Rev. Brian Daoust

Why did you choose to become a minister?
I knew I wanted to be Presbyterian. I grew up Presbyterian, and it always felt like home. I worked for a Baptist church, Methodist church and a Catholic hospital. I have visited and worshipped with a myriad of other denominations and faith traditions. While I gained much from these experiences and retain the best parts, it confirmed for me that I am a Presbyterian.

In kindergarten, I wanted to be a paleontologist… and then later, a magician… and then, for quite a while, a hostage negotiator (very similar to youth ministry).

When I started college, I was mostly considering law or working for the FBI. After my first summer working for the district attorney’s office back home and then a Presbyterian camp, I knew I wanted to work with kids. Several more summers of working for churches put me on the path to seminary and ordained ministry.

What is your role at Wellshire?
I plan and lead all the middle school and high school programming with a great team of young adult volunteers. I guide the young adult groups. I also plan and lead retreats, mission trips, service events and worship.

What is the greatest thing about being a minister at Wellshire?
For me, the best part of my job is the youth and young adults with whom I get to work, and working for a church that supports them with so many resources and so much time, love and prayer.

What is the biggest opportunity for our Wellshire community?
Wellshire's biggest opportunity is to share it's time and treasure with the community in need — to be Christ's hands and feet in Denver.
       
How would you describe your personal theology?
My theology is always developing as I read, study, and live out scripture in my life and ministry. I’m always hesitant to take any one verse out of the context of the entirety of scripture, but I’m always eager to live out the strong emphasis of the Old and New Testament to strive for justice and mercy for all God’s people.

It is important for me to struggle with the tensions in scripture and the difficulty of reading all of it – and not just the sections to which I’m partial. It’s important for me to spread the good news of eternal life, as well as what Christ modeled for this life.

What is the most memorable sermon you’ve ever given?
The most memorable sermon for me was one I preached at a small, country Methodist church in Studley, Virginia. I preached on Acts 17:22-32 – Paul preaching to the Greeks at Aeropagus.

My sermon was about how each of us may show others how we love them differently at different stages of life. I shared the advice that my mother gave me, “You can’t reach someone you don’t love.” Love is the most important part of sharing yourself and sharing the good news.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?
Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O Man, what is good: and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”

I love this verse because it holds two great and important imperatives together in tension: justice and mercy. There is temptation to neglect mercy when seeking justice… and temptation to fail in acting justly when we offer nothing but compassion.

The only way to wisely hold these two ideas together and act both of them out in balance is to walk humbly with God, seeking wisdom from scripture and from our faith community when we are in doubt.

Where do you find inspiration?
I am inspired by scripture, books, poems, magazines and blogs. But I’m probably most inspired by films and the everyday interactions I have with friends and strangers.

What are the things that make you happiest?
Quality time with people… Staying up ‘til all hours of the night… An old or new, good movie… My youth… Mission trips… Baptisms… Camping… And glass-bottle Cokes…

When you’re not at Wellshire, where are you likely to be?
Watching movies or out walking my border collie.

What is one thing that very few people know about you?
Nothing can lift my spirits more than a Christmas episode of almost any TV show.