The rise, growth and impact of African churches in the UK
Rev Dr Israel Olofinjana gives an overview of Britain’s African Church movement
Six expressions of African Christianity
The substance of this article was first shared at a Keep The Faith Online Talk in September 2024. Many who attended that presentation encouraged me to write something about what I shared about African Christianity in Britain. The following has been adapted for the purposes of this article.
The African Church movement in the UK is a diverse missional church movement that understands the core of its mission in Britain as re-evangelising post-Christian Britain in all its complexities. The African Church movement in Britain must be understood as the sixth expression of African Christianity, in that it is rooted, shaped and reflects Christianity on the content of Africa. The five expressions of Christianity on the continent are:
- Orthodox Christianity
- Catholic Christianity
- Protestant Christianity
- African Indigenous Churches (AICs)
- African Pentecostalism
Another important factor about African Christianity is that the largest concentration of Christians is in Africa, meaning that Africa is the representative Christianity of World Christianity and all major global statistics are pointing to the fact that this is set to continue into 2050. One implication is that an average Christian today is a woman from West Africa! Another is that one in four Christians is an African! If this is the case, we ought to pay attention to the rise, growth and impact of African Christianity in Britain.
This is not to say that African Christianity and by extension African churches are perfect, far from it, but what it means is that African Christianity is an expression of the Christian faith to be taken seriously.
Classification of African churches in the UK
African Christianity in Britain has been around since the 19th century but the focus of our discussion is on their developments since the 1980s.
African churches can be divided into four categories, reflecting their diversity theologically, doctrinally and missionally.
African Indigenous Churches (AICs): These are churches founded by Africans for Africans, here in the between the 1960s-1980s.
Coptic Orthodox Church & Ethiopian Orthodox Church: This church denomination is amongst one of the oldest expressions of Christianity in the world, dating back to the early history of Christianity. The Coptic Church in Britain started around the 1960s, while the Ethiopian Orthodox Church started around the 1990s.
African Pentecostal Churches: These churches started in Britain from around the 1980s to the present, and are the most visible and well-known of all expressions of African churches in Britain. The different types of African Pentecostal churches are: the African Pentecostal denominations, such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Forward in Faith Ministries, and Church of Pentecost; the African Independent Pentecostal churches (IPC), such as Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Apostolic Pastoral Congress (APC) and New Wine Church. The word ‘independent’ here is crucial because these churches are not part of any denominational structures. This, however, does not mean they are one independent church because some IPCs have a network of churches. Lastly, there are African Charismatic Ministries, such as the National Day of Prayer initiative, Rehoboth Foundation, and Advancing World Missions.
African congregations in historic churches: These are African congregations and churches within Britain mainline churches, such as Church of England, Baptists, Methodists, United Reformed Churches (URC), and the Catholic Church.
Profile of some African Pentecostal churches in Britain
The demography of African Pentecostal churches is drawn mainly from the following countries but is not restricted to these:
Nigerian Pentecostals
Ghanian Pentecostals
Zimbabwean Pentecostals
Kenyan Pentecostals
Ugandan Pentecostals
South African Pentecostals
Zambian Pentecostals
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Pentecostals
Angolan Pentecostals –Within this group of churches there are Anglophone African Pentecostal churches that use English as their medium of communication, and Francophone African churches that use French as the lingua franca.
There are also several African Pentecostal churches that use their indigenous languages, such as Yoruba, Twi or Lingala, in their church services. Below is a list and profile of some African Pentecostal churches. It is important to say this is not an exhaustive list – just a sampling of some African Pentecostal churches:
Christ Apostolic Church (1974): This is an indigenous Nigerian Pentecostal denomination.
Temple of Praise Church (1979): This is an independent church, founded by a Nigerian pastor, but has developed as an intercultural church reflecting modern Britain.
Gospel Faith Mission International (1983): This is a Nigerian Pentecostal denomination with a focus on mission.
Deeper Life Bible Church (1985): Another Nigerian Pentecostal denomination.
New Covenant Church (1986): Another Nigerian Pentecostal denomination with around 42 branch churches in the UK.
Church of Pentecost (1988): This is a Ghanian Pentecostal church with around 188 church plants and 32 districts.
Redeemed Christian Church of God (1988): One of the largest and fastest growing African Pentecostal denomination churches in Britain, with more than 800 church plants.
Christ Faith Tabernacle (1989): An independent Nigerian Pentecostal church.
Lighthouse Chapel International (1989): An independent Ghanian Pentecostal network of churches.
Victory Bible Church International (1991): An independent Ghanian Pentecostal church.
Kingsway International Christian Centre (1992) An independent Nigerian Pentecostal church that is best described as multicultural.
Freedom’s Ark Church (1993): An independent Nigerian Pentecostal church that is very multicultural and justice-oriented.
New Wine Church (1993): An independent Nigerian Pentecostal church that is multicultural.
International Central Gospel Church (1996): A Ghanian Pentecostal denomination.
Apostolic Faith Ministries International (1998): A Zimbabwean Pentecostal church.
Centre for World Evangelism (1999): An independent Ghanaian Pentecostal church.
Winners Chapel (2001): An independent Nigerian Pentecostal church,
Faith Ministries (2004): A Zimbabwean Pentecostal church that is an intercultural church,
Growth and mission strategies of African Pentecostal churches
People often wonder amidst the narrative of declining churches in the UK, what are the reasons African Pentecostal churches are growing? It is due to the following factors:
Expressive Christianity: They have an emphasis on an expressive form of Christianity through praise and worship that involves worshipping not only through reasoning, but through emotions, body language, dance, performative arts, and creative drama.
Demonstrative Christianity: They believe in the supernatural – that God can do the impossible. Miracles, healing and deliverance are all understood to be something possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Practical Christianity: African Pentecostal churches are growing because they are very practical, adapting the gospel message in a relevant way to speak to and address issues facing the different communities. They organise success seminars, marriage seminars and business seminars.
Orthodox Christianity: They hold a high view of Scripture, which translates to an Orthodox Christianity that maintains certain stands on morality and ethics.
Prophetic Christianity: Some African Pentecostal churches are prophetic in the sense of challenging systemic injustice and structures, such as speaking out on racism, health inequalities, mental health, and advocacy on immigration.
Praying Christianity: African Pentecostal churches are committed to praying for the nation they find themselves in, because they are seeking renewal and transformation. There are several prayer movements in Britain led by African Pentecostal Christians.
If African Pentecostal churches are growing, what are their mission strategies? Their mission strategies can be understood through how they organise their churches. Below are four expressions of African churches’ missional practices:
Monocultural Churches: These are African churches that have created a home away from home for the African migrant communities by becoming a migrant sanctuary. These are expressed as Nigerian churches, Ghanaian churches, Zimbabwean churches, Kenyan churches, etc.
Multicultural Churches: These African churches have different African nationalities, African Caribbean representation, Asian, and perhaps some Europeans in their congregations. To an outsider, it looks like a Black-majority church or, in this case, an African church, but sometimes the reality is that they may have 25 nationalities from Africa represented. The last I checked, Africa is still a continent and not a country!
Intercultural Churches: There are some African church leaders who have managed to develop and lead what could be described as an intercultural church that goes beyond representation to authentic integration of those cultures represented. [1]
Decolonised Churches: These are African churches – and, in particular, African church leaders – who are very conscious of the colonial context of Africa and its ongoing legacies and use that as a framework to challenge racial injustice in British society.
REV DR ISRAEL OLOGINJANA
is co-editor of Polyphonic God: Exploring Intercultural Theology, Churches and Justice alongside David Wise and Usha Reifsnider (published by SCM Press)
