Wild, multi-ethnic and Christian!! The MJA Church, UK

Hello all -

I thought it was time for a change of emphasis in my blogs. I have just been away on a weekend with my unusual radical, charismatic church, the Modern Jesus Army or MJA. We are also known as the Jesus Fellowship, which sounds more respectable! [This is a change from my account of the ups and downs of my son Tom's mental breakdown and treatment - he is doing well in hospital now. He too belongs to this church.]

On Saturday, the day after we were still struggling with the aftermath of a fairly minor car crash, I set off to Northampton for the weekend "Winning" festival of the MJA church. It actually started on Friday evening, but I couldn't make that (due to our own issues.) I have only ever been once on a Friday night - that is when Kelly, one of our "Apostolic Five" senior pastors, introduces the Meetings with a free flowing, impromptu sermon, and electrifies the crowd of mainly young people in the big yellow striped Marquee tent where we meet. I began on Saturday afternoon, with a friendly lunch at the lovely old Cornhill Manor, Northampton (a former manor house, then a hotel) - the estate is the site of the Marquee - with many of our own London Branch and the househopld members of Cornhill. I had driven up in a church car with 3 other "sisters". Nearly all in the church attend the 3 big annual Festivals - those missing are people with problems or those who have fallen away. There were about 4,000 people there over the long weekend from Friday to the Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Saturday afternoon was fairly low key in terms of the power of spiritual content - there was a gentle but firm focus on the blessings of the Holy Spirit from our elderly but upright, strongly spoken Founding Pastor, Noel Stanton. (He is about 78 years of age - preaches much in the style of the great John Wesley, I would think.) We sang thoughtful songs of love and reverence for God and Jesus. Some of this time I was on duty as a "Welcomer" Sister at the entrances, or on the Mums and Babies' care tent outside the marquee. Most of us happy to serve thus.

Noel Stanton, the church founder, was originally a mainstream young Baptist minister at the Chapel of the village of Bugbrooke nearby - but one day in 1969 the whole scene changed - there was "Fire in our Hearts" (the title of a book about the movement)- and the Jesus Army revolution was born. Noel found the power of the Holy Spirit and many new young people joined the church, including hippies, bikers and drop-outs. Some of the old congregation remained, and they were joined by young Oxford graduates, middle class people and surrounding villagers. Community households were formed, with strict rules on the segregation of the sexes unless they were married; Christian "brotherhood" has remained a strong theme. Distinctive dress codes emerged, special colourful buses were driven, and "Kingdom businesses" were developed which employed many members. Gradually the church spread from its Northampton centre to the other Midlands, then London and the South East. The church's stance and attitude is "in the world but not OF the world". It can be classed as a "new religious movement" as part of the great Jesus Movement of the late 1960s, but it has kept up with and fitted in to modern society (it has computers, good cars, videos and mobile phones - but no TV in community houses, and many members are of necessity employed in various jobs in the outside world.) Some original early members, like Kelly and Ian Greatheart, are still there as church leaders; others such as Steve Capable and Steve Uncompromising, joined in the first 10-15 years after the church's founding. (These unusual surnames are "virtue names", used partly to distinguish 2 members with the same name, but they must be earned by showing a particular "biblical" or godly strength.)

There is now a recent household in Swansea, South Wales, and another in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Some households have closed, but others are yet being born, such as Broken Bread in Croydon (2004). There are even related churches in Japan, Germany and the Netherlands, and contacts with African, South Korean, Indian and Malaysian churches. The church has in recent years run the Multiply Evangelical Christian stream of churches; it hosts a Multiply conference every two years. The church has a free bi-monthly newspaper, the Streetpaper (for which I occasionally write) and a quarterly magazine, Jesus Life. We have meny keen photographers (including me), and creative types who design posters, sew banners, paint posters and devise dramatisations of the Bible's message Often this is done as "street theatre". We do marching parades, and "outdoor Church meetings in town centres: the biggest of these, led and addressed by Pastor Noel himself, is held in Trafalgar Square, London, every summer. This year's was on August 14th. The church also has its own beautiful, quiet cemetery at Cornhilll Manor. Our website is www.jesus.org.uk - by many accounts a really good one!

Now I'm running out of time to describe what happened over the rest of the weekend's meetings. Sunday was a very exciting day, with stirring worship in the evening - that is always the high point of the weekend. Monday is the concluding day (when people testify about what they experienced of God over the weekend); sadly I had to miss it this time. Sunday evening's ministry was really convicting - Steve Capable, the London leader (of my church household, Battlecentre) who came on stage at the end, told the church it must go on fighting evil and Satan: its special purpose is to honour and glorify Jesus Christ. "Backsliders" - those who drop out or cool down in faith - are the bane of the church, and weaken it. Steve has been unwell recently, but his strength of tone belied this - he was full of righteous ire and power. (He was once an "acid dropping hippie" as our church "history" describes it - now a quite neat, serious but witty, short haired balding man.) Noel earlier that morning had given a strong biblical exegesis on the role of "the Servant" and being servant-hearted. This is more important than being influential or apostolic: that may follow only after one truly serves, as Jesus did.

We London sisters enjoyed a Sunday teatime gathering to honour an older sister, Gladys, who was 80 that week: this was a true surprise party for her - we spoke our encouragements to her; someone up there baked her an enoromous cake. I took some photos, including one of all of those there (except me - they were mostly London sisters, as she was until 2 years ago in the London Church at Spreading Flame house, when her husband John's infirmity forced them to move into a "granny flat" at New Creation Farm, near Cornhill - another former great estate now a church property and household.) Gladys and John are a lovely older couple - they know everyone from the London church, and always remember me, Tom and my husband Dave (whom they would love to see as a true believer one day). They are former missionaries of the "old school". The evening finished with rousing worship songs plus a few classic hymns (accompanied by our three excellent Christian rock bands), light shows on stage, and much dancing, cheering and raising up of hands. Then we walked back across the field to a late supper with the crowd at Cornhill, and a fast MJA minibus back to the London church house (B.C.), arriving at midnight. Dave met me there - home by 1 am. I was very tired, but truly uplifted spiritually - I had received so much healing prayer from others there for my illnesses (stress, a chronic chesty cough and bad back) and personal cares. (I even had 2 minutes of Noel's Holy Spirit sermon on my digital camera, to show Tom.) Jesus rules!! Bless you, if you have been reading this - and check out our website (see above).

Love and blessings, Tigey