Megachurches and Social Engagement: Public Theology in Practice 2019022325, 9789004402645, 9789004402652

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Megachurches and Social Engagement

Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies Edited by William K. Kay (Glyndŵr University) Mark J. Cartledge (Regent University) Editorial Board Kimberly Ervin Alexander (Regent University) Allan H. Anderson (University of Birmingham) Jacqueline Grey (Alphacrucis College, Sydney) Byron D. Klaus (Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, MO) Wonsuk Ma (Oral Roberts University) Jean-Daniel Plüss (European Pentecostal/Charismatic Research Association) Cecil M. Robeck, Jr (Fuller Theological Seminary) Calvin Smith (King’s Evangelical Divinity School)

volume 33

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/gpcs

Megachurches and Social Engagement Public Theology in Practice By

Mark J. Cartledge Sarah L.B. Dunlop Heather Buckingham Sophie Bremner

leiden | boston

Cover Illustration: Photo by Revd Ian Adams Part of chapter 3 is printed from ‘Public Theology and Empirical Research: Developing an Agenda’, International Journal of Public Theology 10 (2016), pp. 145–166 (specifically pp. 146–154) by Mark J. Cartledge, with permission from Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Copyright © 2016 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov lc record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2019022325

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1876-2247 isbn 978-90-04-40264-5 (paperback) isbn 978-90-04-40265-2 (e-book) Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents Preface  XI List of Table and Figures  xiii 1 Introduction  1 1.1 Aim, Scope and Contribution of the Study  1 1.2 Evangelicalism and Charismatic Renewal in the Church of England  6 1.3 African Pentecostalism in Britain  14 1.4 Theoretical Fields: Public Theology, Megachurches and Social Engagement  26 1.5 Research Methodology  28 1.6 Outline of the Chapters  35

Part 1 Theoretical Fields 2 Megachurch Studies  41 2.1 Introduction  41 2.2 Megachurches in the usa  45 2.2.1 A Megachurch Typology?  46 2.2.2 Megachurches and the Religious Market  49 2.2.3 Megachurches and the Mainline  53 2.2.4 African American Megachurches  54 2.3 Megachurches in the South  60 2.4 Megachurches in Europe  70 2.5 Megachurches in the United Kingdom  77 2.6 Explanations of the Emergence of Megachurches  80 2.7 Conclusion  82 3 Public Theology, Social Theory and Social Engagement  84 3.1 Introduction  84 3.2 Public Theology  84 3.3 Changing Society, Changing Church  92 3.4 Faith and Social Policy: Concepts and Context  99 3.4.1 Conceptualising the Relationship between Faith and Social Policy  99 3.4.2 Mapping the Contemporary Policy Context  101

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3.5 Defining the Church’s Social Engagement  105 3.6 Sociological Perspectives on the Churches’ Social Engagement  108 3.6.1 Types of Service Provision  108 3.6.2 Understanding the Tensions  109 3.6.3 Faith and Social Capital  111 3.7 Understanding the ‘Why’: Theology, Social Theory and Ecclesial Practice  116 3.8 Conclusion  118

Part 2 Empirical Studies 4 The Church of England  121 4.1 Introduction  121 4.2 Description of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton  121 4.2.1 The Parish  122 4.2.2 History  122 4.2.3 Current Vision  124 4.2.4 Worship Services  126 4.2.5 Alpha  130 4.2.6 Global Reach  135 4.3 Social Engagement  136 4.3.1 William Wilberforce Trust  136 4.3.2 Alpha in Prisons  138 4.3.3 Caring for Ex-Offenders  139 4.3.4 Homeless Drop-in  139 4.3.5 Homeless Winter Shelter  141 4.3.6 Recovery Course  142 4.3.7 Money Course  144 4.3.8 Crosslight Debt Advice  145 4.3.9 Radical Hospitality  146 4.3.10 Community for the Elderly  147 4.3.11 Marriage and Marriage Preparation Courses  148 4.3.12 Parenting Children and Parenting Teenagers Courses  150 4.3.13 Post-Abortion Healing Course  152 4.3.14 Bereavement Journey  152 4.3.15 New ID (Eating Disorders) Course  153

Contents

4.4 Holy Trinity Church, Brompton: Summary and Emerging Themes  154 4.5 Description of All Souls Church, Langham Place  156 4.5.1 Historical Background  157 4.5.2 Contemporary Vision  161 4.5.3 Worship Services  163 4.5.4 Fellowship Groups  164 4.5.5 Christianity Explored  165 4.6 Social Engagement  166 4.6.1 Homeless Ministry  166 4.6.2 Community Centre  175 4.6.3 Engaging with Central London  179 4.7 All Souls Church, Langham Place: Summary and Emerging Themes  188 4.8 Conclusion  189 5 African Diaspora Pentecostalism  190 5.1 Introduction  190 5.2 Description of Kingsway International Christian Centre  190 5.2.1 Location, Context and History  190 5.2.2 Local and Global  194 5.2.3 Congregational Numbers  196 5.2.4 Leadership and Organisation  197 5.2.5 Denomination and Worship  199 5.3 Social Engagement  202 5.3.1 Educational Initiatives  203 5.3.2 Careers Counselling  205 5.3.3 Homeless Ministries  206 5.3.4 Christmas Hampers  208 5.3.5 Prison Ministry  208 5.3.6 Care Home Ministry  210 5.3.7 Other Activities  211 5.4 Kingsway International Christian Centre: Summary and Emerging Themes  212 5.5 Description of Jesus House for All Nations  215 5.5.1 History and Location  215 5.5.2 Congregational Numbers  217 5.5.3 Spheres of Influence  218 5.5.4 Inter-Church Relations  219 5.5.5 Denomination and Worship  219

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5.6 Social Engagement  220 5.6.1 The Novo Centre  221 5.6.2 Food Bank  222 5.6.3 Christmas Activities  223 5.6.4 Christians against Poverty  225 5.6.5 Football Academy  225 5.6.6 Prayer Walking  226 5.6.7 Volunteering: a Call to Serve  227 5.7 Jesus House for All Nations: Summary and Emerging Themes  228 5.8 Description of New Wine Church  229 5.8.1 Location, Context and History  229 5.8.2 Congregational Numbers  232 5.8.3 Leadership and Organisation  233 5.8.4 Denomination and Worship  234 5.8.5 Recruitment and Organisation  236 5.9 Social Engagement  237 5.9.1 The John Wilson Pantry  237 5.9.2 Christmas Activities  241 5.9.3 Community Outreach  243 5.9.4 Prison and Immigration Ministry  245 5.9.5 Care for the Elderly  247 5.9.6 Overseas Mission  248 5.9.7 Other Activities  248 5.10 New Wine Church: Summary and Emerging Themes  249 5.11 Conclusion  250

Part 3 Explanations and Implications 6 Theological Motivations  255 6.1 Introduction  255 6.2 Description of Findings  257 6.2.1 Church Activities  257 6.2.2 Volunteers’ Motivation  271 6.3 Theorising the Findings  284 6.3.1 The Theory of Godly Love  284 6.3.2 Discussion  287 6.4 Conclusion  289

Contents

7 Globalisation and Social Engagement  292 7.1. Introduction  292 7.2 Globalisation Theory  292 7.3 Globalisation and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity  297 7.4 Global Anglicanism  302 7.5 Globalisation and Megachurches  306 7.6 Megachurches and the Global City of London  307 7.6.1 The African Diaspora Pentecostal Model: a Bridge-Head  308 7.6.2 The Anglican Model: Parish Life and Discipleship Training  311 7.7 The Significance of Globalisation for Social Engagement  314 7.8 Conclusion  318 8 Implications for Church and Society  319 8.1 Introduction  319 8.2 Ecclesial Practice-Informed Public Theology  319 8.2.1 A Relational Faith  319 8.2.2 Discipleship, Transformation and the Common Good  324 8.2.3 Scale, Structure and Social Impact  328 8.3 Implications for Churches and Church Leaders  330 8.3.1 Language and Story-Telling  330 8.3.2 The Scope of Social Engagement  333 8.3.3 Power and Empowerment  336 8.3.4 Resources and Collaboration  339 8.4 Implications for Social Policy  339 8.4.1 A Relational Approach  340 8.4.2 A Values Approach  341 8.4.3 Specific Recommendations  342 9 Conclusion  346 9.1 Summary  346 9.2 Towards an Ecclesiology of Social Engagement  351 9.3 Significance of the Study and Areas for Future Research  355 Bibliography  357 Index of Modern Authors  384 Index of Subjects  388

