Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

16A Crown of Thorns1981Despite our attempts at bridge-building, we encounteredgrowing opposition from some quarters. When the Christianmagazine, Buzz, visited the community in the autumn of 1980they found us ‘hospitable, welcoming, and helpful’, but cameaway with ‘a distinct unease’. ‘Over-modest women seemedto hover in the background. They wear long dresses, nomakeup, no jewellery, nothing that can possibly be seen asallowing a woman to make the best of herself.’ 65Buzz disliked our caution about over-familiarity betweenmen and women, and criticized Noel’s authority. ‘The resultof his teaching’, they complained, ‘is that the whole communityacts as one.’Unity was bad enough, but we also took the biblical command,‘Love not the world’ too seriously. ‘So there is no TV,radio or pop music. Nor are there the basic social pleasures207