Editing Jesus Christians (section)

===Early days===

The group was started in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]], by Dave and Cherry McKay when Neville Williams moved in with the McKay family in early 1981.<ref>{{cite web|title=JC History 1981-1996|url=http://jesuschristians.com/early-days/706-jc-history-1981-1996|publisher=Jesus Christians|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref> David McKay was a former associate of the [[Family International|Children of God]] but cut ties with the group following the revelation of heretical practices such as [[Flirty Fishing|flirty fishing]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity Movements, Institutions, and Allegiance|last=Barker|first=Eileen|publisher=Brill|year=2016|isbn=9789004310780|pages=414–415|chapter=From the Children of God to the Family International - A Story of Radical Christianity and De-Radicalising Transformation|quote=Another schism, the Jesus Christians, was founded in Australia in 1981 by Dave MacKay (1944– ) following disagreements over practices such as flirty fishing.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Thesis on The Jesus Christian Movement - An Academic Review: The Influence of the Counter-Cult Movement|url=https://www.jesuschristians.com/images/PDF/Voices_in_the_Wilderness_An_Ethnography.pdf#page=39|last=Smith|website=jesuschristians.com|access-date=2025-05-07}}</ref> The Jesus Christians operated under several names, including Christians, The Medowie Christian Volunteers, Australian Christian Volunteers, and Voices in the Wilderness. The name 'Jesus Christians' was selected in 1996. ("A Change of Name", August, 1996)<ref>[https://jesuschristians.com/teachings-page/archived-articles/jesus-and-money/516-a-change-of-name A Change of Name]. Article from The Jesus Christian's website</ref>

====Free Work====
In 1983, Australian media followed members of the community who offered to do free work for one day for any family or business which requested their assistance.<ref name="Excommunicated">{{cite web|title=Excommunicated|url=http://jesuschristians.com/JC/Library/EXCOMM/chap5.html|publisher=Jesus Christians|accessdate=24 May 2013|archive-date=11 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911092823/http://jesuschristians.com/JC/Library/EXCOMM/chap5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Money Burning====
In 1984, group member Boyd Ellery was sentenced to three months prison in [[Sydney]] for burning an Australian dollar note in a statement about trusting God and not money. The protest was broadcast on national television by [[Mike Willesee|Mike Willisee]].<ref name="Excommunicated"/>

====Messages With Money====
In January 1985, the group glued Australian $2 notes to pavements to spell out messages against greed and money outside post offices around [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]] and [[New South Wales]].<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news|last1=Hall|first1=Sarah|last2=Vasagar|first2=Jeevan|last3=Bates|first3=Stephen|date=28 July 2000|title=Boy Camped with Cult as Hunt Went On|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jul/28/sarahhall.jeevanvasagar|accessdate=28 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://jesuschristians.com/early-days/706-jc-history-1981-1996|title=Jesus Christians history|website=jesuschristians.com|publisher=Jesus Christians}}</ref>

Christian messages also appeared written on a claimed AUS$100,000 worth of $2 notes in Sydney. The group claimed that as a result the federal police confiscated their mail until the [[NSW Council for Civil Liberties]] intervened.<ref>{{cite web|title=JC History 1981-1986|url=http://jesuschristians.com/early-days/706-jc-history-1981-1996|publisher=Jesus Christians|accessdate=28 May 2013}}</ref>

====Nullarbor Walk====

[[File:Nullabor-Walkers.gif|thumb|Nullarbor Walkers clockwise from top left: Gary McKay, Robin Dunn, Roland Gianstefani, Christine McKay, Dane Frick, Malcolm Wrest, Rachel Sukamaran]]

In May and June 1985, six of the youngest members of the community, 12-year-old Rachel Sukamaran, Malcolm Wrest, Roland Gianstefani, Robin Dunn, and Gary McKay, headed by 15-year-old Christine McKay, walked 1,000 miles across the [[Nullarbor Plain|Nullarbor Desert]] in the interior of Australia<ref>{{Cite web|last=ABC|first=News|date=28 September 2019|title=Walk across the Nullarbor (1985)|url=https://www.facebook.com/abcnews.au/videos/495414464572263/|access-date=|website=ABC FaceBook}}</ref> without taking any money, provisions, or support vehicle for their journey, prompting controversy and media interest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Walkers Begged Say Locals|url=http://jesuschristians.com/early-dayswalk-of-faith/772-walkers-begged-say-locals|publisher=Jesus Christians|accessdate=24 May 2013|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222184621/http://jesuschristians.com/early-dayswalk-of-faith/772-walkers-begged-say-locals|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=***** Seven Christian walkers - including girls of 12 and 15 - walk... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com.mx/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/seven-christian-walkers-including-girls-fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/1081590678 |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Getty Images |date=12 December 2018 |language=es}}</ref> A book based on the diaries of the Nullarbor Walkers was published in 1985 by [[John Sands (company)|John Sands]], shortly after the walk was completed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=9780958932707: Without Thought for Food or Clothing - AbeBooks: 0958932700|url=https://www.abebooks.com/9780958932707/Thought-Food-Clothing-0958932700/plp|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.abebooks.com|language=en}}</ref> An Easy English version of the diaries was later published by New Century Book House (India)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walk of Faith|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/85736922-walk-of-faith|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref> and [[Smashwords]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walk of Faith, an Ebook by Dave Mckay|url=http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/952588|access-date=2021-01-06|website=Smashwords|language=en}}</ref>

