THE CHRONICLE AND ECHO SAYS ...

Source : 10/05/1996 Northampton Chronicle and Echo

It is a human characteristic to be wary of the unfamiliar.

So it is nt surprising the Jesus Fellowship should be looked upon with some suspicion.

For although it was founded as long ago as 1969, few outsiders know much about it, which probably has more to do with the organisation not taking people into its confidence than a lack of curiosity on the part of the general public.

There is no reason why it should, of course. Setting up a religious group is not against the law and other organisations - the Freemasons, for instance - are at least as reticent, maybe more so.

But a large-scale, evangelistic, religious body inevitably makes people wonder and rumours have been abundant over the years.

None of the wider allegations about the Jesus Fellowship has been substantiated, to our knowledge, but that does not prevent them from circulating.

Sunday's Everyman programme, in which founder Noel Stanton has agreed only to read a prepared statement, may raise more questions than it answers.