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Preface This book is a product of a research project funded by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council (2013–2016). Initially, the Principal Investigator was Mark J. Cartledge (practical theology and Pentecostal and Charismatic studies) and the Co-Investigator was Andrew Davies (biblical studies and the public understanding of religion), but they swapped roles after just a year, because Mark moved to live and work in the USA. However, Mark continued to lead on the book side of the project. All of the empirical data for the project was gather by two research fellows, Sophie Bremner (anthropology) and Sarah Dunlop (practical theology) during the funded research period. They were joined by Heather Buckingham (sociology and social policy) to work on the impact side of the project. Thus the five of us comprised a multi-disciplinary research team. We want to acknowledge the support we received from the University of Birmingham, UK as well as the support that Mark received from Regent University during the course of this research period. He benefitted from the support of two Graduate Assistants during this time: Vince Le and Enoch Charles, to whom he is most grateful. A Graduate student, Jerry Brown, also assisted Mark with the production of the bibliography and the indices towards the end of the project. The writing of the book has taken longer than anticipated due to various personal factors. Nevertheless, we are grateful for its completion and hope it will be significant for scholarship and in particular megachurch studies. We would all like to thank our families and friends for their love and support. As all researchers and writers know, the work that we do would not be possible without the encouragement of others. In particular, Mark would like to thank Joan and Becky, for the many conversations on the subject of megachurches. Sarah would like to thank her supportive husband, Andrew, particularly for Sundays when he managed to lead a church plant and keep small children alive while Sarah visited churches in London. Heather would like to thank John and Sue, her parents, for their continued encouragement, patience, and kindness; and Ricky, Hilary, Juliet, Mari, and Glenys for their listening, laughter, and support. Sophie would like to thank the leadership and congregations of Kingsway International Christian Centre, New Wine Church and Jesus House for All Nations for offering a warm welcome and participating in the research project. She also thanks her husband Robert, and Eshe and Daniel for their positivity and support. In terms of the writing of this book, different chapters were written either by individuals or by a combination of two people. The authors of the chapters are

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as follows: Chapter 1 (Mark and Sarah); Chapter 2 (Mark); Chapter 3 (Mark and Heather); Chapter 4 (Sarah); Chapter 5 (Mark and Sophie); Chapter 6 (Mark and Sarah); Chapter 7 (Mark); Chapter 8 (Mark and Heather); and Chapter 9 (Mark). Mark edited the whole manuscript once the individual chapters were completed. Sarah commented on the manuscript as it was near completion and Heather proofread a portion of the manuscript. We need to acknowledge the previous publication of some material contained in this book. Part of Chapter 3 is printed from ‘Public Theology and ­Empirical Research: Developing an Agenda’, International Journal of Public Theology 10 (2016), pp. 145–166 (specifically pp. 146–154) by Mark J. Cartledge, with permission from Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Copyright © 2016 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Finally, it is worth noting that we have followed British spelling conventions in the main text of the book. However, where American spelling has been used in the titles of books and journal articles, we have followed the original spelling convention in the references and bibliography.

Table and Figures Table 2.1

Megachurches in England  79

Figures 6.1 The diamond model of Godly Love  286 6.2 The diamond model of Godly Love revised  289

Chapter 1

Introduction As the title indicates, this is a book about ‘megachurches’ and their social engagement activities in the global city of London. As we seek to introduce this topic and orient the reader to its contents, we do so by outlining the basic aim, scope and contribution of the study before giving some historical context to the churches under investigation, namely the Church of England and Africanled Pentecostal churches. Empirical data from these churches will be brought into conversation with a number of theoretical fields, including Pentecostal and Charismatic studies, megachurch studies, public theology and ecclesiology, and these are briefly described as providing a frame of reference with which to interact. We also describe our research methodology for scholars and students in particular before giving an outline of the contents of each chapter to assist readers in their navigation of this study. 1.1

Aim, Scope and Contribution of the Study

For scholars of religion, and in particular those who have watched with interest the rise of megachurches around the world, there has never been a more important time to investigate the nature of these institutions. The literature on megachurches is now vibrant, with new books and articles being published yearly. Given the amount of interest in the subject, it is surprising that there has been very few scholarly studies of the nature of megachurches in Europe and in the United Kingdom in particular. Indeed, this is the first book-length study of megachurches in the UK and it is driven by a particular interest, namely how do these very large churches contribute to wider society by means of their social engagement and with what significance? Given the clustering of megachurches in the global city of London, the natural geographical focus of the study is the London area. The theoretical framework for the study combines theology and the social sciences, especially the sociology of religion, but with engagement with social policy discussion. Thus, the study situates itself within the field of ‘public theology’, that is theology that engages with issues in the public domain, in this case church-based social ministry, which has implications for congregations, denominations, as well as local and national government policy makers.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_002

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At the outset of the project, the researchers considered five basic questions: (1) What is the nature and significance of social engagement among the megachurches of London? (2) How do theological motivations influence the social engagement of megachurches, especially when viewed in connection with the impact of transnationalism and globalisation? (3) In what ways do contextual and cultural factors influence and shape megachurch theological motivations for social engagement? (4) How might current discussions within public theology about the relationship between religious faith and the public sphere inform the theorisation of empirical data on megachurch social engagement? (5) What is the nature and extent of faith-based social capital associated with megachurches in London and how might this social capital contribute to a ­dialogue between megachurches, other substantial urban churches, and the makers and influencers of social policy at city and national levels in the areas of community enhancement and development? Each of these questions is addressed at various points throughout the study, but we shall offer summary answers to them in the conclusion. There are a number of reasons why this project is both important and timely. Size really does matter, in terms of generating human capital (leadership, volunteering), social capital (networks of trust), physical capital (buildings for community use) and funds to finance projects. The human, social and physical capital of megachurches represents a largely untapped resource in relation to social engagement in the extremely diverse megacity of London. Mega­churches are a growing religious phenomenon that is exerting significant social influence locally and globally through the flow of ideas, resources and people. This project builds on the current research context in a number of ways. It develops the analysis of megachurches based in the usa. This work is most associated with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and its regular profiles of megachurches in the usa (the latest being 2011).1 Linked to this research is the overview by Thumma and Travis,2 which provides a typology of megachurches in the usa. This typology has been tested in relation to megachurches in England and has found to be in need of some adjustment because the religious and social contexts of the two countries are different (see Chapter 2).3 Most megachurches around the world are expressions of Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelical movements in Christianity. The twentieth century witnessed 1 See: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/database.html (accessed 25 June, 2018). 2 Scott Thumma and Dave Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America’s Largest Churches (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007). 3 Mark J. Cartledge and Andrew Davies, ‘Building Jerusalem? Models of Pentecostal/ Charismatic Megachurch in England’s Green and Pleasant Land’, the Society for Pentecostal Studies Conference, Virginia Beach, VA, March, 2012.

Introduction

3

the explosion of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity around the globe and this is likely to continue well into the twenty-first century. With over 600 million adherents worldwide and expressed in a plurality of traditions ranging from classical denominations to independent churches, as well as sectors of more traditional churches, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity has become a significant transnational social movement.4 It is now the fastest-growing sector of Christianity and one of the fastest-growing religious traditions of all time, and its influence can be seen through a range of global networks. Indeed, globalisation has facilitated the transmission of ideas, religious practices and organisations associated with Pentecostalism with amazing speed and impressive reach. Since the 1990s Europe has witnessed an influx of immigrants from around the world, bringing with them their religious commitments and practices. This has stimulated renewed debates about multi­ culturalism, identity and citizenship in diverse societies. Pentecostalism motivates transnationalism because of its missionary ideology (often referred to as ‘reverse mission’), as well as socio-economic motivations, and as a result has been central to this movement of people. There is a significant gap in research knowledge of megachurches in the UK and their social engagement in particular. With little public acknowledgement of their existence, large churches have been established all around Europe, including some that could be classified as megachurches by international standards (i.e. attracting over 2000 worshippers per week). It is estimated that there are 35 such churches in 12 countries in Europe. Consequently, megachurches are inviting the attention of researchers because of their increasing influence upon society due to their mediation of globalising forces: people, ideas, cultures and goods. However, no study has attempted to investigate the megachurch phenomenon in the UK using detailed case studies. Therefore, this study fills an important gap in knowledge at a time when the relationships between religion, civil society and global population movements are critical subjects for research and an increasing focus for government social policy (e.g., the former ‘Big Society’ agenda). London provides an important context for British megachurches, hosting as it does the most number of megachurches in a single European city. There are ten megachurches in London, which have arisen from independent Pentecostal, classical Pentecostal and Church of England and international networks. From this group of churches, we are focusing on material drawn from five churches, two belonging to the established 4 Gina A. Bellofatto and Todd M. Johnson, ‘Key Findings of Christianity in Its Global Context, 1970–2020’, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 37.3 (2013), pp. 157–164, who suggest that the figure will rise to over 700 million by 2020.

