Duties of the Prolocutor and the Deputy Prolocutor

The Prolocutor and the Deputy Prolocutor are Officers of General Synod. Nominees for these offices must be members of General Synod.

The Prolocutor

The duties of the Prolocutor are set out in Section 14 of the Constitution of the General Synod:

Section 14 of the Constitution

  1. The Prolocutor shall be elected by ballot after open nomination and this election shall take place prior to the election of members of the Council of the General Synod.
  2. The Prolocutor shall be a member of either the clerical or lay Order.
  3. The Prolocutor shall be an associate of, and assistant to, the Primate in the affairs of the General Synod and the Council of the General Synod.
  4. In the absence of the President, or at the President’s request, the Prolocutor shall be chairperson of the General Synod.
  5. The Prolocutor shall be ex-officio a member of all committees, councils, boards and commissions, standing and special, appointed under any provision of the Constitution, or of any Canon enacted by the General Synod or under any resolution of the General Synod or of the Council of the General Synod.
  6. The Prolocutor shall continue in office until immediately prior to the prorogation of the General Synod at which his or her successor is elected.
  7. The Prolocutor who removes from the diocese he or she represented on election shall continue in office as an ex-officio member of the General Synod until such term expires as provided in subsection f),but shall not be entitled to vote during the succeeding session of the synod or to be elected to office by virtue merely of continuing in office under this subsection. In that case, the diocese may elect a representative to succeed him or her as a member of the General Synod until the convening of the next session of the synod, as provided in subsection 8 m).

Source: Handbook of the General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada
19th Edition, published 2019, page 16

The Deputy Prolocutor 

The duties of the Deputy Prolocutor are set out in section 15 of the Constitution of the General Synod:

Section 15 of the Constitution

  1. The Deputy Prolocutor shall be elected in the same manner as the Prolocutor with the exception that if the Prolocutor is of the Order of Clergy, the Deputy Prolocutor shall be elected from the Order of Laity, and if the Prolocutor is of the Order of Laity, the Deputy Prolocutor shall be elected from the Order of Clergy.
  2. At the request or in the absence of the Prolocutor, the Deputy Prolocutor shall perform any function assigned to the Prolocutor by the Constitution or Canons or Rules of Order and Procedure.
  3. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Prolocutor, the Deputy Prolocutor shall become the Prolocutor.
  4. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Deputy Prolocutor, the members of the Council of the General Synod present at the next meeting of the council shall elect a Deputy Prolocutor who shall perform all the duties of the office until the next session of the General Synod.
  5. The Deputy Prolocutor shall continue in office until immediately prior to the prorogation of the General Synod at which his or her successor is elected.
  6. The Deputy Prolocutor who removes from the diocese he or she represented on election shall continue in office as an ex officio member of the General Synod until such term expires, as provided in subsection e), but shall not be entitled to vote during the succeeding session of the synod or to be elected to office by virtue merely of continuing in office under this subsection. In that case, the diocese may elect a representative to succeed him or her as a member of the General Synod until the convening of the next session of the synod, as provided in subsection 8 m). 

Source: Handbook of the General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada
19th Edition, published 2019, page 17

The Officers of the General Synod Collectively

In addition to the particular duties of the Prolocutor and the Deputy Prolocutor, the duties of the Officers collectively are set out in Section 20 of the Constitution of the General Synod:

Section 20 of the Constitution

The Officers shall meet from time to time at the call of the Primate for these purposes:

  1. To advise the Primate, the Council of the General Synod and committees, councils and boards as required;
  2. To take action on matters referred to them by the General Synod and the Council of the General Synod;
  3. To advise the Primate and General Secretary on agenda planning for the Council of the General Synod;
  4. To propose actions to the Council of the General Synod in respect of subjects for which there is no provision in the mandates of other standing committees, councils and boards;
  5. To ensure that the Council of the General Synod’s responsibility for overall strategic planning and visioning is fulfilled;
  6. To monitor and direct the ongoing business of the Council of the General Synod between its meetings, as assigned by the Council of the General Synod and, in turn, to make recommendations to the Council of the General Synod.

Source: Handbook of the General Synod of The Anglican Church of Canada
19th Edition, published 2019, page 19

Matthew 10:40-42

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. 36 But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”