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The Community Church family has enjoyed getting
to know Bill and Marguerite Arnold, a wonderful couple that the Lord has
sovereignly brought into our fellowship.
Marguerite
was born in Chicago, Illinois. She and her younger sister were taken to Sunday
School at an Episcopalian Church. The girls really enjoyed the lessons and
think the teacher must have been a believer because the teaching really stuck.
After their parents’ divorce, the girls were offered no further formal religious
instruction but Marguerite was a seeker of God and would follow her Catholic
school mates to catechism, wanting so badly to be back in the presence of God.
Without discipleship and guidance, it’s easy to drift on to different things and
Marguerite floated to different churches here and there, even attending a new
age Unity church for a time.
Marguerite
had two children in her early twenties by her first husband. She regrets that
she did not raise them up in the Lord as the Lord commands that we do, but the
Lord had His hand on her and no matter what she did, His will was going to be
done in her life. Marguerite met Bill when she was 33, working and raising her
children, while Bill was a devoted dad to his three children. They slowly
developed a relationship which Marguerite laughs didn’t start with “sparks.”
Bill really had to pursue her and she is grateful that he did!
Bill
was born in Exeter, England, in a non-Christian family. When he was really
young, 6 or 7 years old, Bill remembers attending Sunday School at First Baptist
Church and being baptized there on his own, which was amazing with no foundation
in the Lord at home, but when the family left Virginia, he did not attend
church. His father was a career serviceman in the Navy and the family moved
around quite a bit. Bill and his younger brother went to 4 or 5 different high
schools. The family lived in Norfolk, VA, then Puerto Rico for a few years,
Texas, New York City, and when Bill’s dad retired in 1961, the family moved west
to California.
Like
Marguerite, Bill was a seeker and the Arnolds continued their pursuit of God,
studying eastern religion among other things. They remember the early years of
their marriage being somewhat empty and tumultuous, with the stress of life and
jobs consuming them. The couple decided that they needed something in their
lives and had to find out who God really was. They started attending the Jack
Hayford “Church on the Way,” which they found kind of bizarre, but they had such
limited understanding of pure doctrine. They went to another charismatic church
where the Lord impressed upon Bill that “This stuff isn’t right.” Marguerite
laughs because Bill had even less of a foundation than she had and yet Bill was
sensitive to the leadings of the Lord. At another church, the couple befriended
a woman who loved the teachings at Grace Community Church. The Arnolds visited
the church and Marguerite walked through the door and nearly cried. “Oh, this
is it! This is the teaching I’ve been longing for!” The Arnolds were members
of Grace Community Church for many years and the Lord continued the work with
them that he had begun back when they were children.
Bill and Marguerite worked their whole lives.
When they met, Bill worked for the Los Angeles Police Department as a civilian
employee, a mechanic working towards being a supervisor. Marguerite was working
for doctors but she needed a steadier job with benefits. Bill encouraged her to
apply at the police department and she became a 911 operator, a blessing for her
and the beginning of the Arnold’s life settling in where God wanted them to be,
at the church that He led them to, in good jobs, and in a healthy marriage where
they could grow together in the Lord. They began to plan for retirement near
the beach up the coast and chose Port Hueneme. Their hunt for a home church
there ended in frustration and they commuted to Grace Community for many years,
an undertaking that was difficult as it was hard to keep connected and it was
often easy to stay home on a Sunday. Their church life took a rocky road for 7
years, which felt like 7 years in the desert. Eventually they moved to Santa
Barbara where, while researching local churches on the web, Marguerite chanced
upon the Community Church website. She loved the links, agreed with the
doctrinal statement, and broke down in tears when she realized how starved for
teaching and fellowship they had been. They jumped right in like they had
always been at Community Church and don’t mind the 30 mile commute a bit.
The
Arnolds have 4 boys and 1 girl between them ranging in age from 35-48, 7
grandkids, and 2 great-grandkids. The Arnolds are thankful for their family,
although they live far away. They spend their time going to church and bible
studies, serving with the Gideons and wherever they are able. Bill uses his
mechanic skills to diagnose car problems. They don’t know how they ever made
time for jobs! As Blain taught a few Sundays ago, the Arnolds do not care very
much where they live, nor do they feel the need to put down roots. Like
Abraham, they are traveling through, waiting for the city that God is building.
The Lord has had His hand on them their entire
lives, drawing them, causing them to breathe, teaching them, strengthening them
throughout Bill’s battle with colon cancer, 2 knee replacements, and a hip
replacement. The couple’s favorite verse is Eph 2: 1-10 which starts with “But
God…,” their favorite 2 words in the bible.
Interview by Anjie Park |
