Credentials

The Clergy Support Memorial Church Board was in full agreement to certify the Rev. Jeff Baker to the Office of Appointed Designated Minister – Outreach Ministry on June 28, 2021. Rev. Jeff has been a devout follower of Christ his entire life, and his faith journey has shown the signs of maturing faith, seeking to find God’s love more fully and equitably. We found him to be a responsible, easy going, active parent who wants to serve his community. While he is well versed in Holy Scripture, Jeff also knows that God’s word transcends the written word, and he was looking for ministry opportunities that goes beyond that of his former traditional church background. He believes he has found a place with Clergy Support Memorial and looks forward to a long term relationship with us.

Academic Credentials

• Graduate Certificate – Canadian Ministers Institute, 2021
• Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy and Religious Studies) – Tyndale University College and Seminary, 2010

Spirituality

Jeff is a person of prayer and devotion to scripture. He is a life-long student of his faith as he matures and grows in faith, aiming to reflect Christ’s love and actions in today’s world and society. In his efforts to become more aware of what scripture spoke to him, Rev. Jeff decided to enroll in seminary to become a pastor, stemming from his baptismal calling to serve God’s people more fully and completely. Jeff’s spirituality can be described as a growing spirituality in discovering that God is so much bigger than human understanding and institutions, and he is called to bring God to everyone, especially those who have a hunger for God, but are not able to seek God in more traditional churches. This spirituality is rooted in the ancient mystic tradition of the church, which seeks union with God, and love and justice for all of God’s people and the rest of creation.

Rev. Jeff is an active member in the LGBTQ2PIA+ community, and he works tirelessly to advocate for queer rights, with a special focus on providing support to members of the community who had been rejected by the mainstream churches. He has many years of experience in advocacy, community integration and life skills coaching gained through his full-time employment as an Autism Support Associate.

Giving back and Pastoral Care

Rev. Jeff saw the need for a more inclusive and safer place where queer people can seek union with God, so he planted an online church called Chosen Family Church, which he leads as pastor. He offers online by-weekly worship services that welcome anyone and everyone seeking to be in touch with their faith in a welcoming and affirming environment. He also offers one-on-one mentorship and discipleship.

Jeff is a strong advocate for neurodiversity and mental health awareness in religious spaces, and he is called upon to meet with family and friends of people living with mental health challenges in a supportive way, assisting them to discover other supports available to them to better understand their loved one’s illness, as well as being a moral and spiritual support for the family members as well as the individuals affected. Rev. Jeff also makes inspirational/devotional videos for the community, which can be seen on Tik-Tok, Facebook and YouTube.

Personal Growth

His experience as queer and with the queer community provides fertile ground for his ministry, particularly with the challenges imposed by his former mainstream church. Rev. Jeff has had to rethink many of his previously held tenets of faith, and he is happy to face those personal internal struggles with an open heart and mind. Jeff continues to experience grace and is humbled by the opportunity to delve into the deeper mysteries. He knows he does not have to have all the answers, but that the journey is long and wide enough for a variety of perspectives, life experiences and faiths, while maintaining his own deeply rooted Christian faith.

Hobbies

Jeff is a musician and an artist who finds joy in sharing his gifts with others. He has been blessed with a musical family, and he is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a vocal coach. Rev. Jeff finds music helps to ground him and he finds it is a powerful tool to connect with God.

He has always loved comics and digital animation, being an accomplished and published animator in several magazines, as well as his own published book for his long running comic strip, “Two by Two”, which is autobiographical about being a pastor and parenting twins.