Name

Marvin Ancell

What was your life style like when you decided to follow Jesus?

I was living with my parents in Colorado, in the USA. We were going to church at the Cortez Church of Christ. My life-style was wrapped up around school, my push bike, family matters.

What year were you baptized? What age were you?

I was baptized in 1960, at ten years of age.

Where did you begin to worship and what was your first impression of the church?

I first started going to church in Dove Creek, Colorado. It is a very small town and we met in the cafeteria of the primary school. There were only about 20 people in the congregation and we had a man come from Cortez to preach for us. But we did have bible classes and they were my favorite part of things.

As for my ‘first impressions’, I do not recall them all that well as this was back in the mid 1950’s. What I do recall is that there was a real push to get the church into every community in that part of Colorado. I found church to be exciting and at times boring, as all children do. I liked learning about the different characters and it all seemed to be ‘right’ and that was good with me.

What difficulties / challenges did you have in striving to be like Jesus?

When I first became a Christian, I struggled with being ‘different’ now. I talked with the kids in my class about ‘being Christian’, and how that was to make you different. I did not know for certain what the different life required, but it required that I was to be different. It was what was preached at church. I felt proud to be a Christian for many ways that were good, and in particular I felt proud because now I got to partake of communion, for this was the center of worship for us in those days. It was one thing to know that Jesus was God’s Son and that He took away our sins, but it was another thing all together to know how to live for Him. It was something that they talked about, but they did not ever talk about how we who were young in age were to go about it. That was a very big struggle for me.

What challenges did you have in feeling part of the Lord’s body?

I can’t really say that I felt any problem in feeling a part of the Lord’s church. I was and that was all there was to it. Most of the people at church worked for my dad and or with him from time to time and so we were all very much in each others back pockets, being a farming community, all of the time. I did feel that it was hard from the point of view that I was a shy kid and yet I wanted some recognition. There were lots of us in that position, afraid and yet hungry. From my congregation and age group there were 14 of us, six of whom went on to full time ministry. It is a very nurturing group of people that surrounded us.

What principles of the Restoration movement (restoring Christianity to be as it is in the New Testament) are important to you?

I believe that the restoration of full immersion baptism is very important, being an essential that was long neglected. I also believe that the idea of a multiple number of bishops, working with only one congregation is important. I hold the idea of liberty in matters of opinion very high and I hold the idea of true purity in doctrine even higher.

What did you think about having no musical instruments in worship?

Again, growing up in the church it was not a problem for me. It was just how things were done and a part of what those who were smarter than me thought was necessary. We did have some sermons on musical instruments but the great challenge was not at worship, but at home. Some said that the Christian should not play any hymns on a mechanical instrument. This was a challenge for me and for my family as we all played musical instruments and we were not the only ones in the congregation to do so. This concerned me greatly because my Dad loved music more than all of us and this was a sticking point for him in becoming a Christian. As for the church side, I liked the idea of just singing for to me it was a very special thing.

What spiritual interest did you have before becoming a Christian?

Baseball – baseball – baseball. I was a kid and that was what we all did, even after church services. This was my world, and it was ‘spiritual’ to me in many ways. However, I also wanted to be right with God, and because we had very evangelistic sermons, I knew that I was not right with God. My true spiritual interest was in being right with God. Fairness, how to win and have fun at the same time, and other ‘game originated’ ideas came into my mind and helped frame my interest in God and all things Godly. I was not so much focused on any one thing, spiritually, other than being right and acting towards every thing with a more right sort of thinking. This pursuit of that which was right, caused me to ask some questions and the answers I got did not always answer my question. I developed very early an interest in how to answer the questions of ‘living for Jesus’.

What is important to you, in how you walk in Jesus today?

I still want to be right and I am still asking questions. I want things to make sense and to find the over all pattern where real sense is connected with one idea flowing into the next idea. Of particular interest to me at this time is the doctrine of ‘grace’ and how we can tolerate each other more openly and to give each other the same kind of love that God gives us.

Where do you worship today? Approximately how many brethren?

I worship at the Belmore Road congregation in Melbourne, Victoria. There are about 110 of us when everyone is there. The normal size of the worship service is about 94 on any given Sunday.

What roles do you carry out in the church?

I serve as the evangelist here and I get to do a great deal of teaching and visiting, along with lots and lots of planning and motivation work. I also do some of the counseling and some of the preaching.