====Fall of America Prophecy====
In 1990, members of the group travelled to the United States to hand out 290,000 booklets entitled "The Fall of America".<ref>"[https://www.jesuschristians.com/jc-books/127-the-fall-of-america/945-the-fall-of-america The Fall of America]"</ref> prophesying America's destruction. They wore T-shirts with an [[Upside-down American flag|upside down American flag]] (as a symbol of distress) and the caption "Pride Goeth Before a Fall".<ref>{{cite web|title=Modern-Day Jeremiahs at Target Zero|url=https://jesuschristians.com/media-section/early-days/other-campaigns/678-modern-day-jeremiahs-at-target-zero|accessdate=24 May 2013|publisher=Jesus Christians}}</ref>

====India====
In 1994, Rob and Christine Dunn, Gary, Dave and Cherry McKay, Ross Parry, Rachel Sukamaran,Paul, Craig, Kevin, Rols, Sue, Sinni, Liz, Boyd, Chris, Roshini, and Sheri were among Jesus Christian members who voluntarily cleaned sewers and toilets in India.<ref>{{cite web|last=McGirk|first=Tim|title=New Untouchables in Madras Sewers (reproduced on the JC website)|url=http://jesuschristians.com/early-daysvision-2000/276-new-untouchables-in-madras-sewers|publisher=The Age|date=26 June 1994}}</ref> After one protest, where members stood in the sewer for a week to draw attention to the filth that spread disease, Craig Hendry contracted [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Australians find Godliness in Latrines and Sewers of Madras|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australians-find-godliness-in-latrines-and-sewers-of-madras-1425042.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220608/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australians-find-godliness-in-latrines-and-sewers-of-madras-1425042.html |archive-date=2022-06-08 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Independent|accessdate=24 May 2013|location=London|first=Tim|last=Mcgirk|date=26 June 1994}}</ref>

In 1995, the Jesus Christians converted a section of open sewer in [[Chennai]] into a children's playground. The real estate created by covering the sewer was estimated to be worth AUD $950,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Australians Good Intentions Drowned in an Indian Cesspit|url=http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=Craig+Hendry&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news950227_0107_8952|accessdate=17 June 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=27 February 1995}}</ref> After one year, the project was handed over to Indian charities to run; However the Indian government eventually demolished the site because it had been built on government land without permission.

====Nappy Chappies / Children of God====
In April 1997 and 1998, several Jesus Christians were arrested at the [[Sydney Royal Easter Show|Royal Easter Show]] in Sydney dressed as babies in over-sized [[Diaper|nappies]] while distributing "The Baby Books", highlighting how Jesus said his followers need to become like children to enter into God's Kingdom. The introduction of the books stated "We are children of God",<ref>{{cite web|title=The Baby Books|url=http://jesuschristians.com/JC/Library/BB1/BB1.html|publisher=Jesus Christians|accessdate=28 May 2013|archive-date=1 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301104148/http://jesuschristians.com/JC/Library/BB1/BB1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> which led to confusion about the group being the same as the [[Family International|Children of God]] group started by [[David Berg]]. This continuing confusion can be seen in a 2013 article which uses a photograph of the "Nappy Chappies" labelled as the Children of God.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/children-snatched-from-their-homes-in-dramatic-raids-on-the-children-of-god-sect-in-1990s-trials/story-fnat7jnn-1226590249796|title=Children snatched from their homes in dramatic raids on the Children of God sect in 1990s trials|last=Hunt|first=Elissa|publisher=Herald Sun|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602174119/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/children-snatched-from-their-homes-in-dramatic-raids-on-the-children-of-god-sect-in-1990s-trials/story-fnat7jnn-1226590249796|archive-date=2 June 2016|accessdate=17 June 2013}}</ref>

====Split====
In 1998, there was a split in the community. Craig and Yesamma Hendry and their family, Kevin and Elisabeth McKay, Boyd and Sheri Ellery and their family, Darren and Donna Cooke, Ray Sippel, Josh, and Tim left the community in Australia. Boyd wrote to the remaining community "The Spirit you are following is not Christ's. We will have no part of your hierarchies and fleshly importance."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Strong Meat, A Collection of forty essays for mature Jesus Christians|last=McKay|first=Dave|publisher=Jesus Christians|year=2003|location=Repromen, Chennai, South India|page=156|chapter=29. The Split}}</ref> The remaining community were "encouraged to avoid private correspondence or discussions with them..."<ref name="The Split article'">{{Cite web|last=Dave|year=2000|title=The Split|url=https://www.jesuschristians.com/teachings-page/archived-articles/strong-meat/734-the-split|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.jesuschristians.com|at=Paragraph 25-28|language=en-gb}}</ref>

====Kyri and Berni Sheridan====
In July 1999, 19-year-old Kyri Sheridan joined the Jesus Christians in the UK. His mother reported him missing to the Guildford Police in [[Surrey]]. Kyri presented himself at the Guildford police station to state that he was not actually "missing". The police confirmed Kyri was happy and making his own decision to be with the Jesus Christians. When his mother held Kyri to stop him from leaving, she was pinned down, handcuffed, and arrested by the police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/82096_mother_slates_police_for_not_preventing_her_son_going_off_with_religious_cult|title=Mother Slates Police for not Preventing Son Going off with Religious Cult|publisher=Get Reading News|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130423110551/http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/82096_mother_slates_police_for_not_preventing_her_son_going_off_with_religious_cult|archivedate=23 April 2013|accessdate=17 June 2013}}</ref> This incident led to the first media report about the group in the UK, featuring comments from [[Graham Baldwin]] and labelling the group as a "cult".<ref>{{cite web |last1=McVeigh |first1=Tracy |title=Mother's crusade to rescue son from clutches of evil cult |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/903994969/ |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Express |access-date=9 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250107000000/https://www.newspapers.com/image/903994969/ |archive-date=2025-01-07 |date=12 July 1999}} [https://jesuschristians.com/media-section/controversies/the-kyri-saga/1371-mother-s-crusade-to-rescue-son-from-clutches-of-evil-cult Alt URL]</ref>