{{Infobox clergy , honorific_prefix =

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

, name = Jeff Rock , honorific_suffix = , image = , image_size = , alt = , caption = , birth_name = , birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date, 35, 2019, 07, 14 , birth_place =

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada , death_date = , death_place = , death_cause = , other_names = , education =

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, alma_mater = , occupation = , years_active = , religion =

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, spouse = , children = , parents = , relations = , church =

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

(2017-2023)

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

, ordained = , writings = , congregations =

Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is a welcoming congregation openly affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and ...

, offices_held = , title = , website = , signature = , signature_alt = , footnotes = , child = Jeff Rock (born {{birth based on age as of date, 33, 2017, 07, 14, noage=1) is a Canadian clergyman, who succeeded

Brent Hawkes Brent Hawkes (born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian gay rights activist and clergyman at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), which is an international LGBT-affirmi ...

as the pastor of the

in fall 2017."Rev. Jeff Rock to lead Toronto LGBTQ congregation"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719145558/http://www.rdnewsnow.com/article/545094/rev-jeff-rock-take-major-role-toronto-lgbtq-congregation , date=2017-07-19 . ''RDNews Now'', July 13, 2017. Born and raised in

, he came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

in high school."Meet Jeff Rock, the scientist who became a Toronto pastor"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', July 14, 2017. He studied microbiology and immunology at

, initially with the career goal of becoming an

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

researcher, although he decided during his studies that he instead wanted to become a minister. After completing his seminary studies, he became the pastor of Gaetz Memorial United Church in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

,"Local church embraces LGBTQ community"
''

Red Deer Advocate The ''Red Deer Advocate'' is a twice-weekly newspaper in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It publishes Wednesday and Saturday and is owned by Black Press. History The newspaper was first established in 1901 as the ''Red Deer Echo'', changing its n ...

'', March 24, 2017. 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. He ran as a

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

candidate for the electoral district of

Red Deer—Lacombe Red Deer—Lacombe was an electoral district in Alberta from 2015 to 2025. It was created in 2012 from the more urbanized southern portion of Wetaskiwin (51%) and the northern portion of Red Deer (49%). The riding was originally intended to be ...

in the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

, against incumbent MP

Blaine Calkins Blaine F. Calkins (born December 25, 1968) is a Conservative member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. He is the current member of Parliament for Ponoka—Didsbury in Alberta, having previously represented the riding of Red Deer� ...

."Rock moves on to take up new ministry in Toronto"
''

'', July 14, 2017. 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 Pamela Margaret McConnell (February 14, 1946 – July 7, 2017) was a Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council. She was first elected to the Metro Toronto Council in 1994, representing a series of downtown Toronto wards until 2017. ...

. He officially succeeded Hawkes on October 1. Resigned from his position on January 18, 2023 after a two month leave of absence.{{cn, date=July 2023

Electoral record

{{Canadian election result/top, CA, 2015, Red Deer—Lacombe, percent=yes, change=yes, expenditures=yes {{CANelec, CA, Conservative,

, 43,599, 70.71, -6.72, $75,006.35 {{CANelec, CA, Liberal, Jeff Rock, 9,235, 14.98, +11.41, $16,605.92 {{CANelec, CA, NDP, Doug Hart, 7,055, 11.44, -2.85, $5,541.40 {{CANelec, CA, Green, Les Kuzyk, 1,773, 2.88, -1.84, – {{Canadian election result/total, Total valid votes/Expense limit, 61,662, 100.00, , $224,841.10 {{Canadian election result/total, Total rejected ballots, 176, 0.28, – {{Canadian election result/total, Turnout, 61,838, 71.40, – {{Canadian election result/total, Eligible voters, 86,609 {{CANelec/hold, CA, Conservative, -9.07 {{CANelec/source, Source:

Elections Canada Elections Canada () is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering elections in Canada, Canadian federal elections and Referendums in Canada, referendums. History Elections Canada is an agency of the Parliament of Canada, and reports ...

{{Cite web , url=http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand%2Fcanlim&document=index&lang=e , title=Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates , access-date=2020-02-02 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045200/http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand%2Fcanlim&document=index&lang=e , archive-date=2016-03-04 , url-status=dead {{end

References

{{Reflist, 30em {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock, Jeff 1980s births Living people Activists from Ontario Canadian Protestant ministers and clergy Canadian gay politicians LGBTQ Protestant clergy Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Metropolitan Community Church clergy Candidates in the 2015 Canadian federal election Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament Politicians from Greater Sudbury Politicians from Toronto Clergy from Toronto McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Ministers of the United Church of Canada 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people {{Canada-reli-bio-stub