Welcome, to our first ever guest blog. I am grateful to Rev Dr Stephen Laird for allowing me to publish his article on Black Majority Christian Groups at the University of Kent, plus his review of a book by Harvey Kwiyani. If you would like to read a fuller report by Stephen, ’Led by the Spirit, Grounded in Scripture – Student-led Christian Groups at Kent University’, then contact Stephen at s.c.e.laird@kent.ac.uk.
Following Stephen’s article, I set out some reflections on the issues that I think it raises for churches in Britain today.
I am having a post-Easter break and my next blog will be on Tuesday, May 3rd.
‘The Great New Fact of Our Era’, and the rise of Black Majority Christian Groups on the University Campus
The main campus of University of Kent, located on the edge of Canterbury, is a popular and versatile venue for conferences and other events during the vacation periods. This year sees the return of the Lambeth Conference, which has enjoyed the use of the campus accommodation and facilities on every occasion it has met since 1978: for a couple of weeks, a different spirit descends and the college buildings are populated with bishops, their spouses and conference staff who together reflect, with sights and sounds (especially laughter), the global character of the Anglican Communion.
Visitors to Kent University may be interested to learn that over 20% of the term-time student body are non-UK students, with large numbers from mainland Europe and, notably, West Africa. Combined with that around 11% of the student body (twice the average for English universities) belong to UK domiciled BME/‘African heritage’ families, predominantly from the London area. Our student community has a rich diverse, cosmopolitan feel which sometimes seems at odds with the more provincial demographic of its Canterbury and East Kent setting.
The Christian scene at the University is, as a direct consequence, energised by a number of what Harvey Kwiyani (of Liverpool Hope University) and other recent writers describe as ‘new black majority churches’ (nBMCs). Church people I meet generally see ‘campus Christianity’ as being characterised by Chaplaincy activities (led by ministers of the traditional denominations) on the one hand; and a student-led Christian Union, which gets the support of students and local churches of the reformed traditions, on the other - perhaps that was the experience of previous generations. Both of these exist at Kent, but the most visible and populous forms of Christianity are the intense and ambitious ones being embraced by a plethora of student groups which work on the model of nBMCs. This year there are seven such groups, each of them aligned with one of a number of national or global ministry organisations which - typically - are based in either Nigeria or Ghana. Each has a named leader of international renown whose preaching may be streamed via the internet, for example Chris Oyakhilome (Christ Embassy/‘Believers’ Loveworld’); Dag Heward-Mills (the Lighthouse movement); Enoch Adeboye (the Redeemed Christian Church of God). Each group grows its own strong and determined student leadership and gathers members who are full of faith and, in common with other expressions of Pentecostalism, share a belief that God will work within the group and the lives of individuals in palpable ways. Broadly speaking, the situation mirrors church and community life in, say, South London which is well-known for a proliferation of Christian groups which in many cases reflect some very specific ethnic and cultural identities. Interestingly, the sector average, in English Universities, for those within the student body who have a religious faith is usually given as around 24%. At the University of Kent it is 48%. This, it was once suggested, was due to the attractiveness and proximity of Canterbury and its cathedral as the focus of the Anglican Communion. The real reason, we now know, is quite different!
Supporting and engaging with the various groups is important and in doing so it is vital, first, to lay aside prejudices and wrong expectations. It is tempting to see my own inherited ‘white, western’ perception of Christianity, and what ‘church’ ought to look like, as ‘normative’ and (perhaps subconsciously) assume that part of the task is to expect those who express their faith in different ways to ‘fit in’ (leading to wrong assumptions that, say, the offer of a guided trip around the Cathedral; or an active involvement with the popular but traditional University Carol Service would have automatic appeal). Similarly, when we see a proliferation of Christian groups the thoughts of the ‘well meaning’ automatically turn to the imperative of ‘bringing them together’. Yet what matters to their members may, in fact, be how their group is distinctive, and for all sorts of reasons they may harbour active suspicions of the ecumenical agenda, especially if it is part of someone else’s programme. The fact is that, from a ‘white, western’ perspective we may have certain ideas and expectations about how church groups ought to relate to each other, and to outsiders. We see alternative outlooks and agendas as being somewhat odd. The reality is that members of nBMCs, whether in South London or on our campus, inevitably view their own practises and perspectives as normative: for them it is likely to be the priorities and habits of what we ourselves think of as ‘the mainstream’ which are the ones which are strange or need to be challenged!
