Saint Andrew’s welcomes Rev. Victor Vaus
Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian Church began a new chapter this past Sunday with the installation and ordination of their new minister, the Reverend Victor Vaus. Born and raised in Montreal, Vaus comes to the ministry at Saint Andrew’s, by his account, both as a second career and as the culmination of a lifelong journey of faith.
“I’m from probably the last generation that was raised ‘church’,” Vaus said, explaining that he has no sudden revelation story to tell about the decision to turn to clergy in his middle age. “I’ve been attending church all of my life.”
A Sunday school teacher and active member of his home Lutheran congregation into his late teens, Vaus said that he turned down his then-minister’s suggestion that he study theology in favour of a degree in commerce. That degree, in turn, was to serve as his ticket into the Canadian Armed Forces, where he had dreams of becoming an armour officer.
“Life doesn’t always work out just the way you have planned,” the minister said
with a smile, explaining that complications with his hearing disqualified him from his dream posting and sent him packing for the world of business by age 25.
Instead of becoming a military man, Vaus turned to the world of sales and marketing. He moved for work first to Toronto, and then later to the United States where he ended up living for ten years, mostly in Houston, Texas.
“I ended up with a pretty high powered job,” Vaus shared. “I was doing very well in a material sense; I had all the toys, I had two houses, the big cars and the Harleys in the garage, and I just came to realize that I was unhappy.”
Although he had everything a person could want to be living the “American dream,” Vaus said that his life felt meaningless and void.
“If I could be the poster boy for anything, it’s that money doesn’t make you happy. I suspect that a lot of people, when you tell them that, think you’re just lying, but I know it to be true,” the minister said, describing himself as having worshiped wealth. “It led me more and more to consider the road not taken, and the more I reflected on it and prayed about it, the more I realized that I just couldn’t not do it anymore.”
After what he said was a long process of discernment, Vaus left his job and moved back to Canada intending, at first, to pursue theological studies at the University of Toronto. Eventually, however, the need to be close to his aging parents brought the man full circle and returned him to Mcgill University and the Montreal School of Theology.
While noting that he was surprised to be brought back to settle so close to home after a career that saw him travelling around the world, Vaus said that ultimately, he is very pleased with the turn of events.
“This was sort of my ideal,” the minister said. “I really couldn’t be happier.”
Looking ahead to a new relationship with the worship community at Saintandrew’s, Vaus said that things are starting off on a really positive footing.
“I’m very happy to be called here to Lennoxville. This to me feels like a true gospel call,” he said, explaining that, in the Presbyterian Church a minister cannot be ordained until they are called by a church, and that in this case the call was 100 per cent unanimous on the part of the congregation.“i’ve been so warmly received.”
More than the welcome from the church itself, however, the minister shared that he was touched by the number of neighbouring clergy who came out to his ordination and installation service on Sunday afternoon.
“I was really happy to see so many of the local clergy from other denominations here,” Mentioning having seen leadership from local United, Anglican, and Baptist churches. “I wasn’t expecting it, and it was grand.”
Vaus pointed out that the Montreal School of Theology represents a partnership of the United, Anglican, and Presbyterian theological colleges.
“We share time and resources with Dio, the Anglican college, and the United College. While that is not without its challenges at times, it is a good experience,” the minister said. “It is my intention to be ecumenical in my approach here in Lennoxville, because I think that is important.”
Although life took him far from home, Vaus speculated that he is better equipped to serve in a community in rural Quebec than others might be because of the fact that he was raised in the province and knows the social context. Similarly, although he admitted that his French is a little rusty after more than a decade out of province, it’s far from having to start from scratch.
Asked about whether he sees any relevant transfer in skills between his work in the world of sales and marketing and his call to the church, Vaus considered the question carefully before answering that, “my role, particularly in the last few years of my career was to identify opportunities and to build relationships. I definitely think that those are skills that will be transferrable.”
Though the former salesman stressed the fact that the kind of leadership needed in the church is very different from that espoused in the business world, he said that he felt the core idea of looking for new ideas and building community connections has value.
“I’m not here to tell anyone what to do, we’re all here to serve God,” the minister said.
Now 57 years down the road of life, Vaus said that even if things have twisted and turned in ways he didn’t quite expect, he’s very pleased with where he finds himself today.
“I’m finally answering my call, and I have no other words for it but thank God!” he said, thankful to have meaningful purpose in his life. “I truly understand myself to be answering God’s call, and in doing that I feel tremendously fulfilled. I feel good about the world.”