African churches boom in London’s backstreets – a picture essay
Members of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim & Seraphim Church in south-east London
In 20th century Britain, migrants from Nigeria and Ghana founded churches to build communities, as did the Caribbean peoples before them in the 1940s and 1950s
African churches opened their doors in London from the 1960s, followed by a second wave in the 1980s. Migrants, many of them from Nigeria and Ghana, sought to build communities and maintain cultural connections with their home countries by founding their own churches, often in private homes, schools and office spaces.
- A worshipper kneels to pray during a Sunday service at the House of Praise church in Camberwell, south London
On a cold, grey Sunday morning, in a street lined with shuttered builders’ yards and storage units, songs of prayer in the West African language of Yoruba ring out from a former warehouse that is now a church. The congregation, almost entirely dressed in white robes, steadily grows to around 70 people as musicians playing drums, a keyboard and a guitar pick up the pace of the hymns. Some women prostrate themselves on the floor in prayer. In the sparse formerly industrial building, its interior brightened by touches of gold paint, a speaker reminds the group of a list of banned activities – no smoking, no drinking of alcohol, no practicing of black magic.
The New Jerusalem Parish
- Worshippers sing as they offer thanksgiving during Sunday service at the New Jerusalem Parish in New Cross, south London
- Top: a worshipper reads a passage from the Bible on her smartphone during Sunday service; a worshipper combs his hair before attending service. Above: worshippers leave after Sunday service
- Worshippers bless a vehicle to keep it safe after a member of the congregation had a revelation during Sunday service
In a street outside, a pastor flicks holy water over the car of a woman who wants a blessing to ward off the risk of accidents. The busy scene at the Celestial Church of Christ is repeated at a half a dozen other African Christian temples on the same drab street and in the adjacent roads – one corner of the thriving African church community in south London.
Around 250 black majority churches are believed to operate in the borough of Southwark, where 16 percent of the population identifies as having African ethnicity.
Southwark represents the biggest concentration of African Christians in the world outside the continent with an more than 20,000 congregants attending new black majority churches each Sunday, according to research conducted in 2013 by the University of Roehampton.
Reflecting the different waves of migration to Britain in the 20th Century, these African places of worship followed the Caribbean churches that appeared in the late 1940s and 1950s as workers and their families arrived from Jamaica and other former British colonies.
The House of Praise
- Worshippers dance during ‘Super Sunday’ service at the House of Praise church. The church, formerly a theatre and bingo hall, is one of the biggest in south London. The services, mainly attended by worshippers of Nigerian descent, are recorded using television cameras
- Top: Members of the youth church perform in a knife crime play during a Good Friday performance; a worshipper takes photos after the ‘Super Sunday’ service. Above: worshippers pray during Sunday service
- A television cameraman films Pastor Andrew Adeleke as he addresses the congregation during the ‘Super Sunday’ service
As the African communities grew, the churches moved into bigger spaces in bingo halls, cinemas and warehouses, gathering congregations of up to 500 people where services are streamed online by volunteers with video cameras.
There is a striking contrast with the empty pews at many traditional Church of England churches where congregations have dwindled for years.
“We pray for this country,” said Abosede Ajibade, a 54-year-old Nigerian who moved to Britain in 2002 and works for an office maintenance company.
“People here brought Christianity to Africa but it doesn’t feel like they serve Jesus Christ any more.”
The Apostles Of Muchinjikwa Christian church
- A mass baptism on the beachfront in Southend-on-Sea. Members of the church travel to Southend-on-Sea from all over the country, some from as far as Scotland, to join members from London, Leeds and Leicester for an annual ceremony
- Top: members prepare to enter the sea for a mass baptism; senior members leave the sea after the ceremony. Above: locals walk along the seafront as members worship
- Members pray outside the Basildon Sporting Village before the mass baptism
Anyone travelling through south London on a Sunday morning will see worshippers, often dressed in dazzlingly coloured African clothes, making their way to churches, each with their different styles of worship.
Hymns are sung only in African languages in some temples, or only in English at others. Some pastors arrange for worshippers to take full immersion baptisms in the cold of the English Channel. Others believe that when congregants suddenly start speaking in unknown languages it marks the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim & Seraphim Church
- Young members wait to parade through the streets to celebrate their annual Thanksgiving in Elephant and Castle. The church was founded by Moses Orimolade Tunolase in 1925 in Nigeria and is attended by worshippers of Nigerian descent who come from all over the country for services
- Top: a worshipper prays during a Good Friday Lent service; a boy adjusts his hat at the annual Thanksgiving. Above: members sing as they celebrate Thanksgiving
- A cross hangs from the waist of a worshipper as she prays during an Easter Sunday service
The research by the University of Roehampton found that many churches have in common a drive for professional advancement, a commitment to spend three hours or more at Sunday service and typically very loud worship.
“That is how we express our joy and gratitude to God,” Andrew Adeleke, a senior pastor at the House of Praise, one of the biggest African churches in Southwark, in a former theatre.
“The church is not supposed to be a graveyard,” Adeleke said. “It is supposed to be a temple of celebration and worship and the beauty is to be able to express our love to God, even when things are not perfect in our lives.”
For some, the noise from amplified services is a problem, leading to complaints to local authorities from residents. But many churches face bigger challenges than unhappy neighbours: some provide food for people struggling to make ends meet, or work with young people at risk of recruitment by gangs.
Andrew Rogers, senior lecturer in Practical Theology at the University and author of the research paper, Being Built Together,, said pastors had to juggle retaining the churches African identity while appealing to children of first generation immigrants, many of whom have never lived outside Britain. They typically have a more liberal world view which can be hard to reconcile with conservative Pentecostal teachings.
Rogers recalled speaking to one pastor who lamented he was unable to talk about religious miracles to his children.
“If the church doesn’t adapt, then they are going to leave and look elsewhere,” Rogers said.
- Worshippers leave after a night-time Christmas Eve service at the Celestial Church of Christ in Elephant and Castle
As 2019 begins…
… we’re asking readers to make a new year contribution in support of The Guardian’s independent journalism. More people are reading and supporting our independent, investigative reporting than ever before. And unlike many news organisations, we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our journalism accessible to all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. But this is only possible thanks to voluntary support from our readers – something we have to maintain and build on for every year to come.
Readers’ support powers The Guardian, giving our reporting impact and safeguarding our essential editorial independence. This means the responsibility of protecting independent journalism is shared, enabling us all to feel empowered to bring about real change in the world. Your support gives Guardian journalists the time, space and freedom to report with tenacity and rigor, to shed light where others won’t. It emboldens us to challenge authority and question the status quo. And by keeping all of our journalism free and open to all, we can foster inclusivity, diversity, make space for debate, inspire conversation – so more people, across the world, have access to accurate information with integrity at its heart. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, enables us to keep working as we do.
The Guardian is editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. It’s what makes us different to so many others in the media, at a time when factual, honest reporting is critical.
Please make a new year contribution today to help us deliver the independent journalism the world needs for 2019 and beyond.