Great Britain

The Jesus Fellowship Church is an evangelical church with Pentecostal emphasis, baptizing in Jesus name, speaking in tongues, upholding the full divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the doctrine of the trinity: in one statement of faith, they mention it, and in another publication's statement of faith, they don't, and in neither place do they say "persons." So, a trinity of what? Anyway, they probably emphasize trinity to make sure they're not called a cult, since their communal way of life might make some people want to call them one (more on that near the end of this article). In any case, why should they object to being called a cult if they profess to follow apostolic Christianity, "a way called heresy"?

The Jesus Fellowship Church has other names, including Jesus People and Jesus Army. I feature them here because they have several practices, both in evangelism and in church life, which other Pentecostal churches practice, and some of their own, which are interesting and might bear emulation.

They publish several magazines, including Streetpaper, a free magazine for street distribution, now with circulation of 100,000. The 50th issue of Streetpaper contains many testimonies, including longer ones of a former drug addict, of someone who found their organization by surfing the Web, of people looking for jobs, of someone who had tried to commit suicide before he came to Jesus Christ, of a grandmother, of people who came to Jesus while working to help prisoners. Another magazine, Heartbeat, shows testimonies of youth, of people touched by the warmth of the fellowship, by a lady healed from mental illness and drinking, drugs and cigarettes, and many others.
They advertise Jesus Fellowship Resources, badges, logos, T-shirts and sweatshirts for sale, which people can buy to display their faith. They understand that, in a visual society, visible symbols of faith--such as prayer cloths, the bread and wine of communion (they find they can touch the conscience of backslidden Catholics, and bring them to Christianity by sharing this), washing feet, the oil of anointing, water baptism, and, most important, the cross--carry meaning for many people. They have cassettes with the same song in several versions, in line with today's fragmenting music market. They sell books about their organization. They advertise "situations vacant" for many activities in the church, with descriptions both clever and wise: "Accountants: adding to the number; Architects: building it up; Apostles: being the "slaves of all"; Bee-keepers: loving the buzz; Carers: looking after everyone; Children: bringing life and love; Cooks: feeding the hungry; Deacons: doing all the jobs; Evangelists: finding the new ones; Farmers: caring for the land; Grandparents: creating a big family; Mechanics: making it work; Musicians: joining the harmony; Parents: loving the kids; Pastors: giving spiritual care; Pensioners: renewing youth; Singles: living for Jesus; Students: having lots to learn; Teachers: equipping everyone; Technicians: keeping it running; Teenagers: stirring it all up; Unemployed: finding meaning."

Also in their publications, they encourage prayer, speak of it as a "happening" thing, and mention prayer warriors of the past in a contemporary way. They report healings that have come after prayer. They collect "prayer darts"--simply prayer request forms printed in their magazines. In one publication, they say, "The Prayer Call: We all pray. We cry, "Father". We worship. We're thankful. We want help and healing for one another in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's pray on our own--aloud or silently. Let's pray with each other--each praying in turn. Let's pray for others--helping them in their needs, bringing them love through prayer while not with them. Let's pray with new friends--so many are now happy for someone to pray with them for forgiveness of sins, for new spiritual birth, for Holy Sp;irit baptism for a miracle-- with or without the "laying on of hands" or the "anointing with oil". Let's pray! We reach God and one another through prayer. Pray for particular houses, streets & Cells. Be an intercessor." See how simple, active, fresh, direct, upbeat and encouraging this appeal is?
They also have six hundred people praying six minutes a day for six hundred new members in 1998. Six minutes might not sound like a long time, but it's six minutes longer than some Christians do. And it starts a prayer life.

The organization reaches to people marginalized by present society. A typical remark is "you're the first person who treats me like a human being." In eastern Northampton, their headquarters city, one of their cell groups uses a pub as a base and gradually built a network of friends, mostly young men and women between ages 18 and 21. When many more ask what they're into, they take the inquirers to their community house. Many people, given the cold shoulder by a hard-nosed society, are surprised by the acceptance, joy, love and forgiveness.

The organization brings its people into one of their many "cells"--house churches. Experience shows that cells which persevere through dry times and stay committed to certain meeting places or friendship circles thrive. New contacts sometimes trust members with information that could get the new contact indicted. The cell members and leaders and zone leaders sometimes must forgive deeds and words of new, untaught people, and this forgiveness wins loyalty. Some groups visit pubs, gain friends, and thus evangelize. Others knock on doors, sing carols at Christmastime, and visit Scrabble clubs, pub quizzes, dances, art classes and business events. While making general friends in the community, they also make specific friends and build them into groups. Some groups, at an earlier stage, cry to God for friends and disciples and places to meet in, whereas other groups have many new friends and several baptisms. Each cell has a core group of people who believe the doctrine and are baptized already. These make friends. Some groups work through an introductory course to Christianity during weekly meetings, while other groups sing, pray, chat, hang around, depending on the individual cell's nature. They also invite new people to join them at the larger weekly meeting, taking place in Northampton on Sunday nights.
Cell leaders might be men or women. The cells group into zones, into which Northampton (to keep using this example, which is the most developed one) has been divided, and the cell leaders answer to zone leaders. The city has six zones: northern, eastern, western, southern, central south and central north. All six zone leaders are males at present.

