Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKE
Most religious types managed to put Jessie’s back up. Noel
and John didn’t. They treated her with respect, and she liked
them.
‘Jess would make a good New Testament woman!’ Noel once
said laughingly.
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Well, the Bible says that wives find fulfilment in loving and
serving their husbands. They have lovely, gentle spirits.’
That appealed to Rufus.
Meanwhile, the new Jesus hippies were heavily involved in
church life and evangelism. John Cornish took over from
Malcolm, supplying books, badges, Bibles and stickers, while
Paddy helped edit a Jesus People-style paper, Jesus Reality.
Headings appeared like ‘High On Jesus!’ and ‘Satanist Finds
The Only Way Out’. By June the press caught the scent. The
Northampton Chronicle and Echo sent a young reporter
around and she wrote this:
Dumbo the elephant decorates the blackboard, second hand
furniture fills the room and a middle aged Sunday School teacher
is positioned at the piano, when suddenly a guitar starts up,
tambourines join in and the Jesus Movement of Bugbrooke takes
voice. And from that point, any connection with the Established
Church ends. Their meetings are revivalist, Jesus is the focus
and their religion is community based... Already £600 was raised
in one collection, but a lot more is required for their Housing
Association. Mr Stanton is unperturbed by the problem. ‘Jesus
will provide,’ he says. And it’s very easy to believe him! 12
Noel commented in the chapel bulletin:
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