Murray Watkinson’s journey with God began on Good Friday of Easter 1975,

when he encountered God supernaturally in a way that changed the course

of his life and that of his family irrevocably.

It was just a year later, in 1976, that Murray felt the call to ministry. He sold

the family home and a successful carpet business in Wellington, New Zealand,

to enrol in Nazarene Bible College in Brisbane, Australia. (1975)

Murray served as a senior associate pastor in Melbourne, Pasadena upon

graduating in 1980, and later became the senior pastor of a small church in

MacKay, North Queensland, Australia. Right from the beginning, the inherent

Nazarene values of holiness, integrity and sacrifice became some of the

guiding principles of Murray and Nancy’s ministry. (1980)

Murray and Nancy returned to New Zealand in 1984, and become seniorpastors of a small church of the

Nazarene in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs. The church experienced a sovereign move of God in 1987

and quickly became the largest and fastest growing Nazarene church in New Zealand. It became

obvious that before long, a new church building would be required. (1984)

Murray was never one to fit into a mould. He’s been described as a revolutionary radical, non-

conformist and a shrewd businessman. The church’s new sanctuary, secured in 1988, was a roller

skating rink. It operated as a church facility on Sundays and as a roller skating business during the week,

in order to finance the vision to establish the growing church and outreach in the community. It was at

this time that the church left the Nazarene movement, and became known as Celebration Centre – its

facilities were a place for the church to meet and celebrate Jesus Christ. (1988)

As the church continued to grow, it moved to the Feltex Carpet factory. In those days it was considered

radical to have church in a factory, but the church continued to grow, prosper, and experience

supernatural encounters and sovereign moves of God. (1990)

In 1991 the church purchased its first property; the 3437m2 Stephens Chemical factory situated on 2

hectares of land. This building became home to the Celebration Centre congregation. At first, it was

difficult to imagine how the run-down concrete facility could everresemble a church building. But the

pioneers of those days put their hand to the plough, and the building was gradually transformed into a

cutting-edge church facility - The Jesus Factory. (1991)

It was during this time that the church experienced a three-year, sovereign

move of the Holy Spirit where the presence of God literally seemed to reside on

the premises, and thousands of people came to seek the face God. (1992)

Murray asked the Lord how to shepherd the large number of people coming

through the doors, and how to make the church personal and accessible for

everyone. So in 1996, Celebration Centre transitioned from a programme-

based church into one based on small groups that met weekly in homes

throughout the city and surrounding areas for the purpose of discipleship and

evangelism. Celebration Centre is now home to more than 150 cell groups.

Large congregation meetings are still held weekly on a Sunday. (1996)

With the home congregation of Celebration Centre established, Murray and

Nancy stepped out into their apostolic leadership and began to church plant, as

well as take other congregations whorepresented by churches throughout New

Zealand, the Pacific Islands, America, and Africa. (2013)