Any other Jesus Army survivors out there?

[MaryBerrysFannyHammock]

The BBC documentary is bringing it all back. Jesus Army member 1997-2002 between the ages of 11 and 16.

Not a survivor but I vaguely remember them being around.

I remember them as I'm old and I watched the programme on iPlayer

I am hoping that you were not as effected by everything within that cult as the people who were involved in the programme. It was really quite horrific

How is your life now? Are you part of the survivor's group?

I was born into the Jesus's Army. My family were involved from around 2002-2007.

Did you watch the programme? If so, did you feel it was a fair depiction?

I have not, but I will watch it tonight and come back. I was still very young when we left though so I don't have an adults experience of the Jesus's Army.

I found the programme quite gruelling as to what the children were put through. Obviously sexual abuse was at the forefront, quite rightly, but discipline and punishment too

I had several friends in Jesus Army when I was at uni in the 90s. I admired their faith. I less admired their unquestioning obedience to their leaders.

A few of them married each other and weren't allowed to see or speak to their fiance(e) for a month in order to prove they were ready to marry. Letter writing once a week was the only permissible communication.

I'll be watching that documentary with interest.

I can't remember anything like that happening to me or around me, thankfully. We (my siblings and I) were the only children in our communal JA house so it's possible we were just lucky to live in one of the "good ones", or perhaps we were just too young.

I'm watching this now. It isn't clear, as children did you go to school?

I found out about the survivors group on the documentary! Luckily I was not one of those who was sexually abused, but verbal abuse was common when not towing the line.

Hello @CommissarySushi 👋 I see your quite a bit younger than me. Do you remember anything?

I stayed in school. I'm not sure why as it wasn't the done thing normally. Quite possibly because we didn't join as members initially, we accepted charity from the army as our family lost our home nad moved into a community house in Nottingham.

I do have quite a few memories. Mostly of the house and the other members, who lived there. I have vague memories of riding in the JA buses, with coolers full of food, to go to the big conference meetings. I know one of the main leaders, John Something and his wife, lived with us.

I’ve not seen the doc but read this the other day. Might be of interest www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jul/24/jesus-army-fellowship-cult-noel-stanton

Phillipa was in the documentary. I thought throughout that she had been so brave reporting things like she did.

It didn't dawn on me that what was happening was wrong in any way because my home before we moved into the community was not a happy one. It was normal for me to be yelled at regularly.

I really identified with the appeasement process they described as part of the therapy in the documentary.

I will watch it, I remember it and one of my bosses in the 80s was a member

I live in the town where they had a big community. I remember the buses being driven around and they had a
huge building for meetings.
I was mid teens and remember them handing out flip flops and water for people on nights out. I didn’t know what was going on then but do remember being told by my nan to keep away from them and not engage if they approached me.

I've just watched.

I remember interacting with one of the main talking heads when we used the city's Jesus Centre in the early 00s.

It's a fascinating documentary. Painful to watch through the 2025 lens of safeguarding. I can identify with the then church culture, and the leaders choosing forgiveness.

I find it very worrying that 2 of my good uni friends were teachers in mainstream schools and should have been able to see the abuse for what it was, rather than through the church lens.

I thought the Jon Ronson clip reflected badly on him and the other young men. They were clearly titillated by the sexual abuse of the young woman being interviewed. Licking their lips as she reported her 'virtue name' was 'submissive'. None of the things the jesus army did were really secret, its just the same old story: when it's women and girls, nobody cares.