Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army review – the eye-opening tale of a national shame

This docuseries is crammed with a half a century’s worth of media coverage of the sinister side of a Christian group – and victims’ horrifying testimonies of the abuse they sufferedNobody wants to be in a cult. That includes the people who are in cults – which is why they tend to claim they’re nothing of the sort. Founded in 1970s Northamptonshire by lay pastor and self-anointed prophet Noel Stanton, the Jesus Fellowship – or the Jesus Army, as it came to be known in the late 1980s – was a case in point. And, for the 3,500 members it had accrued by the late 2000s, there was clearly something deeply appealing about the organisation unrelated to its ability to brainwash and control its followers (contraband included crisps and books). It served the needs of a certain kind of Christian: to have an accessible, welcoming church, to live communally with people who shared their values, to be given direction by a charismatic leader, to belong.To outsiders, however, it always seemed inordinately sinister. Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army is crammed with half a century’s worth of British media to prove it: from tabloid articles (“Cult Crazy” ran one headline, which drew parallels with the recent Jonestown massacre) to news items (a 1970s report about the strange deaths of two members) to programmes such as 1998 talk show For The Love Of… in which Jon Ronson goggles as members explain their “virtue names” (one man is “watchman”; a young woman called Sarah is “submissive”). As late as 2014, we see Grayson Perry singing along wryly with their hymns in his Channel 4 series Who Are You? Continue reading...

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