Here is a very rough translation (Sorry, I had to guess on a bit of it.) of the Censure article, which was written in Italian. Maybe someone with a better understanding of Italian can help with any errors I have made.
Groups with a prophetic or messianic emphasis:
The Jesus Christians
Itinerant missionaries in Europe. Headquarters based at: P.O. Box A678, Sydney South, Australia 1235; Email:
fold@idl.net.au; URL: [
cust.idl.net.au]) Also known as Medowie Christian Volunteers, Nullarbor Walkers, Australian Volunteers, Voices in the Wilderness, children of God (but with small "c"), the Nappy Chappies, or simply "Christians". Jesus Christians (their name adopted in 1996) were born in Australia in 1981 around to a group of former Children of God members, guided by Dave McKay. [wrong: Only David has ever been a member of the Children of God, and then only lived with them for a couple of months, 28 years ago.] McKay had known the Children of God in the 1970s, and had lived with them in a "house" in Melbourne for a short period in 1978, separating himself from the movement because of disagreements over their 'flirty fishing' and practices and doctrines.
Travelling as itinerant missionaries to New Zealand, India, and Europe (with modest contacts in Italy), in the tradition of the Children of God, their message centered on the imminence of apocalyptic events and denunciation of hypocrisy in the mainline Churches. They differ from the Children of God, in that they accept birth control and refuse any form of adultery. They accept masturbation, however, a position which is often at odds with mainline Churches. The rest of their theology could be described as fundamentalist. In 2004, the Jesus Christians were at the center of a heated controversy in Australia over kidney transplants. According to Australian law the donor in a kidney transplant can only be a close relative of the patient. [or be a close friend] Members of the Jesus Christians were accepted as donors by pretending to have a closer relationship than they really did. They defended this action with the argument: "The deception was justified in order to save one human life". McKay, personally charged for this vicissitude, has declared that the movement would respect the law in the future, but at the same time it would be better if the law was changed, allowing voluntary donors without close relationships with the patients to donate a kidney and also other organs after having successfully passed a series of psychological examinations. (According to McKay, the Jesus Christians who had acted as illegal donors had successfully passed these tests.).
Godstuff Comix, Sydney, Australia, publish mostly pamphlets (also comics), including six Baby Books, which include some materials from the first years of the Children of God. They provide a good introduction to the similarities between the two movement.
The rest is about a group called New Horizons, and does not appear to have anything further to say about the Jesus Christians.