Ted Colley

Ted was born in Winnipeg, MB, on March 7, 1916. After high school and various jobs, he heeded the call of God to full time service and in 1940 he enrolled in the Winnipeg Bible College. After one year, he went to the newly established Canadian Bible College in Regina, SK, and studied for the ministry. He graduated in a class of 3 in 1943 and was ordained to full time ministry with the Christian and Missionary Alliance church.

Also in 1940, Mardelle, Ted’s future wife, while serving her missionary internship in Moose Jaw, SK, went to a district conference in Winnipeg and took part in a street meeting where she gave her testimony. Ted happened to be in attendance as well and has said ever since that God spoke very clearly to him that she was the one he was going to one day marry. A couple years later, Ted saw Mardelle once again in Regina as she took part on the platform during a youth rally. By this time she was teaching Missions at the Canadian Bible College where Ted attended and romance blossomed. They were married on July 1, 1943, with Rev. Bill H. Brooks officiating.

So in one year, 1943, Ted graduated Bible college, was ordained, married, and after a brief honeymoon at Grand Beach, MB, they moved to Medicine Hat, AB, to start a new Alliance church. It was quite a year!

The church in Medicine Hat was a small group of believers that met in a house with Ted and Mardelle living in a small apartment upstairs. During their ministry, the church was organized and officially became a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. A new building was erected but until the upstairs meeting area was finished, the congregation met in the basement and Ted & Mardelle lived in a small 3 room finished area upstairs while construction work continued.

It was pioneer work and during their 6½ years of ministry (1943 – 1950) in Medicine Hat, they tallied 40 converts, 2 of whom became foreign missionaries. And 2 children of their own – Dan and Jim. The Medicine Hat church thrives to this day.

From January 1950 to June 1956, Ted and Mardelle ministered in Brandon, MB, where they also lived in the basement of the church. It was an old building that was being reconstructed and there was no insulation yet and temperatures fell to 40 below (F) that January. Baths were taken in wash tubs by the furnace. Their washrooms were also used by the congregation. Ted was busy rebuilding the church, mostly by hand and with reclaimed lumber. All the boards were cut to length and nailed and screwed by hand – no power tools in pioneer church work in those days.

Ted had a weekly ½ hour radio broadcast called “Strength For The Day”. The church choir sang, Mardelle did children’s stories and Ted gave a short sermon. It was well received and the church grew as a result. They also borrowed bicycles to do visitation and canvass neighborhoods for Sunday School but Mardelle had trouble on the hills so her brother in Illinois gave them the down payment for their first car – a used 1949 Monarch. They sent out taxis to bring children to Sunday School and one whole orphanage came regularly with their matron. They had special groups like the Wigden Trio minister from time to time and many souls were saved. They lived on what was in the offering plate on Sunday night but at that time, the evening service was not well attended so things were tight. Also, Mardelle’s brother, who was a lawyer in Illinois, would send boxes of clothes that his children had outgrown and Dan and Jim were the best dressed kids in church and didn’t look needy at all. Perhaps they thought Ted and Mardelle were independently wealthy!

In 1956, God called them to Vernon, BC, and another building program. But this time Ted wanted to get into his books more and didn’t want to build so he started a building fund instead. Ted had another radio broadcast called “Echoes of Blessing” for 15 minutes three times a week. When it was his turn to do the ministerial broadcast for the city churches, he had nine 15 minute broadcasts each day of the week so it kept him very busy.

The church rented a parsonage for them was a four room house with a bath and small back porch. The partial basement was mostly saw dust storage for the furnace. The kitchen had one small cupboard, small sink with shelf and a tiny pantry. They even took in a boarder, an assistant bank manager, Ron Thiessen. The boys slept on the sofa in the living room. But Mardelle made it home and could go into the pantry and come out with a cake in no time.

They participated in the 1958 BC centennial in Vernon by entering a float in the parade. The theme was, “To The Moon? No! For Jesus said, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel”. Ted created a rocket ship and big globe for the float with the theme printed on the side. It won 1st prize in its category. Perhaps a little ahead of the times for back then. It was a real blessing to be part of a ministry that has now expanded several times. While in Vernon, Ted was also instrumental in starting the church in Kelowna by holding a prayer meeting in the home of Beryl Neubauer (deceased) who lived there at the time. Later she attended Peace Portal Alliance. There is now a beautiful church in Kelowna. She also gave the first monetary gift to the building fund in Vernon. It was a very full 3½ years.

Then in March 1960, the Lord led Ted and Mardelle to Lethbridge, AB, where there was a more established church with a lovely parsonage. Ted was very glad to have an office so he could get into his books. Dan and Jim were getting older so Ted and Mardelle were more involved with the young people and sponsored the Junior High group. The parsonage was always a centre of activity. There was a need for a youth camp so one was started in the Cypress Hills of SW Saskatchewan.

