Jesus Army

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The multi-coloured camouflage jacket (right) is often worn as a Jesus Army "uniform" in street proselytism
The multi-coloured camouflage jacket (right) is often worn as a Jesus Army "uniform" in street proselytism

The Jesus Army is the outreach ministry of the Jesus Fellowship Church, an evangelical Christian movement based in the United Kingdom.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally based on a village Baptist chapel in Bugbrooke near Northampton. Its founder was the chapel pastor Noel Stanton who was seeking a new way to continue his ministry in 1968 and experienced a profound and intense spiritual episode or 'Baptism in the Holy Spirit', see also Pentecost.

The church was affected by the Charismatic Movement in the late 1960s and early 70s and influenced by the Jesus People movement in the USA.

Jesus Army double-decker coach used in evangelism in Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Jesus Army double-decker coach used in evangelism in Barnsley, South Yorkshire

The Jesus Army is known for its street outreach and particularly feels it is being asked by God ('called' is how the Jesus Army describes the inspiration for its mission) to work with the poor. Like many other churches, it engages in frequent evangelistic activities in public places, often out-of-doors, seeking to spread the Christian gospel through relationship building and friendships which demonstrate what it considers to be the love of Jesus and a moving of the Holy Spirit. Around 600 Jesus Army members live in 60 intentional communities collectively known as "New Creation Christian Community". Within each "house family", members pool their income in a common purse arrangement in accordance to the calling of the Bible in Acts 2 and Acts 4. An additional 1,800 members live outside these communities and operate much like members of larger churches, such as the Anglican Church.

[edit] Beliefs

The Jesus Army upholds the historic creeds of the Christian faith. The creeds are a set of common beliefs shared with many other Christian churches (including Church of England) and are known as: the Apostles' Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Nicene Creed.

More can be read on the Jesus Fellowship's / Jesus Army's Christian beliefs, in their free pdf e-book "We Believe" [1].

[edit] Criticism

In the past, local Northamptonshire newspapers and the late Archdeacon of Northampton, Bazil Marsh, among others ([2]) have accused the group of being a sect ([3]) or religious cult ([4]) but members of the group have denied this ([5], [6]). They state that the Jesus Fellowship is a member of the Evangelical Alliance ([7]) and is linked to other churches and groups in the UK and elsewhere through the Multiply Christian Network ([8]).

According to newspaper articles from the 1980s, members of the Jesus Army communal houses are encouraged to withdraw from the world and cut off their ties with outsiders[9][10], except for the purpose of proselytising, and it is also a policy of the group that community members must gain the permission of the group's "elders" before they get married[11]. As Professor Jeffrey K Hadden comments: "The Jesus Fellowship did not escape the muckraking of the tabloids." [12]

One of these houses was featured more recently in a Channel 4 television documentary, "Battlecentre", in 2001 (Production summary, Guardian Unlimited Reader Reviews, BBC interview with producer).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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