Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be upset that our new neighbours have turned out to belong to the Jesus People cult?

81 replies

newyearnightmare · 01/01/2008 22:41

Does anybody know anything about the Jesus people (think they are also known as the Jesus Army)?

Having been happily settled for the last couple of years in a nice home that is perfect for our needs, we discovered to our horror the other day that our new neighbours are mini-bus driving members of the Jesus People. Aforementioned minibus is often parked across our drive (albeit part of the communal access area, making access difficult not just for us but others too) and very visible. Plus they always seem to have lots of other visitors/cars blocking up the drive and parking dangerously on the road.

We're not planning on moving in the near future, but this is making us reconsider - I don't like the thought of bringing up dc next door to a cult. But then, I know that we probably wouldn't have moved here if they were here before we were - and that it will have knocked a chunk off the value of the property and make a sale more difficult. And even I can recognise that it is going to be pretty difficult to ask them to compensate us for loss of value to the property should we move.

Sorry this is more of a rant than a real question - I guess AIBU to be worried about these new neighbours? One of the things they seem to believe in is taking 'social undesirables' (convicts, drug addicts etc) in to their homes to 'rehabilitate' (convert...) them - very NIMBY of me I know, but not really the people that I want as neighbours, especially with young dc and one of the reasons we moved here.

I don't really know much about the JP other than growning up near the village where it started - where it was definitely seen as a cult that had a bad effect on the village and was very strange and had a very twisted take on christianity. Looking on the internet now, it seems to have turned into a fairly big organisation so they have maybe gone a little more mainstream but AIBU to be so wary of them?

Whilst we haven't had much to do with these new neighbours, we did get a christmas present from them - one of those very dodgy conversion type booklets that skews things. Which both of us found fairly insulting - and made dh pretty angry - he has been pondering what to get for them in return - current favourites are the Richard Dawkins book 'The God Delusion' or a booklet on escaping from cults (if we can find one!) .

Sorry if these seems like a bit of a rant. Just not really sure what to do or feel as our dream house seems to be turning into a nightmare with nothing we can do about it. But if anyone has any suggestions - they would be very gratefully received!

And just to clarify - it's specifically the Jesus Army/Jesus People cult that I am worried about - not Christians/Christianity in general!

OP posts:
Twinklemegan · 01/01/2008 22:43

You are not being unreasonable IMO. I would be worried as well. I would try to find out a bit more about their group so you know what, if anything, you're dealing with. Where you go from there I'm not sure - maybe just steer clear of them?

WideWebWitch · 01/01/2008 22:43

Oh god, are they the Father David had a vision on a beach people?

WideWebWitch · 01/01/2008 22:45

Wikipedia

lucy5 · 01/01/2008 22:47

I don't know much about them but if my memory serves me rightly, they are not a cult but hardcore happyclappers. Perhaps you should google them before making any assumptions and then reassess the situation.

lucy5 · 01/01/2008 22:49

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Army

Twinklemegan · 01/01/2008 22:49

They sound fairly established. As lucy5 says, more happy clappers than a cult. I should think you're pretty safe. I suppose you could always complain to the council if they have any "guests" that cause you trouble.

bossybritches · 01/01/2008 22:52

As lucy ays I'd do a bit of research- from what I've seen they are very evangelical but not cultish in the moonies/Chrsitian scientist sense. Jesus saves & all that.

sure if this is the same crowd but they seem OK

Aitch · 01/01/2008 22:55

ah, but their cars and clothes are shit and they i'd be pissed off, although i'd have no right to be...

fishie · 01/01/2008 22:55

they used to be v dodgy wrt taking homeless people in and over, cultish. better now i gather but not ideal neighbours.

Judy1234 · 01/01/2008 22:56

"Allegations that the JA had too authoritarian a style of leadership and that members were under pressure to commit to life-long celibacy, together with the fact that corporal punishment of children (rodding) was practised"

Wonder how they breed the children they choose to beat if they don't have sex.

lalalonglegs · 01/01/2008 22:58

Had a friend who is a journo spend a weekend with them (years ago) and they were very definitely a cult and appeared, at that time, to be targeting and recruiting homeless. They are definitely listed by Cult Information Centre - since wikipedia can be edited by anyone, including memberes of a cult, I'm not sure it is the most reliable source of information on them .

lalalonglegs · 01/01/2008 22:59

oops members

bossybritches · 01/01/2008 23:00

Ah may be a different crowd then there are so many!