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Church of England: All Souls Church, Langham Place and Holy Trinity Church, Brompton. They represent two different types of megachurch, even though they belong to the same denomination: one is Conservative Evangelical, reflecting Reformed commitments, and the other is Charismatic Evangelical, reflecting Pietistic and in particular Pentecostal impulses. In addition, we investigated three African diaspora Pentecostal churches: Kingsway International Christian Centre, Jesus House for All Nations (which is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God denomination from Nigeria) and New Wine Church. All of these churches are predominantly African migrant churches functioning as part of global, transnational networks of Pentecostalism. The research considers the contribution that globalisation makes to an understanding of the nature of religion, especially Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.5 This is important in the context of Europe, where different migrant groups cluster in so-called ‘global cities’, bringing with them networks and associations and raising questions around the viability of cultural diversity and community cohesion.6 It is concerning this aspect of transnationalism that the research will build on the work of Burgess, Knibbe and Quaas,7 who have researched the social impact of Nigerian Pentecostals in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as Fath and Wanner,8 who have considered the influence of megachurches in France and the Ukraine respectively. Therefore, this research will develop the existing knowledge of whether and how religion, and in particular this form of Evangelical and Charismatic Christianity, contributes to the ‘common good’ in British society, and whether there is an ecclesiology that informs and shapes this kind of social engagement. There has been a longstanding role of established churches participating in community engagement and development. With the advent of immigration and transnationalism many communities have been transformed into multicultural and multi-religious realities, none more so than London with its size, capacity to absorb migrant workers and its religious plurality. They provide 5 Bernice Martin, ‘The Global Context of Transnational Pentecostalism’, PentecoStudies 9.1 (2010), pp. 35–55; Birgit Meyer, ‘Pentecostalism and Globalization’, in Allan Anderson, Michael Burgunder, André Droogers and Cornelius van der Laan (eds.), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theory + Methods (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010), pp. 113–130. 6 Neil Brenner and Roger Keil (eds.), The Global Cities Reader (London: Routledge, 2006). 7 Richard Burgess, Kim Knibbe, and Anna Quaas, ‘Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal Churches as a Social Force in Europe: the Case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’, PentecoStudies, 9.1 (2010), pp. 97–121. 8 Sébastien Fath, Dieu xxl: La Révolution des Megachurches (Paris: Autrement, 2008); Catherine Wanner, Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2007).

Introduction

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communities in which the Christian faith can be socialised and through which members can re-engage with society motivated by their faith commitment. These churches provide various examples of theologically-motivated social engagement, including: counselling and support, work with specific groups such as youth, the elderly, the homeless and those struggling with poverty or mental health needs. They have specifically funded programmes of social care and community development as well as engaging in social campaigns, sometimes in partnership with other stakeholders, for example against human trafficking and exploitation. They also cultivate transferable skills, such as leadership, volunteering and public speaking, which are transferable to civic domains outside their religious constituencies and have significant economic, as well as social and cultural impact. The capacity and resources generated and channelled by these churches suggest that they already play an extremely important role, which can be evaluated and commented upon for the sake of understanding, analysis and appreciation. The study also develops the insights gained from research into the social ministries of megachurches and makes important connections to studies of religious social capital. It builds on work that shows how religion and religiosity are related to and inform the notion and discussion of social capital, that is, how faith motivates social engagement and bridges individuals and groups.9 Unruh and Sider argue that congregational social capital can contribute to civic benefits in three main ways: (1) by empowering corporate social action; (2) by encouraging social engagement of individual members; and (3) by facilitating the sharing of resources within and beyond the congregation’s relational network.10 They also suggest that religious culture helps to shape the vision that translates social capital or capacity into social action. A church’s religious culture enables members to ‘see’ the social landscape and informs the response to their context.11 This research explores the role that theology and spirituality 9

10 11

James S. Coleman, ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital’, American Journal of Sociology 94 (1988), pp. 95–120; James S. Coleman, The Foundations of Social Theory (Harvard, MA: Belknap Press, 1990); John Field, Social Capital (London, Routledge, 2003); Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2000); Robert Wuthnow, Acts of Compassion: Caring for Others and Helping Ourselves (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991); and Robert Wuthnow, ‘Religious Involvement and Status-bridging Social Capital’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41 (2002), pp. 669–694. Heidi Rolland Unruh and Ronald J. Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding The Faith Factor in Church-Related Social Ministry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 219–222. See a report of our findings from this project specifically about social capital in Sarah Dunlop and Heather Buckingham, ‘De-Centring Social Capital: Exploring the Implications

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have in the formation of the religious vision that shapes the response of social engagement. As noted above, public theology provides the disciplinary frame of reference wherein critical theological reflections and explanations on megachurch engagement with issues of public concern are advanced for the sake of the common good. This is described below, but first it is worth considering the historical context of these two types of church, at least in outline. 1.2

Evangelicalism and Charismatic Renewal in the Church of England

Although this is not an historical study, it is always important to sketch out some of the historical background to the denomination and the spiritual impulses that shape its beliefs and practices. It is often thought that Evangelicalism is a modern form of Protestantism, and certainly its contemporary expression took on particular forms in the twentieth century with the likes of Billy Graham and John Stott as figureheads for the movement. Its roots, however, can be found in the Reformation and the commitment of the Reformers to the supreme authority of Scripture in the life of faith and the expression of Christian doctrine.12 Even where certain traditions were maintained, aspects of those traditions were modified in keeping with Reformed sensibilities. In the English reformation, under the influence of Thomas Cranmer, reform was expressed in a variety of aspects, including an English translation of the Bible placed in every parish church, together with liturgical revisions resulting in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer, which became the authorised version of 1662 with minor modifications, as well as a new Catechism for the formation of the faithful and the Articles of Religion. At the Elizabethan Settlement, a typical Anglican via media was struck, whereby aspects of both broader catholic tradition and new reformed tradition were held together in tension.13 Subsequently, major revivals occurred in the Church of England, for example, an Evangelical one in the eighteenth century associated with John Wesley, and which resulted in Methodism, and a Catholic one in the nineteenth century with the ‘Tractarian’ or Oxford movement associated with John Henry Newman, John

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of Empirical Research for Conceptualising Christian Faith-Based Social Engagement’ Journal of Contemporary Religion, 34.1 (2019), pp. 135–152. See Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Reformed Anglicanism: The Legacy of Thomas Cranmer and his Attitude towards Scripture’ in Nigel Yates (ed.), Anglicanism: Essays in History, Belief and Practice, Trivium 38 (Lampeter: Trivium Publications, University of Wales, Lampeter, 2008), pp. 19–37. See Stephen Neil, Anglicanism (London: Mowbray, 4th edn., 1977), esp. pp. 102–120.

Introduction

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Keble and Edward Pusey.14 The blend of Protestantism and Catholicism could be seen in the tension between pietism and ritualism. These tensions remain even today, but with the added third strand of liberalism following the impact of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. In many respects, the tensions that we see in the Church of England today are an expression of these historical tensions with both Catholicism and Liberalism, although now the major tensions appear to be with the advance of liberal values both in society as well as the church. The English reformers were converted scholastics, and so they brought their scholasticism into their new-found religious expression. The more radical side of the Reformation expressed by the Anabaptists was rejected just as strongly as Rome, and perhaps in some cases even more strongly. The scholastic dimension is perhaps expressed most eloquently in the Caroline divines, who are often regarded by Anglicans as expressing the heart of the tradition in its mature form. This is especially referenced with respect to the work of Richard Hooker and his Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity published in 1593 and 1597, revised and completed in 1662.15 From these publications emerged the idea that Anglican doctrine is established via a balance of Scripture, tradition and reason, so as to keep everyone content: evangelicals, catholics and liberals.16 But many Evangelical scholars in the Church of England would reject this reading of the tradition on the grounds that the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal and the Articles of Religion define the identity of the Church of England. Despite all the different movements, theological reports and liturgical revisions, these foundational documents continue to have authority for the church. However, influence has also come from the more pietist strand of Protestantism, and this was evident among the Wesleys as well as holiness forms of Evangelicalism throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, resulting in such events as the Keswick Convention which brought together Free Church and Church of England participants.17 It is these expressions of pietism that form the heart of the Evangelical reception of early Pentecostalism and later the Charismatic Renewal movement and the Vineyard movement in the 14

Mark Chapman, ‘The Church of England’ in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 413–425 (pp. 421–422). 15 Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity: A Critical Edition with Modern Spelling, ed. Arthur Stephen McGrade (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, orig. 1662). 16 Neil, Anglicanism, pp. 121–125; Diarmaid MacCulloch, All Things Made New: The Reformation and its Legacy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 279–320. 17 D.W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Routledge, 1989).

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twentieth century. They stand in stark contrast to the rise of liberal theology in the Church of England and especially its bonds with Anglo-Catholicism, leading to a sense of embattlement by Evangelicals.18 By contrast, Evangelicals forged inter-denominational connections among themselves and it is these ‘family’ connections that have proved significant for the spread of Pentecostal and Charismatic spirituality. The early British Pentecostal movement emerged in 1907 in Sunderland, England in the working-class parish of All Saints, where the Vicar, Alexander A. Boddy gathered a group to seek the Baptism in the Spirit through the ministry of Thomas Ball Barrett from Oslo.19 Boddy was already influenced by inter-denominational pietism, attended the Keswick Convention, as many Evangelical Anglicans did at the time, but was already influenced by Wesleyan spirituality. This is evident in his role as secretary of the Pentecostal League of Prayer, led by Reader Harris, which was a Wesleyan Holiness group, and one that would ultimately oppose the Pentecostal movement since their understanding of ‘Pentecost’ was somewhat different, thus mirroring some of the American Holiness opposition to Pentecostals at the same time. From 1908– 1914 Boddy organised the Sunderland Conventions at which participants could seek their own personal experience of Spirit Baptism as evidenced by speaking in tongues. But this focus should be seen as emerging out of an initial Wesleyan framework, similar to the early American one, which centred around a fivefold understanding of the full gospel whereby Jesus Christ was articulated as saviour, sanctifier, baptiser in the Holy Spirit, healer and coming king.20 This was the early emphasis of the movement from 1908–1911, but would be diminished in the years that followed, although the Elim Pentecostal group retained a four-fold version in the 1920s and 1930s (subsuming sanctification under the salvation category).21 This early British Pentecostal movement was to cultivate international connections in parts of Africa, China and India, as well as in America. Its missionary wing, the Pentecostal Missionary Union sent a number of missionaries 18 19 20 21

A classic debate is captured in the book by David L. Edwards with John Stott, Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988). The definitive biography of Alexander A. Boddy is by Gavin Wakefield, Alexander Boddy: Pentecostal Anglican Pioneer (Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2007). Mark J. Cartledge, ‘The Early Pentecostal Theology of Confidence Magazine (1908–1926): A Version of the Five-Fold Gospel?’, Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 28.2 (2008), pp. 117–130. George Jeffreys, The Miraculous Foursquare Gospel: Supernatural (London: Elim Publishing Company, 1930); William K. Kay, George Jeffreys: Pentecostal Apostle and Revivalist (Cleveland, TN: cpt Press, 2017), pp. 222–227.

