And they did not know that all authority in the nearly 500-member group rests in the hands of eight unelected men and women, half of whom are related by blood or marriage. Jesus People USA is organized around verses laid out in the Bible. The members of Jesus People USA also are united by the man-made rules that dictate their daily lives. Members are not to date for one year after joining, and they are encouraged to get the leaders' approval before marrying. Couples are encouraged to get permission and counseling before having children.
Members work without pay for the commune's businesses.
But speaking as a man with his own troubled past, Taylor says Jesus People's leaders have had no choice but to run the commune with an unyielding grip. To make his point, Taylor gestures toward a young woman with purple hair and piercings all over her face. She came to Jesus People USA with a history of drug problems, he says. They recruited at O'Hare, handing religious tracts to baggage-laden travelers. They proselytized on the sidewalks of Old Town, sometimes luring potential converts from the orange-robed Hare Krishnas who also worked the neighborhood.