Lyricist of pioneering A Man Dies musical dies aged 86

BRITISH church minister and co-writer of the pioneering Christian musical A Man Dies, Rev Ernest Marvin, has died aged 86. Writing about the Reverend the Bristol Post newspaper wrote, "One of his greatest achievements was opening up the Church to rock and roll through his controversial play A Man Dies."

Rev Marvin was 26 years old when he moved to Bristol from Scotland to work at St James Presbyterian Church in the rough suburb of Lockleaze, Bristol. There he started a youth club which eventually attracted 600 unchurched young people. A talk with Ewan Hooper, an aspiring actor later to become the director of the Scottish Theatre Company, resulted in them beginning to write lyrics for a musical A Man Dies, asking two rock bands attending the youth club to write music for their words. The musical, sometimes described as "Jesus in jeans," was an immediate success and after a week of performances in St James', the organisers were approached by ABC TV who wanted a 45 minute adaptation. A Man Dies was eventually performed by the London cast at the Royal Albert Hall in 1994 and a cast album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. But alongside its popularity, the musical also attracted much criticism and calls were made in Parliament to have the "blasphemous" production banned while The Daily Express attacked the production on its front pages.

Ernest left Lockleaze in 1972 and moved to Sheffield where he served as a minister at St Andrew's Church. Later he became a chaplain to Cambridge University and Minister at St Columba's Church. He retired in 1996 although still occasionally spoke at conferences in USA, Korea and Japan. In 2014 Martin contracted cancer and died in Cheltenham on 28th July. Neville Boundy, Cannon at Bristol Cathedral, said, "Ernest was an amazing man. There was a lot of criticism about what he did but it was simply incredible."