Jesus Christians UK

When I first met the Jesus Christians it did not take me very long to see they were different from most other Christians I had come across.  They lived and worked together, not for money, but seriously followed the principles clearly laid out by Jesus in the Gospels.   So I left my old life, forsaking all, and joined them.

 

I had lived with the Children of God back in 1975 when I was in my twenties so I was aware of the vigours and benefits of community life.   But I wanted to follow Jesus and his teachings, and not some group or organisation.   At the time the Jesus Christians offered me an opportunity to put my faith into practise.   We were encouraged to listen to God and follow our conscience.  I had two and a half years of rewarding experiences and learnt many valuable lessons for which I am extremely grateful.    My three articles, one of which is below, are about the breakdown of that trust in the community. 

 

A BIG MISTAKE

 

Things were going well until in 2010 when I went along with a plan that in hindsight I now deeply regret. 

 

It was related to the issue of the joint ownership of my house.  The community had made it clear that they wanted me as part of my forsaking all process to resolve the issue of getting my share of the material home I owned with my wife.  At that time my wife and I were still married and she and one of my daughters were living in the house.  I had moved out 2 years earlier to join the Jesus Christians led by Dave Mckay.    I knew my wife was finding it hard to cope financially and had two aged housebound parents to take care of who lived 20 miles from her.   She was working for just above the minimum wage and had to take lodgers in to help financially. 

 

In September 2010 Dave Mckay decided that I, along with two fellow Jesus Christians,  Joe and Bob, should push the settlement along by moving into the house with my wife.   I knew that my wife would be far from happy  with me moving in and I could not see her agreeing to any of it.  I said so at the time, but I was persauded to follow Dave's plan as that was what was expected.    Those in the UK team at the time, Joe, Bob, Paul and Ulrike were all aware of Dave's plan. 

 

I had a key to the house and to my surprise my wife had not changed the locks in the two years since I'd been living there with her.   Bob, Joe and I arrived after lunch and moved into the spare room, and waited for my wife to return home. 

 

My daughter arrived home and was quite upset by us being there.  I tried to reassure her but she being quite a reserved young woman retreated to her room.   My wife arrived home I suspect after being called by my daughter.

 

I tried to explain to my wife why we were in the kitchen.   She wasn't happy.  When I suggested that Joe and Bob would be my guests too, she got very angry.  She said there was no room, it wouldn't work and I had been living  in a campervan for all this time anyway.   What was I thinking?   Bob, Joe and I went upstairs to the spare room to talk things over. 

 

My wife told me she was calling the police, who arrived 20 minutes later.   They listened to us all and said that a breach of the peace was likly to occur and that one of the parties would have to leave the house.   They asked me if I thought it should be my wife and daughter or ourselves who should leave.  I agreed that we should leave since we had a campervan to move into. 

 

Joe emailed Dave  and we waited for his counsel on what to do next. 

 

By the next day it was decided that we should go back and try to gain access to the house one way or another. 

 

My wife had changed the locks and would not let me in, even though I pleaded with her at the door.   My neighbour  came home and when seeing our large campervan parked in the shared driveway came storming over to us threatening that if we don't move our van he would smash it up.   I tried to calm him down.  Joe and Bob came out of the van on hearing the commotion, as well as my wife and a few other neighbours.  I told Joe, who wanted to get involved, to stay cool and stay out of it, that I could handle the situation.   He didn't listen and started telling my neighbour what he thought and how he should stop swearing.   My neighbour's friend came over and confronted Joe, telling him to stay out of it.  Joe was just making matters worse against my advice.    The neighbour's friend put his hands around Joe's neck for a few seconds to push him away.    Joe started shouting for us to call 999 and then took the phone from Bob and did it himself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three police cars arrived and the police spoke to everyone separately.   Joe said he wanted to press charges against my neighbour's friend.   We were all escorted to the police station to make statements.   They told us that after hearing what everyone had to say our case was unlikely to proceed.   But we said we wanted to make statements anyway.  After three hours of making statements, I was told I was to be arrested and charged with Harrassment without Violence. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was handcuffed and driven off to a detention centre 20 miles away without the chance to inform Bob and Joe.

 

Dave was worried that Graham Baldwin (a cult buster) had been involved and I had been charged under the terrorism act! 

 

The next day I was released and told if I went anywhere near my wife I would be taken back into custody.    When I could finally do so I called the UK team.   Paul had to wait for Dave's advice before agreeing to pick me up, which took a few more hours.  Dave was very angry with me and said I was selfish and inconsiderate for not making the phone call to inform him and the UK team, before speaking to the solicitor.

 

When I returned to the detention centre six weeks later my wife was waiting to serve me divorce papers.  I was also told by the police that the charges were to be dropped against me but kept on record for future reference.   

 

The case against my neighbour's friend never eventuated.   I most likely would never have been arrested if we hadn't pressed charges or pushed to make statements, and most certainly not if I had never agreed to go back to the house to try to move in without my wife's blessing.