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FROM THE BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF PRIMITIVE OR OLD SCHOOL BAPTIST MINISTERS BY DAVID MONTGOMERY AND MARK GREEN:
ELDER NORVEL P. MANN
I was born in Monroe County, West Virginia on March 30, 1936, youngest of the five children of Estel and Geneva Carte Mann.
As far back as I can remember, I had a respect for the truths taught by Primitive Baptists. It was in my late teens, however that God began to open up the Scriptures in a way to convict me of sin and cause me concern about my life. Many preachers visited our home, and I would often find myself listening intently to the conversations that developed during these visits. At this early stage in my experience, I probably received more edification from our preachers in these home visits than I did in their preaching from the pulpits. Finally, on the first Sunday in May 1958, at the age of twenty-two, I came under such deep conviction that I offered myself to the church and was received. At this meeting, I was so overcome with weeping that I could hardly make my desires known to the church. I was baptized in Indian Creek on the last day of May 1958. Elder Ossie Mann performed the baptism, assisted by Elder I. W. Kilby. Elder Kilby was pastor at the time.
My life now definitely took a different turn. Whereas, for some time past I had enjoyed going to services at different Primitive Baptist Churches of the area, I now seemed to live for these meetings and felt like I could hardly wait from one weekend to the next. Because of employment opportunities, my brother, Price and I, along with his wife, Gloria, and their small baby moved to Washington, D.C. While employed there, I was drafted into the United States Army. While so serving, I visited several churches in the states of Georgia and North Carolina, the only states in which I was stationed during my tour of duty followingbasic training in South Carolina.
It was while stationed at Fort Bragg, NC, that I began making frequent trips home to attend church. On the Saturday night before the first Sunday in April 1960, I was called on by my home church to speak for the first time. From that time, I date my entrance into the gospel ministry, for it was at that time, that I promised the Lord, my self, my services and my all. Although often discouraged and seemingly half beaten many times, after almost forty years, my heart is still fixed and my desire to fulfill that promise is still uppermost in my mind.
I was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry by my home church on June 2, 1962, along with Elder Ray Canterbury. The two of us were called to serve the church as joint pastors, the same day we were ordained. Elders in the presbytery were: I. W. Kilby, Ben Farley, H. V. |
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