Love Power Sacrifice by John Angerson

Photographed over twenty years, this is a portrait of the Jesus Army. For most of us, if we register them at all, they are the tambourine-wielding, gospel-singing fanatics who intrude on our Saturday morning shopping excursions. But for the members themselves, this charismatic Christian sect – often dismissed as a cult – is a total way of life. Founded in 1969 in Northamptonshire, England, believers are expected to renounce all their possessions, live in communes, and share all earnings. Their motto, and three basic tenets – Love, Power and Sacrifice – form the title of this book. It would be easy to ridicule belief, but instead, photographer John Angerson has adopted another approach – a profoundly sympathetic authorial style which does not judge, or even simply chronicle, but seems to penetrate the very skin of a religious sect. Angerson’s photographs provide a searing insight into a world within a world. By peering into this microcosm of fanatical religion we can begin to understand a phenomenon that it is no longer possible to ignore.

*Update 2024. The church has now closed down following a series of historical cases of sexual abuse. Six men from the Jesus Fellowship Church (formerly known as the Jesus Army) have so far been sentenced for the indecent and sexual assault of 11 victims between the 1970s and 1990s. Many of the scattered congregations have formed small, independent churches. About 180 people still live in communal houses. Over the past year, the JFCT has been disposing of properties and assets totalling tens of millions of pounds. Northamptonshire Police said about 200 complaints of various types of abuse have been made. Its investigations continue.

ISBN: 978-1-904587-48-4
Hardback, 64 pages, 225 x 247mm.
42 Duotone photographs