Chinese services were started during Ted’s ministry and the Chinese pastors boarded at the parsonage with the Colleys. Cecil Westcott helped with the Chinese church and the youth groups held Sunday School for the Chinese children.

Ted had a radio broadcast for a time in Lethbridge but also had a one minute telephone ministry called “Dial-A-Thought” and later, “Dial-A-Prayer”. Folks would call a certain telephone number and hear a pre-recorded message that Ted changed daily. There were over 800 calls a day and God used it once to avert a suicide when Ted had read the lyrics of the song, “I don’t know how God could ever love me, so covered oe’r with sin.” It was a help and blessing to many mostly unknown souls. Heaven will tell the whole story and Ted’s hearing it now.

Reaching out to the community, Pioneer Girls and Boys Brigade were also started for the youth and there was an atmosphere of spiritually based instruction and fun activities. The Boys Brigade enjoyed wilderness camping and orienteering adventures by going hiking and camping in the foothills of the Rockies.

Ted was really enjoying his ministry in Lethbridge and it held many special memories for him and Mardelle and family but after 6 years, in May of 1966, the Lord indicated that it was time to move on.

This time it was to beautiful Vancouver, BC, at the Fraserview Alliance Church. There were 25 Junior High kids in a group that met each week. Jim and Dawn Sawatsky came to help for a couple of years. They ministered to the Senior High kids and graduates but they are more famous for leading the choir because one Christmas they actually performed the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah and were invited to perform in other churches.

In July 1968, the Fraserview celebrated Ted & Mardelle’s 25th anniversary with a big reception and gifts of Royal Albert china and flatware. Mardelle used it on every special occasion and it is now passed down to new Colley generations.

In 1972, Ted left full time ministry for 4 years to care for his 89 year old mother, Ida Colley. Ida came to live with Ted & Mardelle and was a full time job for Mardelle. Ted worked as a manager for Radio Shack and then took on the job of managing a large condo complex in Burnaby. They bought one of the 3 bedroom units in 1972 and it served as a great investment for their elderly years.

During this time, Ted was preaching every Sunday in area Alliance churches and a small independent church in Kitsilano as well as teaching adult Bible Class at Tenth Avenue Alliance. Mardelle became president of the Alliance Women for this zone and started the first Alliance Women’s Retreat. Ted was District Secretary for 15 years during all of this time and also sat on the board of the Canadian Bible College for 3 years.

When Ida passed away in June 1976, Ted heeded the call to the Alliance Church in Everett, WA. It was a well established church with a lovely, big parsonage right next door. Mardelle’s puppet ministry started here and they performed 10 musicals with the muppet-like puppets. They were used to minister in Vacation Bible School and a lot of money was raised for missions as a result. Their son Dan worked with them in the Everett church as the music and CE director.

Then in March 1983, it was time to retire. They moved back to Canada and settled in White Rock, BC, and one night attended services at Peace Portal Alliance where Fred and Eleanor Ott attended. They were the very first couple that Ted married way back in Medicine Hat. That night Pastor Gifford invited Ted to join the staff in a part-time ministry of visitation and pastor to the seniors and he came on staff in August, 1983.

In July 1993, Peace Portal recognized their 50th wedding anniversary as well as 50 years in the ministry and gave them an all expenses paid cruise vacation. Ted & Mardelle had never experienced anything so lavish in all their lives and raved for years about it. It was an organized retreat cruise with special speakers and other gatherings which they greatly enjoyed. They sailed the Caribbean to Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. They had their picture taken in front of a sign that read “Welcome to Hell”. That was the name of a town on Grand Cayman Island. Typical for their sense of humour.

Ted continued on at Peace Portal Alliance until 2000 when he retired for good. He and Mardelle lived in their condo in Burnaby but still made the commute for services at Peace Portal until Mardelle could no longer come. She passed away on August 16, 2002, and Ted missed her very much but lived on in the condo for another 2 years until he moved into full time care at Fleetwood Place in Surrey. He was one of the first residents in the year they opened in 2004 and came to be loved dearly by all who knew him, especially the nurses and Chaplain Pete Kok. Ted regularly attended the weekly worship services and sing-song sessions where he did solos and enjoyed all the activities at Fleetwood Place throughout the seven years he lived there. Chaplain Pete was his constant companion.

Ted passed away peacefully on August 22, 2011, in his sleep in his bed at Fleetwood Place after a short bout with bacterial pneumonia. We often wondered why the Lord kept him here with us for so long when it was obvious he was ready to go home to glory and then one day recently one of the nurses told the family that Ted was such a blessing to them as they did their daily duties. He always had a smile and joke for them and was very compliant with any procedure that was called for at the time. He made their sometimes thankless jobs just a little bit easier and eased their daily burden.

To the end, he was a pastor….!

In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Ted's name to the C&MA Global Fund, Peace Portal Alliance, Attn: Joel DeFries, 15128 27B Avenue, Surrey, BC V4P 1P2.