Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the career of two United Church ministers, Carol Fletcher and Jeff Cook.
At the end of June, Carol and Jeff will retire after 35 years of ministry at Transcona Memorial United Church, serving the congregation and the wider community. In the course of their exemplary community ministry, Carol and Jeff have answered Jeremiah's call to seek the welfare of the city we are in.
Since coming to TMUC in 1988, their stewardship has supported the Transcona Food Bank, Families Connecting groups, the nursery school, the Transcona Council for Seniors, the Transcona scouting movement, and put Transcona on the map with the world messy church movement, among other things.
In recognition that Jesus loves us as we are, Jeff and Carol guided our congregation to formally becoming an affirming ministry. They created opportunities to learn what it means to live as treaty people, and they fostered connections with newcomers, nurturing English conversation groups and most recently providing support to people from Ukraine.
On behalf of the congregation and the wider community, I thank Jeff and Carol for their good work and wish them all the best in their next chapter.