Rev. Brent Hawkes (born in Bath, New Brunswick) is a Canadian clergyman. Since 1977, he has served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto for LGBT parishioners, and is one of Canada's leading gay rights activists. Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope was restored) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Area 72 908 km² (8th) • Land 71 450 km² • Water 1 458 km² (2. ... see also Holy Orders The following terms have traditional meanings for the Anglican Church, and possibly beyond: A churchman is in principle a member of a church congregation, in practice someone in holy orders. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... In 1973, a group of individuals wrote to the head office of the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles requesting that they send someone to Toronto to start a new church. ... LGBT (or GLBT) is an initialism used as a collective term to refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also...

Born into a Baptist family, Hawkes has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Allison University, and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity degrees from Trinity College, an Anglican institution at the University of Toronto. His church serves as a faith community for about 575 congregants at regular Sunday worship. Hawkes also presides over the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto Christmas Eve Service, which is held at Roy Thomson Hall and regularly draws an audience of around 4,000 people, making it the largest Christmas Eve service in Canada. Jump to: navigation, search Baptist churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded as an Evangelical, Protestant denomination. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B., from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... Located in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, Mount Allison University was founded in 1839 by a local Methodist merchant, Charles Frederick Allison. ... Master of Divinity is a common degree among theological seminaries and is considered the minimum academic requirement for ordination into pastoral ministry. ... Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree. ... Jump to: navigation, search Trinity College main building The University of Trinity College, or simply Trinity College is one of the federated colleges making up the modern University of Toronto. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Jump to: navigation, search Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada. ... See also Christmas The Christmas Eve (1904-05), watercolor painting by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919) Christmas Eve, December 24, the day before Christmas Day, is treated to a greater or a lesser extent in most Christian societies as part of the Christmas festivities. ... Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall in Toronto, Canada. ...

He has served on the advisory committee of PrideVision, and on the board of directors for Egale Canada. In addition to his advocacy work on GLBT issues, he has supported anti-racist initiatives, drawn attention to poverty and poor housing, and advocated the ordination of female priests. PrideVision is a Canadian gay and lesbian interest television station which airs programming from educational to adult. ... Egale Canada was founded in 1986 to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people and their families, across Canada. ...

He received the City of Toronto Award of Merit in 1994, and a Global Citizen Award from the United Nations Toronto Association in 1995. He has also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Metropolitan Community Church represented by the denomination's founder, Rev. Troy Perry. In addition to his pastoral work, Hawkes is a member of the UFMCC Strategic Growth Initiative. Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Jump to: navigation, search The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Metropolitan Community Church (in full, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches or UFMCC) is an international fellowship of Protestant Christian congregations. ... Rev Elder Troy D Perry founded the Metropolitan Community Church, a Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry amongst the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968. ...

Hawkes briefly entered political life in the mid-1990s. In the Ontario provincial election of 1995, Hawkes ran as a candidate of the social-democratic New Democratic Party of Ontario in the riding of St. George—St. David, which has a large GLBT community. He finished a strong third with 9,672 votes, less than one thousand votes behind the winner, Progressive Conservative Al Leach. Ironically, Hawkes's strong showing played a major role in defeating incumbent Liberal Tim Murphy, one of the strongest advocates for gay rights within his party. (Leach's record on gay rights was, by comparison, very scant.) The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... The Ontario New Democratic Party (formerly known as the Ontario Cooperative Commonwealth Federation) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. ... This page refers to a Riding as a unit in local government. ... View of Church Street looking north from Maitland Street Church and Wellesley is a gay-oriented community located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party of Ontario) is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. ... Allan F. Leach (born December 9, 1935 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. ... The Ontario Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. ... This page is about the Canadian politician; for the American politician from Pennsylvania, see Tim Murphy (congressman). ...

On January 14, 2001, Hawkes gained national attention by performing a wedding ceremony for two same-sex couples at the Metropolitan Community Church. Although same-sex marriage was not recognized in Canada at this time, Hawkes argued that the marriages were legal under the rarely-used method of posting official banns. The government of Jean Chrétien did not endorse the marriages, although Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson sent a personal letter of support. On June 10, 2003, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the marriages performed by Hawkes in January 2001 were legal, and struck down the prohibition against same-sex marriage in the province. Jump to: navigation, search January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Metropolitan Community Church (in full, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches or UFMCC) is an international fellowship of Protestant Christian congregations. ... The banns of marriage or, simply the banns, (from an Old English word meaning to summon) are the public announcement from the pulpit that a marriage is going to take place in that church between two specified persons at a specified time. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Right Honourable Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, PC , LL.D (born January 11, 1934) was the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada, serving from November 4, 1993, to December 12, 2003. ... The Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, normally simply known as the Governor General of Canada in French, Gouverneur(e) général(e) is the Canadian representative of the monarch (presently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). ... The Right Honourable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, PC, CC, CMM, COM, CD, LL.D (born February 10, 1939) was the Governor General of Canada from October 7, 1999 to September 27, 2005. ... Jump to: navigation, search June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ontario Court of Appeal is headquarted in downtown Toronto, in historic Osgoode Hall. ...

Hawkes lives in Toronto with John Sproule, his partner of more than twenty years.