Chris Lee (priest)

Lee described himself as being lost on a "middle-class conveyor belt" on what to do with his life.[2] Lee later moved to Tanzania to teach English at a mission using the Bible as his main teaching tool, where he states he found his calling to become a priest.[3] He then completed a distance-learning degree to become a Church of England priest and was ordained a deacon in the diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro at the age of 24.[4][3] Holly Willoughby on This Morning described Chris as "the nation’s favourite vicar".[5]

He moved to St Saviour's in 2015.[4][3] He is married.[6]

Lee first appeared on the YouTube channel Korean Englishman, where he ate fire noodles and chimaek (Korean fried chicken and beer).[7]

His response to the College Scholastic Ability Test, where he prayed for the students, made him famous online; he was seen as an open-minded and non-judgemental Christian voice on the channel. This led to the "British Priest Reacts" series on Korean Englishman's second channel, Jolly, on which he regularly featured.[7][8] In 2018, he visited South Korea with his wife, Jenny,[9][10][11][12][13][14] on a series hosted by Korean Englishman. In 2019, he and his twin brother Charles,[15][16] a commando in the British Army, went to South Korea in the "Twins" series on Korean Englishman.[7]

Following his online popularity, he decided to posts images of his home life, as well as 60-second sermons and theological commentary on his Instagram.[3][17] In 2020, he compiled some of these sermons into a book, The OMG Effect: 60-Second Sermons to Live a Fuller Life.[18]

He has called for the church to do more to reach younger people through social media.[19]