Graduate Profiles |
Introducing Quentin Vandermeulen
Hello there. I’m Quentin Vandermeulen. If I’ve been on your pulpit, you may remember me as the young man who preaches in cowboy boots. My distinctive footwear says more about me than one may realize. I purchased my first pair of boots after my first semester of seminary as a way of reminding me of where I came from and where I'm going. I grew up on a farm outside of Carman, Manitoba, which was hard to leave behind. The boots testify to my origin, but also to my future of sojourning. In ministry, I may have many homes, but my eyes are on my true home (Heb 11:10). By these boots I am reminded where God has led me and where he has promised to bring me.
My first home was in Carman where I was born the youngest of five boys. I was aptly named Quentin, which means fifth son. I was raised in a loving Christian home and went to a Christian school. When I was small, I wanted to be a minister but also a farmer. I look back on doing chores fondly, but if you ask my family, they might say I tended to wander off when the real work started. I was a teenager when I began to enjoy working both at school and in the local Co-op grocery store. I forgot about ministry in these years. So, after graduation, I chose to pursue a career with the Co-op. Within a year, I received management training and was offered a job running a grocery store in Treherne, Manitoba.
Treherne is about a 45-minute drive from Carman, although I doubt that places the town on the map any better. While sojourning in this town of about 800 people, I learned things like finance, time management, community relations, and leadership. Over three years I learned what life looks like without God as I was integrated into this unchristian community. I was confronted by my own need for God as well, and I called to him, and he answered me. God began to work a deeper love for him in me through his Word. While I was beginning to feel a soft voice calling to share the gospel, I also heard a louder voice. In God’s providential time, our federation put out a call for young men to consider the ministry. I heard this from the pulpit and felt compelled to pursue a higher education and maybe a higher calling.
In three quick years, I earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba. Over these three years, I wrestled with the thought of going to seminary and becoming a preacher. My heart convicted me to apply as my desire to serve grew stronger. I was accepted at CRTS and so I packed up the box of my little red truck with all my possessions and moved to Hamilton, Ontario.
Through the last four years, God has blessed me inside and outside of the Seminary. I have grown in my knowledge of God as well as my desire to proclaim his gospel. I had many wonderful internships that took me across the world, with Dr. Jeff Temple in Hamilton, with Rev. David Pol in Papua New Guinea, and with Rev. Axel Haag of the FRCA in Western Australia. Most recently I completed a preaching internship with Rev. Tyler Vandergaag in Guelph. I was enriched by all these internships and learned a great deal from these men and their church families.
I have come a long way in these cowboy boots and the Lord has guided me in the good times I’ve mentioned but also in the challenges that I haven’t mentioned. I know that where I have been God has been with me, and wherever I go I trust that God will lead me.
Lord willing, this summer I hope to continue growing in my aptitude for pastoral ministry by leading worship in the Caledonia Canadian Reformed Church here in Ontario. Recognizing that gospel ministry is a high calling, this fall I will prayerfully consider returning to Classis Manitoba for the preparatory exam, in order to become eligible for call in the churches.