Jesus Movement - Growth and Decline

Growth and Decline

Secular and Christian media exposure in 1971 and 1972 caused the Jesus movement to explode across the United States, attracting evangelical youth eager to identify with the movement. The Shiloh communities and the Children of God attracted many new recruits while many other communes and fellowships sprang up.

Perhaps the height of the Jesus movement was in the week-long gathering in Dallas, Texas known as Explo '72. This gathering attracted 80,000 young people and brought the hippies of the Jesus movement together with young people from traditional Christian families and churches. The event was organized by the very traditional Campus Crusade for Christ and involved such traditional leaders as Bill Bright and Billy Graham. Many of the young Jesus People attending Explo '72 discovered for the first time these and other traditional avenues of Christian worship and experience.

Although Explo '72 marked the highwater mark of media interest, the Jesus movement continued at a grass roots level with smaller individual groups and communities.