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to different places around the world. The Confidence magazine, which Boddy edited and published, would communicate the British experience of Pentecost as well as sharing other global experiences from around the world as they happened at the time.22 This early international dimension is one that is important, and it has placed global connections at the heart of the movement that continue today and, in many ways, have accelerated since the impact of globalisation. Without doubt, there were relations between Church of England clergy and the emerging classical Pentecostal denominations from the 1920s up to the 1950s, but these connections are largely undocumented in any degree of detail.23 There are glimpses here and there, but the pietistic strand of Evangelicalism was alive and well in the parishes of England, even if it was marginalised by the dominant liberal tradition of the Church of England in these years. Things were to change towards 1960. Famously, Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest working in Van Nuys, California astounded his well-to-do congregation by announcing that he had received the Pentecostal Baptism in the Spirit with speaking in tongues one Sunday morning.24 The consequences were significant with Bennett being forced to leave this parish and embarking on an international ministry of speaking about his experience and praying for others to receive their own Spirit Baptism. This would be unremarkable if he were a Pentecostal, but he was an Anglican priest. Of course, he was not alone, others had also experienced their personal Pentecost and they joined him to renew the church in the power of the Spirit. These advocates were first labelled ‘neo-Pentecostals’ and then ‘Charismatics’ as the movement took on the label of ‘Charismatic Renewal’ because of the use of gifts of the Spirit as noted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.8-10. From this movement, a number of mainline denominations were influenced, including Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Roman Catholic. Of course, within some of these denominations there were theological tensions and that was to be expected. In others, it was assimilated and accommodated, despite tensions remaining over time. One of these denominations was the Church of England. One of the churches in this study would prove to be an important example of the tensions within Evangelicalism, as well as perhaps illustrating the 22 23

24

Allan Heaton Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edn.), 2014, p. 100. For example, the work and ministry of William Wood who moved from Australia to the UK in 1937 and was appointed Warden of the London Healing Mission in 1949, see Peter Hocken, Streams of Renewal: The Origins and Early Development of the Charismatic Movement in Great Britain (Carlisle: Paternoster), pp. 50–55. Dennis J. Bennett, Nine O’Clock in the Morning (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1979, orig. Logos International, 1970).

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tensions between scholastic and pietistic strands of Evangelicalism.25 Michael Harper, the then Assistant Curate at All Souls Church, Langham Place in London received his Baptism in the Spirit and it changed his life completely.26 Understandably he shared his experience as widely as he could and that brought him into conflict with his Rector, John Stott, who repudiated a post-conversion Spirit Baptism in 1964.27 The difference between them was clear and Stott published his own more Reformed interpretation of how the Pentecost narrative should be correctly interpreted. Unsurprisingly, it differed quite sharply from the Charismatic interpretation adopted from classical Pentecostalism, which led to a rift and the departure of Harper from the church.28 Stott was always concerned about problems associated with ‘enthusiasm’ and stopped using the word ‘revival’ once charismatics started to use this for their movement.29 In 1964 Harper founded the ‘Fountain Trust’, becoming its first director, in order to promote Charismatic Renewal around the country and internationally.30 At its peak in the 1970s it was hugely influential, not just in the Church of England but also internationally via the Anglican Communion, with the Sharing of Ministries Abroad (soma) scheme offering short mission trips.31 It also became ecumenical and its interactions with the Roman Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement became an important feature of its meetings. It produced Renewal magazine, which proved extremely popular, as well as a journal, Theological Renewal, under the editorship of Thomas A. Smail, which also proved popular for a time but eventually closed down due to poor circulation numbers.32 In the late 1970s, the Fountain Trust closed because its board believed that its 25 Hocken, Streams of Renewal, pp. 70–78. 26 His theological reflections on the Spirit-Baptized life were provided in Michael Harper, Walking in the Spirit London (Hodder & Stoughton, 1968). 27 Hocken, Streams of Renewal, p. 78; the original book by John R.W. Stott was published in 1964 as The Baptism and Fullness of the Holy Spirit, now it is available as: Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today (Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2nd edn., 2006, orig. 1975). 28 Michael Harper would subsequently leave the Church of England, but, instead of joining the Pentecostals, he became an Antiochian Orthodox priest. His story is recorded in Michael Harper, The True Light: An Evangelical’s Journey to Orthodoxy (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997). 29 Alister Chapman, Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 73–74. 30 Connie Ho Yan Au, Grassroots Unity in the Charismatic Renewal (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011). 31 The organisation still exists, see https://somauk.org (accessed 1 February, 2018). 32 See Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Theological Renewal (1975–1983): An Editor’s Agenda for Church and Academy’, Pneuma: the Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 30 (2008) pp. 83–107.

Introduction

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work had been accomplished with Charismatic spirituality now an accepted and established dimension of church life. Anglicans for Renewal began in 1982 as its replacement to continue a distinctly Anglican approach to Charismatic Renewal. It also closed in 2004 and was restructured and re-launched as an organisation called ReSource, which continues to this day.33 This was because of another competing charismatic stream which attracted younger generations of Christians less concerned about their Anglican identity and more open to developing forms of Charismatic Renewal. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the Church of England attempted to understand this spiritual renewal, which resulted in a number of reports and publications.34 This competing stream is often called the Third Wave movement (because it assumed that the first wave of the renewing work of the Holy Spirit began with classical Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, which was followed in the 1960s by the Charismatic Renewal movement as a second wave). It emerged from pietistic Evangelicalism associated with Calvary Chapel, which was a Quaker church in California and pastored by a certain John Wimber. It developed into what was known as the Vineyard movement, becoming a denomination in its own right. As an Evangelical, Wimber moved from a cessationist position (the view that the gifts of the Holy Spirit had ceased at the end of the apostolic era because their role was evidential to attest to the veracity of divine revelation mediated through the apostles’ teaching) to one that accepted the gifts of the Holy Spirit today, especially as experienced via signs and wonders.35 Through a set of experiences, Wimber was led to establish a church that prioritised an encounter with God through musical worship, as well as mediated via times of prayer ministry. In between these two encounter phases was teaching which focused on the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels and how the disciples were also called to do the same works of Jesus. This became a paradigm for the movement and was encapsulated in two seminal texts, Power Evangelism and Power Healing, which explained how revelations given by the Holy Spirit are used to address people directly for their conversion or their 33 See: http://www.resource-arm.net/index.php/about-us/our-vision (accessed 1 February, 2018). 34 For example, see: The Charismatic Movement in the Church of England (London: cio Publishing, 1981); Josephine Bax, The Good Wine: Spiritual Renewal in the Church of England (London: Church House Publishing, 1986); We Believe in the Holy Spirit: The Doctrine Commission of the Church of England (London: Church House Publishing, 1993); and A Time to Heal: A Report for the House of Bishops on the Healing Ministry (London: Church House Publishing, 2000, reprinted 2004). 35 Nigel Scotland, Charismatics and the Next Millennium (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995), pp. 181–199.

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healing, or in some cases both.36 Of course, this approach also proved controversial, just as Spirit Baptism and speaking in tongues had proved controversial for an earlier generation of scholastic Evangelicals. Nevertheless, the laid-back Californian approach, plus the clear impact of the spirituality, meant that it became popular in America and beyond, with numerous churches planted in the UK over the years. It is now an established part of the church scene and once again shows how Evangelicalism is porous, and allows influences from outside to shape it in new directions which are both in continuity and in discontinuity with its existing life and practice.37 When John Wimber visited the UK in the early 1980s, he did so at the invitation of David Watson, who was the Vicar of St Michael-le-Belfrey Church in York. Alongside his visit to that church he also visited two others and his influence was significant. They were St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood, where David Pytches was the Vicar and Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, London (htb) where Sandy Miller was the Vicar. In both churches the influence of the Vineyard approach to worship and prayer ministry impacted the Anglican style of Renewal ministry and moved it in a Vineyard direction. For St Andrew’s church, it became a hub for teaching and resourcing for other local parishes, both clergy and laity, and David Pytches modelled much of his approach on Wimber directly.38 This eventually led to the establishment of a summer church camp, which became so popular that other churches asked if they could join in and this led to the development of the New Wine Network of churches and leaders, which continues to today with the Vineyard model of ministry defining the identity of the movement.39 For htb, they also moved in a Vineyard direction but focused on process evangelism and the development of an existing discipleship course into an evangelistic one, called the Alpha course, which is now famous worldwide. At the heart of this course is the ‘Holy Spirit weekend away’, which draws heavily from Vineyard spirituality and theology.40 In the mid-1990s a Vineyard church in Toronto attracted a lot of 36

