When Jesus Met Hippies: The Story and Legacy of the Jesus People Movement in the UK

by Andrew Whitman

Publisher:

Malcolm Down Publishing

, 2023

Overview

Many books have been written on the Jesus People movement in the US, but what about its impact in the UK? 'When Jesus Met Hippies' explores how this counter-cultural movement of Christians found its own expression in the UK, reshaping the lives of individuals along with the life and mission of the new and existing churches across the nation.

By discovering the interaction between different characters and groups from across the Atlantic, experience an immersive retelling of the successes and failures that led to an enduring legacy. How did this new breed of Christians radically live out their faith and evangelise the youth of the UK in the 1960s and '70s? And how might it inspire fresh revival in the different yet equally chaotic era we live in today?

Key Features

• Explores how this counter-cultural movement of Christians found its own expression in the UK
• Shows what was the mission of the new and existing churches across the nation.
• Explains the successes and failures that led to an enduring legacy.

Praise for When Jesus Met Hippies

Andrew Whitman’s ‘When Jesus met Hippies’ has done yeoman work in highlighting the heretofore underrated impact of the 1970’s Jesus People movement upon the evolution of the British religious scene. Far from being merely an American import, Whitman demonstrates that the Jesus People in their UK manifestations developed distinctive adaptations of the movement within a British context that have had profound knock-on effects down into the present-day. ‘When Jesus Met the Hippies’ is a must-read for those interested in both the international dimensions of the Jesus People movement, and the forces that have shaped contemporary evangelicalism in the UK.

-- Larry Eskridge

Product Details

• Title: When Jesus Met Hippies: The Story and Legacy of the Jesus People Movement in the UK
• Author: Andrew Whitman
• Publisher: Malcolm Down Publishing
• Print Publication Date: 2023
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 353
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Counterculture › United Kingdom--History--20th century; Hippies › Religious life--United Kingdom--History--20th century; Jesus People › United Kingdom--History--20th century; United Kingdom › Religion--20th century
• ISBNs: 9781915046727, 1915046726
• Resource ID: LLS:WHNJSSMTPMVMNTK
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-11-25T22:29:50Z

About Andrew Whitman

Andrew Whitman, was born in north London in 1953 and came to Christian faith as a hippy-type at the age of twenty. Since then he has been communicating Jesus. His first book, ‘Free to Hope’, a modest Bible commentary on 1 Peter, was published in 1994, 16,000 copies subsequently distributed free to ‘developing world’ pastors. Given his backstory, the second, ‘When Jesus Met Hippies’ (November 2023), unpacks the influence of the Jesus People Movement (1967-1974) on the UK, and is genuinely unique in its scope. Andrew is married to Rosie, and their two sons and their wives have gifted them 7 energetic grandchildren. To relax, he loves prog-rock band Yes, wrestles with Sudokus, supports Premiership football team Arsenal, enjoys a good thriller film, and power-walks daily. Happily, Andrew is a cancer-recoverer from 2016.