LynetteScavo · 01/01/2008 23:03

I thought they just handed out soup and wore brightly coloured socks.

Stepfordsroastingonanopenfire · 01/01/2008 23:03

The best way to deal with them is to play them at their own game. Tell them that you love them! Seriously, politely point out that the minibus across the drive is a PITA, and find a compromise. If they are real Christians they will not want you to be unhappy with their actions. Remember "Love thy neighbour as thyself"!

As to the taking in homeless, not much you can do about that, imho. Might not be such a bad thing for modern children to see people trying to help others?

fishie · 01/01/2008 23:04

yes that is them. i am told they are not so aggressive in their recuriting these days.

they are Bad News, sorry op i'd be pretty worried too.

puffling · 01/01/2008 23:07

I'd be mainly annoyed about the minibus blocking access and would ask them not to do it.

Stepfordsroastingonanopenfire · 01/01/2008 23:08

But if they really are a cult, I wouldn't be happy either.

Beetootoyourself · 01/01/2008 23:10

we don't now who they re yet

Beetootoyourself · 01/01/2008 23:11

sorry - JP's - you seem to be a magnet for them op

MUMOFDJandP · 01/01/2008 23:13

Did anyone hand your christmas present in or was it just put through the door?xx

could your dh or yourself talk to them about the parking issue?

How many people live there and is it a sort of commune in the house?(being nosey)

I havent heard of them for years but as a christian Id love to see the literature they gave you!

MUMOFDJandP · 01/01/2008 23:15

wonder what they believe ie some really whacky stuff / not biblically based?

Im going to look them up now....

SueBaroo · 02/01/2008 09:36

Oh boy. In the interests of full disclosure, I used to be a member in my early twenties. They befriended me after a suicide attempt, and I even progressed to being a full covenant member, with the dodgy faux-military jacket and everything.

They do have a number of members who have vowed lifelong celibacy, but there are also a number of married members, and so quite a few children. They believe in communal living and generally pooling resources.

As a whole organization, they are basically hardcore charismatic happy-clappies. I've met the big leader, and found him really quite odd. It's a very male-oriented place, and the young men speak in awed tones about the main leader - I recall a teenaged boy thinking it was the height of holiness that Noel Stanton had once told a woman who was serving him food and offered a view on some religious topic, that she should 'get back in the kitchen'. I don't know if that is true, but it was quite a popular tale, which says enough on its own, doesn't it?

Anyway, the local group I was part of was definitely a cult, with some very serious misdemeanours on the part of the leadership that I won't go into (because I'm hoping to sell my story to The Sun ).

While we could quibble about the exact definitions of 'cult', if they're not a cult I would say they come as close is possible, generally speaking.

Having said that, I'm sure you could speak to them about the van issue - they do take neighbourly behaviour seriously, and they won't be unpleasant to you, or attempt to be anything other than kind to you.

In terms of pamphlets through the door, well, that's par for the course with religious folk round the place. We post newspapers to the local houses sometimes, but we've no intention of breaking in and kidnapping them.

PrismManchip · 02/01/2008 09:43

We used to live round the corner from some - I had no idea they were so controversial! (But they had their own drive, so no parking problems.)
SueBaroo it is so refreshing and affirming to read your posts - I'm an atheist and have met so many strong Christians with absolutely no sense of humour, which tbh is I think a hugely underestimated sticking point between believers and non-believers.

Emprexia · 02/01/2008 11:34

Ack, nothing worse than the flipping God Squad moving in next door.

DH & I have a caravan thats sited every year in the same place, and last year while we were down there a big estate rolled up and this family set up camp.

There was a big coffin type box on the top of the car with bits of scripture painted on the sides, and they even pitched a tent purely for praying, and then spent the day playing fecking happy clappy music.

Now.. i'm Pagan, DH is atheist and i have pagan friends that were coming down to see us, they asked if we wanted them to bring an altar so we could dance naked around it all night.

As it was, they took up too much space and the site owners moved them into another field.