Marc Rossier, pastor

I shouldn’t ask you the question, but I will even so : do you like your work ?

Certain aspects of my career are really fulfilling, but others are hard. The important thing is to find a direction to guide me in what I do and what I live for, in the difficult periods. During easy periods, the direction comes by itself.

Can I truly talk of a vocation ? No voice from the heavens has said to me « You will be a minister of the church », but I have the impression of having been led step-by-step to this career, sometimes even against my wishes, and forced to overcome my fears. Finally, I could envisage no other career.

So, at what moment did the call come ?

To become a pastor simply because my father was one seemed to me the worst of reasons. I therefore chose to go to the Polytechnic School to study mechanics. After two years, full-time, I came to a dead stop, on an internal impulse : but was I to do then ?

I had to choose between becoming a pastor or a fireman, requiring not just action but also a reflection on questions of life and death. I chose to give service to Him who gave me Life, even without truly knowing who He was. I trusted Him : if there was anyone who ought to know how to use my life better, it was above all Him. What’s fascinating is to search for the meaning of life and to search for it with others.

And have you found it ?

Found it, no : the truth is like a horizon which moves away progressively as one advances. What I particularly like within the Christian faith is this notion of hope.

My job is demanding, it’s true : it requires love at every moment : first, love for myself and then love for others. That’s something which is not always evident.

Here’s a little anecdote about business: The Big Boss postponed the annual dinner until the end of time. I said to myself that he had found the knack of making his staff live in hope and trust !

024 492 32 10

marc.rossier@protestant-vaud.ch

Translation : Gordon Douglas