John Wimber with Kevin Springer, Power Evangelism: Signs and Wonders Today (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1985); John Wimber with Kevin Springer, Power Healing (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986). 37 See Kevin Springer (ed.), Riding the Third Wave: What Comes After Renewal? (Basingstoke: Marshall Pickering, 1987) for reflections from some of the movement’s leaders, e.g. Carol Wimber, C. Peter Wagner, Anne Watson, Jack Deere, Lorrie White, Terry Virgo, David Pytches and Jackie Pullinger, with an Introduction and Afterward by John Wimber. 38 David Pytches, Come, Holy Spirit: Learning How to Minister in Power (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1985). 39 See: https://www.new-wine.org (accessed 1 February, 2018). 40 Stephen Hunt, Anyone for Alpha? Evangelism in a Post-Christian Society (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2001) and The Alpha Enterprise: Evangelism in a Post-Christian Era

Introduction

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attention with a revival often associated with a therapeutic experience called the ‘Toronto Blessing’. Both Anglican churches were influenced by this ‘wave of the Spirit’, but especially htb, which became a site of pilgrimage for those seeking the blessing in the UK. In December 1995 the Toronto Vineyard church was forced to leave the Vineyard denomination,41 but subsequently developed its own ‘brand’ of charismatic Christianity alongside a new name, ‘Catch the Fire’, previously used as a title for its conferences. This new church, in effect, has developed its own network of churches in the usa and around the world. It now works with a number of other networks both in North America and beyond under the auspices of what is called the ‘Revival Alliance’. This network of networks, a kind of ‘supernetwork’, brings together the celebrities, such as Bill Johnson, Heidi Baker, Randy Clark and Ché Ahn from the independent charismatic world.42 Through this super-network numerous conferences and meetings are held around the world, promoting revivalist spirituality and communicating its message via the many popular books and recordings. Each year a conference is held in the UK and many Church of England charismatic clergy and congregations attend this more revivalist meeting as another way of resourcing their spirituality and congregational life. So, while the Vineyard model of prayer ministry probably still dominates charismatic Anglican Christianity, especially its worshipping practices,43 there are other non-Anglican charismatic streams at work (e.g. Bethel and David’s Tent), which also influence this spirituality in various ways. Outside of charismatic Anglicanism, the more conservative Evangelicalism of All Souls Langham Place appears more sedate. Its form of worship has hardly changed in thirty years and liturgically it resembles Evangelicalism of the 1980s. The worship is tightly structured and there continues to be an emphasis on expository preaching, made famous by John Stott. Of course, in many ways it has changed because it has had to adapt to the changing circumstances of the Church of England, as well as the many changes in British society over this period, including greater antipathy towards explicitly Christian values in

41

42 43

(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004); James Heard, Inside Alpha: Explorations in Evangelism (Milton Keynes, Paternoster, 2009). David Hilborn (ed.), ‘Toronto’ in Perspective: Papers on The New Charismatic Wave of the Mid 1990s (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2001); also see Guy Chevreau, The Toronto Blessing – An Experience of Renewal and Revival (London: Marshall Pickering, 1994) and Patrick Dixon, Signs of Revival (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1994, reprinted 1995). See Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Catch the Fire: Revivalist Spirituality from Toronto to Beyond’, PentecoStudies 13.2 (2014), pp. 217–238. See Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Liturgical Order and Charismatic Freedom: A Reflection on the Development of Anglican Practices’, Liturgy 33.3 (2018), pp. 12–19.

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public life. But, unlike charismatic Anglicanism, it has not felt the same winds of spiritual energy that flow from North America. It is much more rooted in its own British tradition of Evangelical spirituality, seeking to be faithful to its understanding of the gospel message and how to proclaim it afresh in the global city of London. These differences perhaps typify the contrasts that exist between conservative Evangelicalism and charismatic Evangelicalism in the Church of England. One appears more solid, the other appears more effervescent, at least at certain key moments, but these characteristics should perhaps not be overdrawn.44 Both types of Christianity are rooted in the structures of the denomination and yet connected to wider expressions both locally and internationally. Together they form the largest sector of growth for the Church of England at the parish level and so it is unsurprising that in a global city like London each of these types of Evangelicalism should find expression as megachurches. 1.3

African Pentecostalism in Britain

Today, it is the case that the majority of Christians from African descent who live in the UK are found in independent and denominational Pentecostal churches, which are often referred to as Black Majority Churches or bmc.45 Although the influx of people from a non-European background might be seen as a recent development, the first African-led church on British soil was possibly the one founded by John Jea, a slave, in his home in Portsmouth, between 1805 and 1815.46 Additionally, a Nigerian, Daniel Ekarte (1890s-1964) founded the African Churches Mission in Toxteth, Liverpool in 1931.47 But it was not until the early Pentecostal movement associated with the Sunderland revival and the ministry of Anglican priest, Alexander A. Boddy, that the first African Pentecostal church can be dated. Around 1906 the Sumner Road Chapel in Peckham, 44 45 46 47

For example, Mark Tanner (now a bishop in the Church of England) explains how ‘introverts’ can manage charismatic spirituality, see his The Introvert Charismatic: The Gift of Introversion in a Noisy Church (Oxford: Monarch Books, 2015). Stephen Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain and the United States of America: The Pentecostal Transformation of Christianity (Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009), Book 2, p. 680. Israel Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain: Towards Prosperity or Consumerism?’, in Afe Adogame (ed.), The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora: Imagining the ‘Other’ (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), pp. 233–253 (p. 234). Babatunde Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours: The Origin, Growth, Distinctiveness and Contributions of Black Majority Churches to British Christianity (Gloucester: Wisdom Summit, 2012), pp. 31–33.

Introduction

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south London was established by Thomas Kwame Brem-Wilson (1855–1929), from Ghana.48 It became the first African-led Pentecostal church in Britain and was later affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination.49 Now called the Sureway International Christian Ministries, it attracts Africans to its new home in Herne Hill. It was referred to by Donald Gee in the June 1950 edition of Pentecost. He stated: ‘In 1906 two coloured ministers opened an assembly in Sumner Lane Peckham, and returned from Sunderland in 1907 baptised in the Holy Ghost. It was stigmatised as the “Black Man’s Church”. Led by Bro. Wilson until his death in 1929, it was pastored by Bro. James and Bro. P. [Peter] Van der Woude, until the present Pastor [as at the date of this publication], C. [Charles] Corston, took over in 1940’.50 It seems as though the church became ‘Pentecostal’ after Brem-Wilson visited the meetings associated with Thomas Ball Barrett in Sunderland from September 1907 and initially the fellowship affiliated with the Apostolic church, hosting its first annual conference in 1923.51 It was a multicultural church, the associate pastor being a Dutch man, van der Woude (1895–1978), who migrated to Holland in 1934 after the death of BremWilson. Following Brem-Wilson’s death the assembly became affiliated with the Assemblies of God on 1 May 1939. We have to wait until the first wave of Caribbean immigration associated with the SS Empire Windrush in 1948 before witnessing sizable numbers of Pentecostals arriving on UK shores.52 In 1948 the first Carribean Pentecostal church, the Calvary Church of God in Christ, was established in London.53 Successive numbers of immigrants from the West Indies changed the landscape following Hurricane Gilbert in August 1951.54 As numbers increased they settled in London and Birmingham. From 1955 to 1962 there were 260,000 48

Abel Ugba, ‘Self-Representation by Black Majority Christianity in Britain’, in Afe Adogame (ed.), The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora: Imagining the ‘Other’ (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), pp. 65–83 (p. 66); Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 234. 49 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 234; Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, pp. 7–8, 27–31, 233. 50 Cited in Babatunde Adedibu, ‘Origin, Migration, Globalisation and the Missionary Encounter of Britain’s Black Majority Churches’, Studies in World Christianity 19.1 (2013), pp. 93–113 (p. 95). 51 Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, p. 53. 52 See J.D. Aldred, Respect: Understanding Caribbean British Christianity (Peterborough: Epworth, 2005), pp. 70–74; and Joe Aldred, Thinking Outside the Box on Race, Faith and Life (Hertford: Hansib Publications, 2013), pp. 75–81. 53 Ugba, ‘Self-Representation by Black Majority Christianity’, p. 67; Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 235; Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, pp. 39–40. 54 Walter J. Hollenweger, The Pentecostals: The Charismatic Movement in the Churches (London: scm Press, 1972), p. 187.

