Jeff Rock

The Reverend Jeff Rock
Born	1983or1984(age 40–41) Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Education	McGill University
Religion	Christian
Church	Metropolitan Community Church (2017-2023) United Church of Canada
Congregations served	Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto

Jeff Rock (born 1983or1984) ^[1] is a Canadian clergyman, who succeeded Brent Hawkes as the pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto in fall 2017. ^[2]

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, he came out as gay in high school. ^[3] He studied microbiology and immunology at McGill University, initially with the career goal of becoming an HIV/AIDS researcher, although he decided during his studies that he instead wanted to become a minister. ^[3] After completing his seminary studies, he became the pastor of Gaetz Memorial United Church in Red Deer, Alberta, ^[4] where he worked with organizations such as the Central Alberta AIDS Network, the local Truth and Reconcilaition Commission, the Urban Aboriginal Voices Society and the Red Deer Interfaith Network. ^[2] He ran as a Liberal Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of Red Deer—Lacombe in the 2015 election, against incumbent MP Blaine Calkins. ^[1]

He gave his first sermon to Toronto's MCC congregation on July 9, 2017, at a service dedicated to the memory of former Toronto City Councillor Pam McConnell. ^[1] He officially succeeded Hawkes on October 1. ^[1] Resigned from his position on January 18, 2023 after a two month leave of absence.^{[ citation needed ]}

Electoral record

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election : Red Deer—Lacombe
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Blaine Calkins	43,599	70.71	-6.72	$75,006.35
	Liberal	Jeff Rock	9,235	14.98	+11.41	$16,605.92
	New Democratic	Doug Hart	7,055	11.44	-2.85	$5,541.40
	Green	Les Kuzyk	1,773	2.88	-1.84	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			61,662	100.00		$224,841.10
Total rejected ballots			176	0.28	–
Turnout			61,838	71.40	–
Eligible voters			86,609
	Conservative hold		Swing		-9.07
Source: Elections Canada [5] [6]

References

1. "Rock moves on to take up new ministry in Toronto". Red Deer Advocate , July 14, 2017.
2. "Rev. Jeff Rock to lead Toronto LGBTQ congregation" Archived 2017-07-19 at the Wayback Machine . RDNews Now, July 13, 2017.
3. "Meet Jeff Rock, the scientist who became a Toronto pastor". The Globe and Mail , July 14, 2017.
4. "Local church embraces LGBTQ community". Red Deer Advocate , March 24, 2017.
5. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Red Deer—Lacombe (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
6. "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2020-02-02.