John Arendzen was educated privately at home and then attended St Mary's College, Oscott.
From 1900 to 1903 he served as parish priest for Sacred Heart Church, St Ives, while matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge, taking his BA in 1901.
In 1902 a local benefactor purchased the church and had it dismantled and brought by barge to All Saints parish in St. Ives.
Upon the cardinal's death that same year, the project was continued by the small group of five priests he had gathered, which included his nephew, also named Herbert Vaughn.
[3] He and his brother Alphonse, also a member of the Catholic Missionary Society, both served at the parish of St Mary Magdalen in Willesden Green.