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West Indian immigrants coming to the UK.55 Many were church-goers back in the West Indies and the lack of church-going in the UK was a shock to the new arrivals. Originally, West Indian immigrants joined the English Pentecostal churches but soon they founded their own.56 Oliver Lyseight arrived in 1951 and settled in the so-called ‘Black Country’ (due to the influence of the smoke from heavy industry). He and others struggled to integrate into local Baptist and Methodist churches, which they found to be unfriendly and spiritually dry.57 He was joined by A.D. Brown and G.S. Peddie in 1952, holding meetings in Wolverhampton in the ymca. The New Testament Church of God was established in 1953,58 as was the Church of God of Prophecy.59 The Third World Pentecostal Conference was even held in London in 1952, but there were problems because some London hotels would not accept Black guests. In 1954 another Black congregation was started in Handsworth, Birmingham, and it became affiliated to the Church of God, Cleveland, TN in 1955. A representative from the denomination in the usa, Paul H. Walker, visited them in June 1955 and made the affiliation official. In 1956 the Church of God had 150 members in five churches. By 1957 the Church of God in Christ had six meeting places in London. These separate assemblies were established because of racial discrimination and cultural differences, although the established classical Pentecostal denominations of the period expressed the fact that there was no colour bar.60 By 1961 there were over 80 Caribbean churches in Britain, mostly Pentecostal. They had continued links to the Caribbean and the usa, but many were new and independent. In 1964 there were 23 congregations belonging to the New Testament Church of God, while two years later there were 10,500 members.61 Caribbean Pentecostal churches were set up and grew remarkably during the sixties. These new independent churches produced a great variety of congregations in the African Caribbean and later in the African communities in Britain.62 Historians and sociologists have suggested that the main reason why these churches were established was because of feelings of alienation from the white denominations and wider British society. They provided places of worship and

55 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 187. 56 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 188. 57 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, pp. 681–683. 58 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 103; Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, p. 45. 59 Ugba, ‘Self-Representation by Black Majority Christianity’, p. 67. 60 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 683. 61 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 188. 62 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 103.

Introduction

17

community for Carribean immigrants, helping them to overcome their alienation and even hostility in the workplace. They offered an ethnic enclave, enhancing solidarity and creating a retreat from wider society. The UK churches appeared to lack vitality and power, so important to Caribbean and African spirituality. It is suggested that the exuberance of the African spirituality was a key difference with established Pentecostal denominations in the UK and led to a lack of integration.63 ‘Black Pentecostal immigrants felt unwelcome in British churches, partly because of cultural differences between the community-orientated African Caribbeans and the more reserved and individualistic English, but also due to the incipient racism present in British society’.64 Early sociological assessment also regarded Caribbean Pentecostals as exclusive and schismatic. For example, Hollenweger noted that ‘West Indians have imported their preachers and their sects ready-made; they have not joined sects they found already operating in England’.65 And again, ‘[t]he very beliefs and teachings of the Pentecostals must lead to a “separatist” movement. Their mode of worship is far more likely to appeal to West Indians than to English people. This in turn tends to a voluntary segregation and to the formation of all-coloured churches’.66 He notes that many Anglican churches rented their buildings to Pentecostal groups and that there was good will towards them, with many Anglican clergy having performed weddings for them. He opines that sometimes West Indians think there is a racial barrier when in fact it is simply different cultural conventions and therefore meeting together in a warm Pentecostal environment is a protection against the cold blast of English culture and weather.67 In his assessment Pentecostalism functions as a ‘buffer’ between the immigrant and wider society, making life easier and assisting the adaptation to new circumstances.68 It seems as though the early West Indian churches evolved not only as a result of racism but also to meet authentic religious, social and cultural needs of the immigrants.69 Migration might have been for social and economic reasons or for family reunions, but people migrated with their cultural particularities as well. It was a difficult time post-World War ii, with serious economic 63 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, pp. 684–685. 64 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 103; although racism was not the whole picture, Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 235. 65 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 189. 66 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 189. 67 Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, p. 45. 68 Hollenweger, The Pentecostals, p. 190. 69 Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, p. 41.

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challenges as well as the beginnings of what would be called in the 1960s secularisation.70 As Ugba observes, ‘[i]n just over a century, black-led Christianity has metamorphosed into a major socio-cultural phenomenon in British society. Staying true to their roots, the majority of these churches are still populated by upwardly mobile Africans and Caribbean immigrants with good professional and educational backgrounds’.71 The early sectarianism of the Caribbean Pentecostals is less evident today, as social mobility has increased. This is indicated in the number of churches affiliated with the Evangelical Alliance (EA) in the UK. The Black Pentecostals had largely distanced themselves from the white-dominated Charismatic Renewal movement, but through their affiliation with the EA, they have been brought into dialogue with wider Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism.72 This was signalled when a minister from the New Testament Church of God, Joel Edwards, became Director General from 1997–2008, which meant that he was the leading ‘Evangelical’ voice in Britain during this period.73 The recent wave of Black Christianity from the newer independent African churches now co-exists with older Pentecostal churches. The first wave of these African Independent, or what might be called ‘Aladura-type’, c­ hurches arrived in the 1960s when Nigerian students with upwardly mobile socio-­ economic ­aspirations came to study and then subsequently stayed in the UK.74 For example, the Church of the Lord Aladura was founded in southeast London in 1964,75 Christ Apostolic Church and the Celestial Church of Christ, were m ­ ostly established by African students.76 Many of these students came to study and found themselves making a new home in the UK, becoming church leaders in the process. With very little financial backing they survived by becoming ‘worker-students’ in the nation’s capital.77 The racial discrimination experienced by the West Indians in the 1950s was repeated towards the West Africans in the 1960s and 1970s as well.78 These churches emerging from the 70 Adedibu, ‘Origin, Migration, Globalisation’, pp. 100–101. 71 Ugba, ‘Self-Representation by Black Majority Christianity’, p. 68. 72 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 687. 73 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 103. 74 Gerrie ter Haar, African Christians in Europe (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 2001), pp. 138–139; Richard Burgess, ‘African Pentecostal Spirituality and Civic Engagement: The Case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Britain’, Journal of Beliefs & Values 30.3 (2009), pp. 255–273; Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, pp. 65–68. 75 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 235. 76 Ugba, ‘Self-Representation by Black Majority Christianity’, p. 67. 77 Hermione Harris, Yoruba in Diaspora: An African Church in London (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), pp. 26–30. 78 ter Haar, African Christians in Europe, p. 141.

Introduction

19

1970s share similar characteristics to Pentecostalism and have links in some cases with American ministries. From the 1970s onwards, many missionaries to Africa were Pentecostal and Charismatic. Hunt suggests that: [t]he explanation for the success of such endeavours is not hard to unearth. Given Africa’s phenomenal economic and social collapse, and the state-old dependency this has created, Africans seem to be vulnerable to resourceful outside interests that radiate success, professionalism, enthusiasm and Western way of life. At the same time, many African churches have been impoverished and thus dependent on churches in the West for their survival.79 The Charismatic Renewal movement in West Africa emerged in the 1970s, and it weakened the mainstream churches, into this situation came the charismatics, with their crusades, long sung worship, sermons and healing and deliverance ministry. One good example is Reinhard Bonnke. He conducted a major crusade in West and Central Africa in 1991, but other figures such as Paul Yonggi Cho have also visited Africa. Nigeria produced its own holiness Pentecostal churches, for example, Deeper Life Bible Church and from the mid-1980s it was very influential. Deeper Life started from a Bible study group in 1973 and spread across Nigeria, holding is first Sunday service in 1982.80 Nigeria was influenced by American charismatic ministries and yet retained its own brand of Christianity, for example in 1988 the Redeemed Christian Church of God (rccg) was formally established as a denomination.81 It is the largest Nigerian denomination and can be found in many countries around the world.82 The rccg originally spread through small fellowships of students at universities. It was started in the 1952 by Josiah Akindayomi (1909–1980) but its grew significantly in the 1980s. Its leader is Enoch Adeboye and its church planting strategy has contributed to its continued rapid growth around the world. By 2010 it had two million members.83 These churches offered symbolic and material resources to Nigerians, and established innovative forms of social organisation against a background of social 79 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 689. 80 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 132; Allan Heaton Anderson, To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 236. 81 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 692. 82 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 133. 83 Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 133; Anderson, To the Ends of the Earth, p. 237.

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and moral decline in Nigeria by the 1980s. They advocated purity and prosperity, which are now taught around the world. West Africa was also a fertile ground for Pentecostal missionaries. In the 1990s there were nearly 500 full-time independent ministries in Nigeria from America. Hunt observes, ‘[d]espite the incursions of other varieties of American neo-Pentecostalism, the teachings of the Word of Faith ministries are characteristic of almost all of Africa’s charismatic mega-churches.84 This is not to say, however, that all these churches are identical in their teaching. Nonetheless, they do tend to embrace a rather simplistic interpretation of the Faith gospel which itself is somewhat short on theological sophistication’.85 It has been suggested that the appeal of the Faith movement overlaps with the African image of success, as well as African primal spirituality. Indigenous religion was primarily concerned with health, fertility and abundance, alongside a spiritual worldview, hence the resonance and cross-fertilisation. From the 1980s and 1990s there was a proliferation of African Pentecostal churches in Britain. The majority were independent churches with a mission to plant congregations in Europe.86 This was matched by a significant increase in Nigerian immigration to Britain during the 1990s, from 47,201 in 1991 to 88,380 in 2001, with approximately 80% of Nigerians living in the London area.87 The rccg is especially zealous in evangelism,88 and its calling is to evangelise secular societies. However, the evidence appears to suggest that it has largely failed to win over non-African converts, rather it attracts Nigerian immigrants and affluent ones in particular. Their congregations represent self-contained communities in an alien environment. They look back to the cultural, social and religious context of home as well as to the new setting of the host nation. Hunt reflects that identity is formed via a complex relationship between a number of different variables, including race, class, gender and status as well as religiosity, which can be expressed in many ways. It is this religious interpretive grid that enables both a maintenance of identity as well as some degree of adaptation, which facilitates the posture of both distance and engagement as well as a plurality of identities.89 The new wave of Black Pentecostals are a product of both the developments in West Africa and an adaptation to 84

The ‘Word of Faith’ traditions emphasise the role that declarations of ‘faith’ play in the acquisition of health and wealth. It is often associated with the phrase ‘name it and claim it’. 85 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 694. 86 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 235. 87 Burgess, ‘African Pentecostal Spirituality’, p. 257. 88 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 696. 89 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 697.

