Lausanne World Pulse – The Growth of Ethnic Churches in the UK
By Peter Brierley
Ethnic Mix in Congregations
In 1998 roughly fifty-nine percent of all churches were entirely composed of white people (some of whom nevertheless would be of non-British nationality, such as the Polish or Irish) and three percent of churches were entirely composed of black people. Of the remaining thirty-eight percent, thirty-one percent of the congregations had an ethnic mix of between one percent and twenty percent (in practice mostly between one percent and five percent), while seven percent had an ethnic mix between twenty-one percent and ninety-nine percent. In practice, as the pie chart shows, the majority of churches are either all white or are less than twenty percent mixed. The number of congregations with a good mix of nationalities is actually very small.
Ethnic Growth
Collectively between 1998 and 2005 the various non-white ethnic churches listed above saw their congregations grow by forty percent in their numbers coming each Sunday, a huge increase against the general decline of many white-only churches. If these congregations are growing, how much have they grown and why? The bar chart below indicates their growth insofar as separate groups or denominations can be isolated and their Sunday attendance figures known. The chart indicates that most have been growing for years, so this growth is not something new. It also shows the huge dominance of the “Other African” or “West Indian” churches.
This growth can be traced to a variety of factors. Below are five.
1. Since the mid-1990s especially, many immigrants have come to the UK, some as refugees or asylum seekers. They have added one million to the English population in seven years. Some of these come from Christian countries and wish to attend church. Many form a church related to their homeland.
2. Many of these groups had a culture of Sunday church attendance at home and naturally expected to do the same in their new land. In 1998, for example, twenty-seven percent of the black population of inner London went to church every Sunday. Their numbers are higher partly because their consistency in attendance is greater than those who are native to England.
3. Most of these denominations are evangelical and are actively seeking to evangelise both their own people (especially the Chinese and Koreans) as well as those of other nationalities. There is an atmosphere of enthusiasm and commitment in many of these congregations.
4. Some have grown because other members of their families have joined them from their home country. However, especially among those who have been in the UK for many years, these are the groups which tend to have more children than the average white British household – and they expect their children to go to church with them.
5. The preaching of many of their pastors is urgent, powerful and relevant. The largest of these churches, such as that headed up by the Nigerian Matthew Ashimolowo at the Kingsway International Christian Centre, attracts up to ten thousand people every Sunday. Those attending find Ashimolowo explains the Bible “so that I know how to live my Christian life.”
All of these reasons are important, and some could well be imitated by the white congregations who find growth so difficult. There is, however, another factor which is partly behind the burgeoning numbers of these churches. These numbers are difficult to break down into individual denominations because many of these churches are denominations of just one or a small handful of churches. Some have been established in England as missionary outposts of large denominations in Nigeria or Ghana where the expectation is for several congregations to form, even though at the present time they are just the one group.
May this enthusiasm to evangelise not only the UK, but other countries as well, spread throughout all churches, regardless of their ethnicity.
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Dr. Peter Brierley is the Senior Lausanne Associate for Church Research. He attended Lausanne I in 1974 and has been involved with the Lausanne movement since 1984. Formerly a government statistician, he is currently executive director of Christian Research, a UK charity which produces resource volumes like Religious Trends and the UK Christian Handbook. Brierley can be reached at [email protected]. |
Comments on this article
Quite interesting, but no mention of Messianic Jewish groups, of which there are more than twenty.Is there a reason for this?
Adrian :: 16 Jun 2006