Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a little known fact to some people may be that October is Clergy Appreciation Month. Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of being raised in a home where I went to church all my life. I must say I love church. My father was a deacon in a church and back in those days we even had church on Sunday nights. When the rest of my siblings wanted to stay home and watch The Wonderful World of Disney, I wanted to go to church with my dad, and I certainly remember and value those precious times that I had with my dad and that constitutes a lot of my memories of him.
Mr. Speaker, I have been a member of the Hay River Pentecostal Chapel for over 35 years and then when I first came to Yellowknife, I had to find a church to go. But it was cool, because I told my kids whatever church they wanted to go to, that’s where we would go. So I have had the privilege of going to the Baptist, Pentecostal, Alliance, Church of Christ and the Vineyard Church here in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I tell you this to say that I have gotten to know many of the clergy throughout the Northwest Territories.
In Hay River, we have a really interesting thing. We have a Ministerial Association, which is the pastors of all the churches get together on a regular basis and they sponsor community events. When we see them out having coffee together, we call them the God Squad.
---Laughter
But over my years in the North, Mr. Speaker, as I have said, I have had a chance to meet clergy from all denominations.
Mr. Speaker, we have Nurses Week, we have Teachers Week, Social Workers Week, we celebrate the valued work of many different professions who serve our communities, and today I would like to recognize the valuable contribution of our clergy across the North, past and present; our bishops, pastors, priests, captains, youth pastors and lay-clergy. There are 168 hours in a week taking 1 percent of our time to pause and turn our minds to eternal things is only 1 percent of our entire week, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest, especially for families to help build a strong faith that will stand their children in good times, in highs and lows of life, is time well invested.
Unlike many other organizations, Mr. Speaker, churches rely on the support of our parishioners, so I also encourage people to support their churches and their clergy financially. You might be amazed at the blessings that will come when you bless other people. For those who work in our communities to provide spiritual guidance and support to families at times of loss, at times of joy, baby baptisms, dedications, those who are ill, who visit in our hospitals, who provide spiritual counsel in our prisons, Mr. Speaker, today I would like to thank them all. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