Introduction

21

western society. Just as their religious beliefs helped them to cope in Nigeria in the 1980s, so now these same religious-informed skills are being translated into the immigrant setting in the UK. This new adaptation means that these emerging churches are distinct in ethos from early classical Pentecostals in the UK. As a result, it has been estimated that the growth of Black Pentecostal churches will increase from 11% (of Christians) in 1990 to 23% in 2020.90 In terms of the sociological analysis of these new African diaspora Pentecostal churches, Hunt summarises the main interpretation, when he states: The picture that emerges is a cluster network of fast growing congregations constituted by a largely isolated ethnic group and which cater for the needs of a distinct clientele. Differentiated from other fellow migrants through elevated class and wealth, and therefore education, a vibrant form of Pentecostalism also separates the membership again as a community sets up lifestyle ideals and purity boundaries. At the same time the new churches provide a sense of ethnic identity and enrich a feeling of solidarity and in that sense they have much in accordance with the erstwhile social function of the older Pentecostal churches. Just as significantly, these churches provide a further ‘stream’ in the complex contemporary world of neo-Pentecostalism fusing aspects of the charismatic with more traditional expressions of Pentecostalism.91 Social and spiritual support is provided and they are intertwined and cannot be separated. These churches also provide financial support sent to families back in Nigeria and cultural support for those living in an alien environment in the UK.92 There are two important issues that stand out from an analysis of these new African-led Pentecostal churches in Britain. The first is that the identity narrative is framed in terms of ‘reverse mission’. These churches believe that they have been sent back to Europe by God to re-evangelise the continent. The second is the message of the Prosperity Gospel, which appears attractive to many Africans in particular but less appealing to would-be religious people in Europe. We take these issues in turn.

90 Adedibu, ‘Origin, Migration, Globalisation’, p. 94. 91 Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain, p. 713. 92 Stephen Hunt, ‘Beliefs and Value-Orientation of the “New” Nigerian Churches’, Modern Theology 41.4 (2000), pp. 16–22 (p. 16). For an earlier study of Ghanaians in the Netherlands, see ter Haar, African Christians in Europe, pp. 48–110.

22

Chapter 1

It could be suggested that African immigrant churches in Europe have brought about a reverse mission mantra;93 although some sociologists call it ‘reverse proselytisation’, saving souls from a dark and secular continent.94 Africans have come to reverse the colonial flow of the slave trade between Africa, Europe and America and in particular to reclaim Europe for God and to preach the good news in ‘the valley of dry bones’ in order to bring spiritual life back to the continent.95 This reversal is both in terms of geography and colonization.96 But, as noted above, it appears that most of these African-led churches have failed to win white converts, instead they provide a focus for identity and inspiration for Nigerians. As Maier and Coleman observe, ‘[i]t [rccg] is highly visible in part as a result of a mission strategy “to bring back the gospel” to the spiritual dark continent of Europe by “covering territory” through planting many small parishes within city spaces’.97 The idea of missionary ‘reverse flow’ is perfectly understandable, with migrants coming from Africa as they are, with their belief in the gospel and with their desire to evangelise their neighbours. And there are success stories to be told of large congregations and networks of churches. Very often megachurches are profiled, like Jesus House for All Nations (rccg), Kingsway International Christian Centre in London (kicc) and the Church of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God in Kiev.98 However, ‘[t]he scholarship focusing on a few megachurches as being indicative of the character of contemporary reverse flow runs the risk of missing the depth and nuance of the situation. Many immigrant churches struggle with low attendance and an inconsistent membership made up of people who work shifts at their low-paying jobs’.99 It has been argued that marginality induces ethnic cohesion. In this context, recruitment follows the warm lines of family and friends, as well as one’s ethnic group and members of one’s former church from home, which creates a tendency towards a vernacular church. The missiological ideal to evangelise the whole world motivates some congregations to reach for multiracial and multi-ethnic status, even if this ideal is never fully 93 94 95 96

Adedibu, ‘Origin, Migration, Globalisation’, pp. 93–113. Hunt, ‘Beliefs and Value-Orientation’, p. 16. ter Haar, African Christians in Europe, p. 10; Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, pp. 200–205. Richard Burgess, ‘Bringing Back the Gospel: Reverse Mission among Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, Journal of Religion in Europe 4.3 (2011), pp. 429–449 (p. 432). 97 Katrin Maier and Simon Coleman, ‘Who Will Tend the Vine? Pentecostalism, Parenting and the Role of the State in “London-Lagos”’, Journal of Religion in Europe 4.3 (2011), pp. 450–470. 98 Ogbu Kalu, African Pentecostalism: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 283. 99 Kalu, African Pentecostalism, p. 283.

Introduction

23

attained.100 It also functions as a mechanism whereby hardships can be negotiated and overcome.101 The idea that there is now a great missionary reversal of the movement from the West is very popular among these African-led churches. While there is certainly migration in reverse, from the rest to the West, in terms of missionary success, it appears, at this stage at least, to be more rhetoric than reality.102 There may be a variety of reasons for this state of affairs in terms of missiology, for example: a limited understanding of British culture and flawed churchplanting strategies.103 However, Burgess suggests that a broader concept of mission that includes, but is not limited to conversions and church planting, needs to be entertained. In this broader conceptualisation, mission also contains civic engagement, which promotes religious participation and increasing public recognition for the role of religion in community life.104 These features are especially pertinent to this study. The second issue of the Prosperity Gospel [PG] causes concern for observers and commentators in Europe who do not fully understand the mindset of these Christians. As Anderson notes, ‘[m]any African Pentecostals see financial success and prosperity as evidence of the blessing of God and the reward for faith in difficult financial circumstances. However, this “prosperity” is also seen as the means for advancing the work of God and for the ability to give generously to the needy’.105 While this has caused problems for the wider Evangelical community in the UK, it is not something that African Pentecostalism can jettison easily and it is widespread.106 It is embedded in its own African spiritual intuitions as well as being influenced by the wider Pentecostal movement, especially from the usa. For example, Matthew Ashimolowo, the leader of kicc preaches the PG because he was influenced by the Word of Faith movement, when he read Oral Roberts in 1974, as well as the writings of Kenneth Hagin. He experienced considerable poverty and this influenced him significantly. He 100 Kalu, African Pentecostalism, pp. 284–285. 101 Burgess, ‘Bringing Back the Gospel’, p. 433; also see Asonzeh Ukah, ‘Reverse Mission or Asylum Christianity? A Nigerian Church in Europe’, in Toyin Falola and Augustine Agwuele (eds.), Africans and the Politics of Popular Cultures (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2009), pp. 104–132. 102 Adedibu, ‘Origin, Migration, Globalisation’, p. 101; also see Paul Freston, ‘Reverse Mission: A Discourse in Search of a Reality’, PentecoStudies 9.2 (2010), pp. 153–174. 103 Babtunde Aderemi Adedibu, ‘Reverse Mission or Migrant Sanctuaries? Migration, Symbolic Mapping, and Missionary Challenges of Britain’s Black Majority Churches’, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 35.3 (2013), pp. 405–423 (p. 407). 104 Burgess, ‘Bringing Back the Gospel’, p. 448. 105 Anderson, To the Ends of the Earth, p. 243. 106 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, pp. 239–242.

24

Chapter 1

believes the PG motivates people to fulfil their dreams and encourages them to overcome disappointments and setbacks. His messages are centred around the baseball player Yogi Berra’s words: ‘it’s not over until it’s over’, meaning life can always change for the better.107 According to Olofinjana the 2003 report on the subject by the Evangelical Alliance strained relations between the organisation and kicc because it was critical of the PG,108 and this strained relationship was not helped by speculative and critical journalism. An article by Ruth Gledhill and Laura Peek implicated kicc in the alleged financial misappropriation of funds around the payment of salaries, the growth of the ministry and the use of private companies, with unclear boundaries and gifts from the congregation, such as cars and accommodation. It needed proper documentation, which appeared to be lacking.109 An interim manager was appointed, for which the church paid, and this process was completed in 2005. But these events also caused tensions and kicc issued a statement saying that unless the Charity Commission removed the use of the financial auditors, kpmg (which refers to the company Klynveld Peat Marwick and Goerdeler), the church was going to opt out of the charity registration. The matter was eventually resolved and kpmg stopped auditing the church. In March 2005 a new Board of Trustees and Senior Management Team was put in place. However, Gledhill jumped to conclusions about the Florida timeshare (200,000 gbp), confusing trustee benefits with the agreement that Ashimolowo should pay the charity for the right to publish and market what he had preached. It concerned intellectual property rights not church funds. Subsequently, kicc’s relationship with the Evangelical Alliance deteriorated. Despite these circumstances, Ashimolowo has not renounced the PG and even aspires to own his own private jet.110 An analysis of the kicc website suggests a theology of success and a strong vision for growth. ‘Its theology could be described as focusing on blessing because of Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo’s teaching asserts that the church has the answer to life’s challenges, because of the expectation that God is able to intervene in people’s lives and solve their problems. Jesus is the way and he has come that believers might have life abundantly’.111 The International Gathering of Champions conference focuses on overcoming life’s challenges and 107 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 247. 108 Andrew Perriman, Faith, Health and Prosperity: A Report on ‘Word of Faith’ and ‘Positive Confession’ Theologies (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2003). 109 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, pp. 248–249. 110 Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 250. 111 Mark J. Cartledge and Andrew Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity: A Study of Cyberspace Representation’, PentecoStudies 13.1 (2014), pp. 58–79 (p. 68).

