Fascinating, moving, shocking can only begin to describe a documentary about the Jesus Army to be shown on Channel 4 this Sunday (True Stories: Battle Centre. 8.l5pm December 16). This grippingly intimate story of what it really means to live ‘in community' is brought to our screens by Leo Regan a ‘lapsed Catholic whose previous subjects have included a drug addict coming off heroin (Cold Turkey) and violent white racists (100% White). Perhaps he thought following a group of Christians for 12 months would be a simple task after his previ-ous assignments, but, as he admits himself, it proved to be by far his toughest ever test.

He describes Battlecentre, the Jesus Army community house in West London, as ‘a powerful place,' where ‘there's nowhere to hide'. And he's not wrong. The inmates have no private property, besides clothes and personal effects, and all members donate their entire income to ‘the common purse', which is spent according to the wishes of the four house elders. Some members contribute only their ememployment benefit; others, like the architect, or the solici-tor, donate substantial salaries.

‘You can have a regular nine to-five job, but as part of a community you need to be there for evening prayers and weekend trips,' he says. They are incredibly active, seven days a week, not even stopping for holidays like Christmas.

Their leader, Steve Calam, calls it a ‘radical Christian lifestyle'. Twenty-five years ago, he was a hippie living in Buckinghamshire, working in a factory and taking drugs at the week-end. A sudden spiritual experience called him into the Jesus Fellowship and when it was de-cided to plant a church in London 12 years ago, he was chosen to set up Battlecentre. The house is now just one of over 100 homes in the United Kingdom.

But who are the Jesus Army? The only thing most people know about them is that they are evangelists who travel about in brightly coloured buses. But in fact they have Baptist roots. Briefly, the Jesus Fellowship Church, with which the Jesus Army appears to enjoy a symbi-otic relationship, claims to ‘uphold the historic Christian faith, being reformed, evangelical and charismatic'. It has over -3000 members, of which approximately 600 live together, shar-ing all their worldly goods, in various locations around the country. The Channel 4 documen-tary focuses on the one in West London.

The programme starts rather depressingly with scenes of hippyish types singing choruses, but it quickly livens up as, in common with the director, we get to know some of the more prominent of the 35 residents occupying the house. The most recent addition is Alec, who has just returned to the UK from working abroad. He is not a Christian and is bemused by his current situation. He sees Battlecentre as ‘the last place on earth I ever thought I'd end up'. Every new housemate is provided with a mentor, or shepherd', and Alec's mentor is Billy, re-garded as the father figure of the house.

Source: Baptist Times