One cause of regret, for me and - I know - for the groups themselves is their almost complete failure to attract people from cultures other than their own in spite of their professed ambitions to succeed in mission to anyone and everyone. A black majority Christian church, it has been pointed out by recent researchers, is likely to maintain a 95%+ or, in all likelihood, 100% black membership, frequently with just one West African national identity predominating. This makes mission beyond the group challenging, and - as Harvey Kwiyani and others have pointed out - goes against the notion that Christian people should aspire to one-ness in Christ: there seems to be some something here which is inimical to Kingdom values. The situation (research reveals) has not arisen primarily because people felt rejected by ‘white’ churches, but for a host of other reasons. Kwiyani, however, reminds us that whoever we are, and whether we worship and minister in the metropolis or on the University campus, the proliferation and growth of new black majority Christian churches is the great new fact of our era. And in this country, those churches are not Anglican.
Revd Dr Stephen Laird
University of Kent March 2022
Review: Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, Mission and the Church
Harvey Kwiyani
SCM £21.99 pbk
9780334057529
2020
African-heritage Pentecostal churches in the UK’s cities and university towns are increasing in number and size, their leaders now prominent in civic life and local Christian fraternals. Census data reveals that churchgoing across London is holding up well, with these communities being the main reason: here, 49% of Sunday regulars are black African or Caribbean Christians. “Cultural diversity in British Christianity”, Kwiyani writes, “is the great new fact of our era”. The author describes African Pentecostalism and gives the historical background: the European missions, and then the migrations contributing to the multicultural society experienced in Britain today. Yet many of these ‘new’ Churches are monocultural, deliberately targeting people from a particular heritage nation (Nigeria; Ghana) or even - by worshipping in a specific dialect - of a particular tribe. This gives rise to practical and theological challenges: a segregation of cultures is inimical to Kingdom values, “going against everything we read in the New Testament” (a congregation consisting of a white, middle-class clique is deserving of the same critique). Kwiyani uses the metaphor of a mosaic, reminding us that in Christendom the whole “picture” is composed of lots of different bits, but that they have to work together if the maker’s (God’s) envisioned image is to be effectively realised: “one tile cannot make a mosaic”. This book is full of interesting data, memorable stories and good theology. The author, a Christian scholar of Malawian origin, has the freedom to venture into this politically sensitive territory objectively and critically and, with passion, encourages readers to engage with some uncomfortable truths.
Stephen Laird
(The report ‘Being Built Together: A Story of New Black Majority Churches in the London Borough of Southwark’, produced by the University of Roehampton, also provides helpful background material.)
Reflections by John Root.
a) Given the size of African Christian groups how much energy is being given to fostering constructive relationships with them by the Church of England, Churches Together, EA, UCCF etc? The need to work at much closer relationships with African Pentecostals in Britain is a running theme of these blogs – see # 53 ‘One River, Two Streams’ (09/11/2021); #11b ‘Institutional Racism and the Church of England – 2’ (22/01/21). We are happy with ‘shallow diversity’. (Perhaps the belief that Canterbury Cathedral has an attractive force indicates how little we understand.) This article points to a ‘deep diversity’ which raises more difficult issues (attitudes to scripture, intercessory prayer and the miraculous, ‘prosperity’, homosexuality, etc. etc.) where there are bigger divides. (Elsewhere Stephen suggests nBMCs are also reluctant to engage with us). What ought all groups to be doing to foster the lived-out inter-ethnic unity that is central to the calling of the church?.
b) This report suggests that attempts at 'reverse mission' by African Christians, at least at University level, disappoint the optimistic expectations many had. Can working in partnership on how we might evangelise the ‘white majority’ be a productive means of developing closer and more trusting relationships between ‘traditional’ and African Pentecostal groups? Further, as nBMCs find their mission more difficult with the size of the African background population in Britain levelling off (as has already happened with African Caribbean churches); and as they face the intensifying challenge to pass on the faith to their children raised in secular Britain, so partnership with the wider church becomes increasingly important.
c) The Church of England now tends to see its poor progress with ethnic minorities as stemming from our racism. This article suggests the growth of African Christian groups stems rather from their own distinct agendas and agency, so that basing our analysis solely on what white Christians have or have not done is in itself hubristic racism. Seeking to aim for quotas of participation (as with ‘From Lament to Action’) reflects the currently widespread but seriously wrong assumption that racism is the only variable that affects different outcomes between ethnic groups. Racism certainly is an issue that the Church of England needs to work at, but this study underlines that there are other powerful and complex factors that influence patterns of church involvement.
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Manoj Raithatha (now chair of the Evangelical Alliance Board) has produced an updated version of his autobiographical ‘Filthy Rich: How the Property Crash Saved myLife’. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912726599/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_4PFVZYDQ1SY5ECN8ESN8