On Thursday, June 22, 2023, and Friday, June 23, 2023, the Anglican Church in North America’s Provincial Council held elections for the Provincial Executive Committee and to fill vacancies in the alternate positions on the Court for the Trial of a Bishop.
For Executive Committee, two from the clergy, the Rev. Herb Bailey and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, and two from the laity, Deborah Tepley and Albert Thompson were elected. They will all serve for the next 3 years. In addition, Maria Garcia was elected to fill a lay vacancy due to a resignation and will serve a one-year term. Bailey, Tepley, and Thompson enter their second consecutive terms on the Executive Committee and Noll and Garcia are new members.
The Rev. Herb Bailey II is a Captain with Church Army USA or CAUSA, which is an Organization of Evangelists expressing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in tangible ways to bring transformation. He was working as an Arts and Assimilation Pastor, and as an Associate Director of Pastoral Care at a Rehab Facility in Nashville, until he heard the call from God in November of 2013 to be a part of CAUSA’s ministry at Uncommon Grounds Café in Aliquippa, PA. He and his wife, Angel, and the youngest of his 4 daughters, Amara, moved to Austin to be Evangelists in Residence with Christ Church. Father Herb is an experienced Ministry Director and is skilled in Pastoral Counseling with a demonstrated history of working in the religious institutions industry. Father Herb serves on numerous boards including the Executive Committee of the ACNA, the advisory team for the Matthew 25 Initiative since its inception. He has been promoted to the position of National Director of Ministries for CAUSA. In this role, Father Herb has the responsibility of assisting the churches nationally in doing outreach, raising and training new evangelists to do the work of reaching the least of these and bringing them into the life and ministry of the church.
The Rev. Dr. Stephen F. Noll was ordained in the Episcopal Church as deacon (1971) and priest (1972). He served five years in parish ministry at Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia before going into academic teaching. He has been a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh since 1979. He received a B.A. degree from Cornell University (Phi Beta Kappa), the M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and the Ph.D. from University of Manchester (UK). He served as Professor of Biblical Studies and Academic Dean at Trinity School for Ministry(1979-2000)and is now Professor Emeritus there. He has been awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity and from Nashotah House Theological Seminary and has served on several occasions as Interim Rector.
In October 1999, Dr. Noll was appointed the first Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University and retired after two terms in 2010. He is the founder and a current Board member of Uganda Christian University Partners, a U.S.A.-based support society for the University.
He has been active in Anglican church affairs, as a founding Board Member of CMJ/USA and the American Anglican Council, and as a participant in the Gafcon and Global South Anglican movement. Since his retirement in 2010, he has served as Chairman of the ACNA Task Force on Marriage, the Family and the Single Life, and as Convener of the Gafcon Task Force on Women in the Episcopate. He currently serves on the Board of Anglican House Publishers and was recently appointed Interim CEO there. Dr. Noll is author of seven books and numerous essays, as well as maintaining the “Stephen’s Witness” website. Stephen Noll has been married to his wife Peggy for 56 years. They have five grown children and seven grandchildren.
Deborah Tepley is the Executive Director at Church of the Advent in Washington, DC. She has twenty years of experience in strategic management of organizations in the faith-based, non-profit, and international development sectors. Deborah has experience developing, communicating, and implementing strategies, policies, systems and processes. She especially enjoys leading organizations that are starting up or transitioning to a different organizational development stage. As Executive Director, she works closely with the Rector Thomas Hinson to implement the vision for the church and manages all business, human resources and day-to-day operations and communications. Deborah felt called to church ministry at a young age and holds an MA in Cross-Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and an MBA from Georgetown University. Serving as Executive Director at Advent brings things “full circle” for Deborah, combining her love for the church and skills in organizational leadership. Deborah has been attending Church of the Advent since 2010. She met her husband, Luke Jackson, at an Advent potluck. They have both been involved in several church ministries over the years and count Advent as their family in DC. Deborah currently serves as a member of the Constitution and Canons Committee and previously served on the Episcopal Election Advisory Committee for the Diocese of Christ our Hope. She will complete her first elected term serving on the Executive Committee for the Anglican Church in North America in June 2023.
Albert Thompson is a military historian focused on War, Conflict, Identity, and State Policy, concentrating on the Great Depression and Second World War-era America, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the African Diaspora in the British Atlantic. He is a married father of two, teaching history at Georgetown, NYU, and American University. Professor Thompson and his family have attended Christ the King in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, where he has served on the vestry and the Standing Committee of the diocese. Since 2020 he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Province. Additionally, in 2020 he served on the ACNA Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation. He also serves as an ACNA 2030 strategic vision team member and was a delegate to GAFCON 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda. Albert has spoken as a historian to several Anglican bodies and assemblies, including Matthew 25, the College of Bishops, the synods of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, and the Reformed Episcopal Diocese of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic.” The Anglican way is a reliable path for reintroducing North America to Christ and enabling believers in these troubled and confused days to live faithful lives and raise faithful families. I hope to continue on the Executive Committee, providing lay oversight and supporting the Church’s mission to bring the Gospel to North America and sustain believers in their faith through love and faithfulness to Holy Scripture.”
Maria Garcia is a Mexican-American born in Hanford, California. Her parents immigrated from Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico. She currently lives in Fresno, California with her two daughters Julia and Carolina. For the past 16 years, has been attending Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Anglican Church, which is now Emmanuel Anglican Church in Fresno. She was confirmed into the Anglican Church in 2008 by Bishop John-David Schofield. Since then, she has served the church as a Lector, a member of the Altar Guild, a Catechist Teacher, the Senior Warden for their Bishop’s Committee, and currently, she is the Prayer Ministry Leader for both the Spanish and English services. Last year, she was elected to the Provincial Council at her diocesan convention. She is a high school Spanish teacher in Hanford, California and currently serves on the Spanish translation task force for the PrayerBook.
In addition to the election of Executive Committee members, the Rev. Michael S. Brooks and Bishop Neil Lebhar were elected to fill one-year vacancies on the Court for the Trial of a Bishop.
The Reverend Michael S. Brooks is a priest in good standing within the Anglican Church of North America. Fr. Brooks is canonically resident in the Diocese of Fort Worth and serves as Rector at St. Andrew’s Church–Grand Prairie, Texas. Fr. Brooks also serves on the diocesan staff as the Administrator for Employee Benefits, and as an Examining Chaplain in the canonical area of Canons & Constitutions. While in the Diocese of Quincy (2005–2012), Fr. Brooks served on the Ecclesiastical Court. He also was the Diocesan Administrator, Canon Missioner, and a Regional Dean. Fr. Brooks is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary. He received his Master in Divinity from Nashotah House Theological Seminary, and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Texas–Arlington.
The Rt. Rev. Neil G. Lebhar was consecrated in 2010 as the first bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese. He retired from that position in 2022. While serving as the diocesan bishop, Bishop Lebhar served as an editor of the Catechism and of the Book of Common Prayer. He served a term on the Executive Committee. He continues as chair of the Anglican Unity Task Force of the College of Bishops. He is also the current chair of CMJ-USA. Previously, he served as rector of Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville, FL(1988-2010), as well as Assistant Rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, VA (1979-1988).
He and his wife Marcia were married in 1971. They have two daughters and a son, and nine grandchildren. They also have a foster daughter who has three children. Bishop Lebhar received his B.A. from Princeton University and holds masters degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary. Neil and Marcia have led dozens of groups to study in the land of Israel. He loves the Lord, his family, and is grateful for the Lord’s mercy.
