Tablets for your soul
RELIGION is viewed by many with increasing suspicion after decades of clashes between Protestant and Catholic faiths and more recently the damage done by a minority of extremists. DUNCAN LEATHERDALE went with Wear Valley worshippers to see one preacher who is attempting show that faith is not about anger, hatred or intolerance but positivity and deeper meaning...RELIGION is not popular in the UK at the moment with churches across the country reporting dwindling flocks. (May 30 edition )
Putting aside the extreme factions attempting to dominate the world’s religions, one of the most parodied aspects of modern-day faith is the evangelical preacher, the bible-bashing reverend who screams at his flock, spiritual fever erupting from the gathered mass, mob mentality running riot.
It is an image engrained into our minds, the larger-than-life priest bewitching his parishioners with biblical verse, like Derren Brown controlling the minds of students only without the devilish goatee.
I was somewhat amazed, therefore, by the small, slightly balding J John whom I met in a caravan moments before he walked on stage to preach to nearly 6,000 people including a coach load of Wear Valley worshippers.
“He was amazing, a genuine Christian and obviously a great believer in the message he preaches,” enthused Crook Salvation Army’s Barbara Snook after posing for a photo with the “Del-boy” look-alike.
It was Barbara who invited the Mercury to witness the mesmerising J John at his Just 10 conference at Gateshead. For 10 weeks, the Nottingham born preacher will retell the Ten Commandments to the eager-eared masses in both Gateshead and Stockton, and as my travelling companions assure me: “He makes it completely relevant to everyone listening.”
Denominations don’t matter as folks both young and old from Weardale, Crook and Willington board the weekly bus to see J John organised by Churches Together Crook. The Weardale Travel coach picked us up from Crook at 6pm, and I have been promised an interview with J John if we can get to Gateshead before 7pm, half an hour before the show starts.
With one eye on the clock, I chat with some of the 47 worshippers on their way to see the enigmatic deity deliverer, many of whom have been to his previous four sessions. “The first one was the best” Ian Braithwaite assures me, “the atmosphere was electric and they had to turn people away. It hasn’t quite lived up to that since but we have learnt something every week.”
The 24-year-old is one of six members of the Braithwaite family off for an evening at the marquee, and his younger brother Mark insists the talks are for everyone. Mark, 20, said: “He makes you think, and most of what he says is relevant. For example tonight is based on not committing murder, but of course very few people have done that but I’m sure he’ll make it relevant.”
The coach arrives at Gateshead’s Flower Festival showground two minutes before my interview time, but by the time we have ducked and dived our way through the dense throng wending its way toward the canvas cathedral, I am five minutes late and expecting an angry J John, assuming he still agrees to meeting me.
It is amazing how wrong you can be, a point rammed home to me as we are shown to his caravan where we are met by Will, his beaming assistant, and then the man himself who waves away my profuse apologies with a warm handshake.
J John speaks plainly and honestly, and humours my naive questions. He said: “The rail tracks have been laid by God, I am simply advising people how to follow them. I want people to understand the Commandments, and the testimonies prove to people that God’s message works. I am applying God’s principles from a Christian perspective the best I know how, and am empowering people to make the right decisions.
“People in the North East have been very welcoming and they have a warmth and sense of fun you can’t find elsewhere. They are much more informal than Southerners and it is very encouraging to have two canvas cathedrals packed out each week.” The fifth session, to which the Mercury was treated by Barbara, was based around the Sixth Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill, and aimed at teaching anger management. J John told the colossal congregation that murderous thoughts and angry words are all condemned by the Sixth Commandment.
“Those who blow a fuse are left in the dark, and if you’re hot under the collar you should probably keep your shirt on,” proclaims the preacher, adding “stop, think and then speak, or don’t speak at all. You’ll never win if you react with an angry torrent of words.” Barbara said: “He is a preacher, but he does not preach at you, but gives you advice on how to have a happy life.”
Not everything J John says strikes a chord with my Wear Valley comrades, with a rant on the sin of abortion receiving a distinctly lukewarm reaction on the coach home. “He doesn’t usually pick one subject and stay on it for so long, and I didn’t really like it,” said Glennis Haggerston, a Baptist from Willington.
Her back seat Methodist neighbour Dorothy Middlestone nods her agreement and said: “Abortion is something you either have experience of or not. A lot of what he says is very metaphorical and can be applied to lots of different scenarios, but his abortion talk was very literal and is not something I know anything about.”
It would seem J John’s misjudged abortion attack is only a minor blemish on a peach of an evening though, and everyone on the bus is in a good mood as we re-enter Wear Valley. Dorothy continues: “It’s the way he says things, he always uses humour to tell the truth and he makes you realise things you think are right might not be in the eyes of The Lord. You can’t just dismiss what you don’t like, and it is an experience I would recommend to anyone.”
In a Louis Theroux-style attempt to play Devil’s Advocate, I ask two Crook vicars whether or not J John isn’t simply making us feel guilty for things we hadn’t felt guilty about before.
With a knowing grin, Rev Vince Fenton from St Catherine’s Church, Crook, said: “We can be lulled into a false sense of security, and while he might make you feel guilty, he also offers you forgiveness. He is a strong teacher of the Christian message, but I would love to see his marquee filled with non-Christians because I think his messages will mean something to everybody.
Everybody has a moment where they wake up in the middle of the night and thinks about things they wish they hadn’t done, and that is when God feels most real, but J John offers you the Lord’s forgiveness.” But can J John, who comes from the urban midland sprawl of Nottingham and resides in the cosmopolitan beehive of London really relate to the rural ideals of Wear Valley?
Again with a smile, Rev Fenton said: “Wherever you live and whatever you do you have a heart, and J John’s services appeal to that. God is for everyday life, and his message is always relevant.”
The Mercury certainly felt a stirring in its cynical heart as 6,000 voices unite in songs played by a band who would look more at home on Top Of The Pops. Behind me I can hear what sounds like a gospel choir, but is in fact a family from Gateshead, while in the row in front, seven teenagers dressed like the Arctic Monkeys urge God to show them the light and lead them to salvation, their palms thrust into the air towards the large video screen displaying the words.
After three rousing songs, during which the Mercury maintains a stony silence, partly for professionalism but mainly to prevent his neighbours running from the tent, their hands glued to their bleeding ears, the audience is introduced to Gary, a 33-year-old father of two who spent 11 years in prison after committing a gangland killing.
His testimony made a big impression on Dorothy, our Willington Methodist who said: “Gary was superb, and like he said, it is only for the grace of God that many of us haven’t found ourselves in those circumstances. It was food for thought.” It is easy to see the infectious nature of J John’s message, and the sight and sound of thousands of people, regardless of race, age or faith, uniting in song, prayer and laughter would melt even the frostiest atheist’s heart.
You may not believe in God but it is impossible to deny the mesmerising influence faith has, and J John focuses on the positive messages of religion. Regardless of who you direct your prayers to and even if you don’t follow any faith, the messages J John conveys are of peace and harmony, something disturbingly lacking in today’s dog-eat-dog world, and it wouldn’t hurt for us to follow in his footsteps.
The Churches Together Crook is organising a bus for each of the three remaining weeks. Tickets are £5 per seat per week from Christine 01388 764753 or Barbara 01388 768242 For more details, log on to www.stcatherineschurchcrook.com or www.just10northeast.org.uk The bus leaves Stanhope market Place at 5.30pm and picks up at Frosterley Co-op 5.40pm, Wolsingham Grammar School and Wolsingham Town Hall 5.45pm, Crook’s St. Catherine's Church 6pm and Willington 6.10pm.
