical Provinces also has a Prolocutor, who serves a similar function, as a deputy to the Metropolitan (Archbishop) of the Province. The office of Prolocutor has its origins in the bi-cameral Provincial and General Synods. The relevant Archbishop (Primate or Metropolitan) acted as President of the Upper House (Bishops), and the Prolocutor was the elected President of the Lower House (Clergy and Laity). These Synods are no longer fully bi-cameral, but the office of Prolocutor is retained with different functions. The General Synod reverts to a bi-cameral structure for the election of the Primate, during which the Prolocutor chairs the meeting of the Clergy and Laity. In addition, the Constitution provides for separate meetings of the three Orders (

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the t ...

, and

Laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a laype ...

) in which the Prolocutor and Deputy Prolocutor chair the Orders of Clergy and Laity.Constitution of the General Synod, Section 6
retrieved 8 August 2013 The antecedents of the Canadian office are in the Convocations of the Church of England, in which the Lower House comprises clergy, laity not being members of Convocations. Only clergy and laity, not bishops, may serve as Prolocutor.

References

Sources

{{reflist Anglicanism Anglican ecclesiastical offices Anglican Church of Canada