Zone activities involve members from the cells within the zone, and include visiting Wednesday nights for groups without a base, sisters daytime groups, and monthly outreach on Saturday afternoons at a shopping center. They bring all the teams together and talk to people in the streets and hand out Streetpapers from 6:00 or 7:00 PM until dark (which can come late in the summer). Many people stop to talk, and the groups gain contacts.

In publications, they post maps of their cities with various neighborhoods indicated as the church there being either "active involvement," "irregular involvement," or "no involvement" in each area. They ask members to become group leaders in areas marked "no group" or "irregular involvement," or become involved even in places where the church is already active. They especially ask people to allow their house, flat or bedsit (an "efficiency apartment" or "studio apartment," as they're called in America) to be a base for a group.

The organization also has monthly meetings in a big tent they take to various places across the nation: in 1998 in May in Sheffield, in June in Brighton, in Coventry, in August in London. Also, they schedule major, multi-day meetings in Northhampton quarterly. They have a double-decker bus called "Big City Ignition," painted boldly, which they drive to various locations and park prominently. At each location, they hand out copies of Streeetpaper and prayer cards. They practice prayerwalking, organize a March for Jesus periodically. They are very strong on street evangelism.
Jesus Fellowship owns various Jesus Houses, making them available to members, some of whom live in communes called the New Creation Christian Community. They practice redistribution of income and strongly encourage members to go to dentists, doctors, etc., who are members of the community. They speak disparagingly of serving money as a focus and purpose for living. They quote members saying materialism is an empty way to live, "people are more important than things," and clarify their stance by saying that material possessions are means to an end, "tools to use," rather than goals in themselves. They run Jesus Fellowship businesses allowing people with few skills to learn and work. The community makes lit-up pictures, do wood-turning, make pottery, and display crafts to win income and more people.

Jesus Fellowship had a conference on "The Christian Community Lifestyle in Today's Culture," and shared "the joys and trials of creating a shared lifestyle." Deborah Brockbank (one of the few instances in which a person's last name is used in one of the publications), says, "Being a natural introvert and a lover of quiet has made the passage very uncomfortable at times. But I have grown to love people deeply." The "challenges" of several subjects are revealing: "How to live more simply and sacrificially," "how to be accountable financially," and "how to forge a society of justice and equality where all are accepted."

They are the first people I've heard, in all the hoopla about the millennium bug in the world's computers, mention the true meaning behind this, namely: despite the Jewish and Islamic calendars, the whole world, including newspapers, food products, diaries, gravestones, all carry dates referring to the birth of one man who grew up in a backwater of the Roman Empire, never traveled outside his home country, left no writings, and was known publicly for only three years before being executed as a criminal. But, because He rose from the dead, Jesus influences human history more than any other person who ever lived. We recall Jesus' earthly life on certain dates, but, more important, millions of people find new spiritual life in Jesus Christ every day.

When the Jesus Fellowship Church sends out flyers for their special meetings, such as the London one in August, they in a colorful and modern, artistic way tell the readers where, when and what is going on, including the various events. They include on the brochure a map of how to get to venues, directions for cars and notices on which buses to take, as well as, in small print, their national church headquarters telephone numbers and address. They also have fliers that reach people's interests--on these subjects: "New Life," "Relationships," "Zion," "Marriage," "Celibacy," "Women," "Planting New Churches," "Prisoners and Ex-prisoners," "Covenant," "The Crucified Life," "Cell Groups," "Christian Community," "Money," "Anointing," and "The Multiracial Church."
A recent men's ministry meeting had, in addition to worship, also gave the men a "well-defined, well-organized, well-directed and dynamic cause, where they can serve with courage and honor. They are willing for training, for discipline, for teamwork with friendship and accountability. They want to be accepted! So many have a determination to succeed....They love the tough call of Jesus to 'deny self, take up your cross and follow Me.""

Concerning racism--the major divider in Western society--they note that creation is full of color, beauty and variety, but now little unity because of Satan's opposition, polluting creation and pulling it into rebellion, disunity, sin and death, at war with itself. "But Jesus...the Restorer of humanity....The Redeemer of creation....the New Adam who heads a New Creation....bears the judgment of our sing and brings a new heart to every kind and color of person." Their leader, Noel Stanton, says he longs for a more interracially mixed church.

But he doesn't want an economically mixed one. They reject "middle class," let alone upper class, people's lives. Their senior pastor, Noel Stanton, not only says, "We believe in economic equality," but keeps harping on the subject, saying his people are not upper class, speculates that the sins of the rich might be greater than the sins of the poor, asks how to stop Christians from becoming prosperous and middle class, and asks whether it is easier to build churches among the wealthier, the middle class or the poor. So the racial divide is replaced by class warfare. He disparages "big successful churches," which is ironic, since his has become one, too. All his organization's evangelistic calls for freedom become noticeably muted when talking about money. Then, they say "accountability" much more often. I have no problem with that--giving and accountability are Biblical and right, but he can't then criticize "big, successful" churches doing the same thing.

In spite of misgivings over his stance on economy, I do like the way he, as an older man, discusses succession. "I long for a Paul-and-Barnabas kind of commissioning where you know full well they are going to do the job," then adds, "I believe lots of our new folk could make fine leaders. They are great people if you can hang onto them and see them through their difficulties." He's probably right about men like John, one of his zone leaders. When Noel is gone, I don't think the Jesus Fellowship will collapse. He has too many quality people who can step into the gap. If the rest of them unite behind one of them, their cause will move forward.
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