Community Spotlight: Cathy Victor

This week our spotlight lands on Cathy Victor, who has graced our community with her preaching, presence, and positivity for some time now. Please enjoy this spotlight on Cathy and getting to see her a little clearer.

Tell us a little about yourself/selves.

You can read my biography on the abbeychurch website.

 How did you find yourself at AbbeyChurch? What continues to draw you here?

 Last year I became aware of the Abbey through several friends who had gone to worship there, and I was curious to experience worship in a new and fresh way.

I am attracted to the multifaceted style of worship, where the music, the liturgy and varied denominational practices blend together in a peaceful, meditative way.

As a Presbyterian pastor, I find the Abbey to be a space where I can simply take a deep breath and worship, amid an added sense of lightness.

 Tell us a bit about your faith journey. Was there a spiritual background to your childhood?

 As a kid growing up in Winnipeg, I attended a United Church with my family. There were many things there that drew me in; the beauty of the sanctuary, singing my first solos as a young kid, going to church camp, but there was one significant moment that stands out. I was in hospital for an extended period. My family was worried. One Sunday afternoon my minister came to see me carrying a big bouquet of flowers, that had been in the sanctuary that morning. All I remember thinking was, ‘That’s for me? I’m just a kid!’ My minister’s kindness still blesses me. My Ukrainian grandparents were Ukrainian Catholic, and some of the small experiences I had in that world also made an impact.

A few years later in Montreal the United church youth group I attended, started meeting with other youth groups from different churches. And I met Ian, the young man I would later marry. The Presbyterian minister leading the gatherings became a close friend and eventually married us.

My faith journey has gone down a lot of different roads all across this country. I studied Fine Arts, we had three kids, I worked with people with special needs, and eventually I was ordained. My husband Ian was ordained soon after we were married, and so it was churches that called us all over. Unfortunately he died suddenly eleven years ago.

 How do you fill your time? What brings you joy?

 I do find joy in so many ways though. I have pastored a number of churches, and been a chaplain in a children’s hospital and in a long term care home. I think now, I feel like I’m a bit of an undercover chaplain in the community, especially among the homeless that I chat with. Those moments are a source of joy. I carry socks and granola bars in my car to hand out to those begging for help. I love our conversations. Now that I’m technically retired my painting studio fills more time than it has in the past. I love that too.

 What is a cause or concern that moves you deeply/ that you are passionate about?

 Another thing that  is close to my heart is being an ally to my gender fluid grand kid. We spend as much time together as possible, and being an ally within the LGBTQ+ community that deals with so much judgement, is of huge importance to me.

 Where do you sense God is at work today - in yourself, in our community, in the world?

God seems to be unburying gifts that have laid dormant in my life for some time. And so, for me, I seem to be in a liminal time, and I trust that God’s ‘Secret Providence’ will guide me across new thresholds with an open heart.