Introduction

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experiencing material as well as spiritual prosperity, living a life of victory over darkness. The Word of Faith method of ‘naming and claiming’ is used to influence all areas of life. Osgood attributes the transcultural quality of African migrant Pentecostalism to the PG, which has been regarded as a homogenous brand of Christianity.112 Ashimolowo has attempted to rebrand the health and wealth gospel for a British audience by using the language of ‘success’ rather than ‘wealth’ and avoiding the name-it-and-claim-it language.113 It could be suggested that the narrative is one of self-betterment rather than simply attaining health and wealth.114 As Cartledge and Davies noted: African observers like Asamoah-Gyadu argue that kicc is less about prosperity per se and more about African empowerment. He suggests that kicc presents a challenge to the African population to rise above its historical importune circumstances and that this challenge is presented by Ashimolowo, who seeks to advance the cause of African or Black people who ‘seem to belong to the bottom of the pile, or the bottom of the pyramid – economically, socially, physically [and] mentally’. This means that motivational messages are used to encourage educational, business and social betterment in order to fulfil their destinies before God.115 It is also possible that this ideology is rooted in an African sensibility as noted by Harris, which is ‘based on the ubiquitous Yoruba search for spiritual power … both Aladura and Pentecostal Christians believe they can forge an individual course down both familiar and unfamiliar roads, and pursue self-interest in novel settings. By surrendering themselves to a greater force, those selves emerged revitalized, to face quotidian existence. Both see the Spirit as the ultimate source of worldly success’.116

112 Cartledge and Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity’, p. 71; Hugh James Osgood, ‘African Neo-Pentecostal Churches and British Evangelicalism 1985–2005: Balancing Principles and Practicalities’ (PhD Thesis, The School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, 2006), p. 51. 113 Cartledge and Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity’, p. 71. 114 Cartledge and Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity’, p. 70. 115 Cartledge and Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity’, p. 72; citing J. Kwabena Asa­ moah-Gyadu, ‘“To the Ends of the Earth”: Mission, Migration and the Impact of African-led Pentecostal Churches in the European Diaspora’, Mission Studies 29 (2012), pp. 23–44 (p. 30). 116 Harris, Yoruba in Diaspora, pp. 233–234.

26 1.4

Chapter 1

Theoretical Fields: Public Theology, Megachurches and Social Engagement

There are three main theoretical fields that intersect and contribute concepts to the account that this book seeks to construct. The first is one that has been termed ‘public theology’. A full description of this academic perspective will be offered in Chapter 3, but for the purpose of an introduction a brief summary is provided here. Public theology seeks to address questions of social concern from the perspective of theology, that is, it takes theological concepts and seeks to use them as explanatory ones in order to address issues in the public domain. Often it does so by seeking to translate the import of these theological concepts in ways that are more readily understandable to a non-theologicallyinformed audience. It also draws on insights from other academic disciples, especially from the social sciences and interprets them in the light of its own commitments and perspectives. Most public theology is derived from individual theologians or from denominational publications. This contribution is different because it seeks to locate public theology at the congregational level. It assumes that congregations can and do construct and enact public theology in the contexts in which they find themselves. By analysing these congregations, it is intended that public theology can make a shift to corporate praxis as a locus of research in the field. This research seeks to address different audiences with its findings. At one level, it seeks to address the audience of the church, first in relation to the congregations themselves as a kind of loop-back and second to the wider church in relation to society. If these congregations are key agents in the praxis of public theology, how might they be better informed about what they say and do, such that they can improve their praxis for the benefit of others? Can the wider church learn from their praxis, even though there are inevitable strengths and weaknesses to it? Thus, this study considers how the insights from this research might be applied more widely to other churches which struggle with similar issues and concerns. It also addresses the academy and throughout this study we have attempted to engage with scholarship, attend to issues raised by public theology, the sociology of religion, as well as social policy. It is this final set of literature that brings the academy into conversation with policy makers and those who attempt to manage resources in society for the benefit of all. Churches have a major role to play on the ground but very often this role is misunderstood or mischaracterised. This study seeks to connect the praxis of the churches with social policy makers. Megachurches are typically churches that attract more than 2000 worshippers per week. A full definition and description is offered in Chapter 2, but,

Introduction

27

again, for the sake of introducing the topic it is important to describe their importance. Megachurches are a global phenomenon and are often linked to parent churches in one country that have spread to others. Their importance comes from the fact that they cross cultural borders and yet maintain a consistent identity that appears to be portable. They are important because they have become sites of influence and activity due to the concentration of human, social and capital resources. They are often an urban phenomenon and it is in the urban setting, especially the global city context, that their importance begins to be realised. This study draws on the existing literature in the field to analyse the case studies in this research in order to interact with theoretical accounts that explain the rise and character of megachurches globally, as well as to use empirical data to modify existing understanding. Many of the megachurches are either Pentecostal or Evangelical, although not exclusively so, and therefore it is useful to contrast these two different types of Evangelicalism in relation to the literature. The result is also a reflection on the nature of ecclesiology when considered through the perspective of megachurch studies (see Chapter 2 for a full survey of this field) and how it might inform social engagement as intrinsic rather than extrinsic to their life. This study began with a working definition of ‘social engagement’, based on the idea that it includes action by these churches for the material and social benefit of people not included in their congregations, basically: social action for the benefit of those outside of their communities. The basic components of this orientation have not changed but they have been revised and refined. For the purpose of this study, we define it as: theologically-motivated, collective efforts to assist others – particularly those beyond the church community itself – in ways that contribute to human flourishing.117 The idea of ‘theological motivation’ was chosen because of the importance of understanding why specific activities are performed and to connect these ordinary faith motivations with theological concepts. For example, the idea of loving one’s neighbour might be used because of an understanding of an imperative rooted in specific biblical texts. This understanding might be informed by experience of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, whom the person believes empowers them for works of service, thus fulfilling this biblical mandate. By using the word ‘collective’, we wish to signal that we are interested in social engagement that is organised by these megachurches and ‘groups’ associated with them, rather than researching individual acts of engagement, 117 See the blog post by Andrew Davies, ‘Christianity and Social Engagement: Making More of a Difference than we Thought’, https://ukmegachurches.wordpress.com/blog/ (accessed 12 February, 2018).

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which are often hidden and difficult to identify. In this regard we are interested in the direct or related ministries of the megachurches rather than their indirect influence on individual activity in the workplace or via other social and community agencies. The phrase ‘efforts to assist others’ indicates that we are looking to identify an ‘outward’ movement to the church’s ministry. We are less interested in those activities that focus on equipping and ministering to the churches’ own members, although we acknowledge that these may play an important part in inspiring and empowering ‘outward’ engagement, and that in some cases there will be an overlap in audience, with some programmes and ministries being targeted to church members and those not already part of the church together. Our focus, however, is on the activities and ministries that involve connection and engagement for the purpose of serving the wider community. This assistance may be local, national or international. The key concept of contributing towards ‘human flourishing’ was chosen because it corresponds well with some of the theological concepts with which the megachurches work and with the language and concepts of contemporary social policy. Human flourishing is a concept that can express the insistence from some of our research participants that one cannot readily separate spiritual and physical wellbeing, for example, social action and evangelism. It also allows us to explore which aspects of human flourishing are given most attention by different churches, and the theological explanations provided for the integration of different dimensions of wellbeing. 1.5

Research Methodology

This study, as noted above, is framed in relation to a number of different academic discourses and situated principally within the discourse of public theology from the perspective of ecclesiology.118 In a manner similar to other empirical studies in practical theology, this study pays attention to the emic categories used by the research participants, as well as the espoused theology found in church literature and especially their websites. These ideas are interpreted in relation to etic categories found in both theological and sociological theory, for example ecclesiology and globalisation.119 This way of framing the 118 Elsewhere, Cartledge describes methodology in three senses (epistemology, process of enquiry and methods), see: Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Can Theology be “Practical”? Part ii: A Reflection on Renewal Methodology and the Practice of Research’, Journal of Contemporary Ministry 3 (2017), pp. 20–36. 119 Also see: Mark J. Cartledge, Testimony in the Spirit: Rescripting Ordinary Pentecostal Theology (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010; republished London: Routledge, 2016), pp. 18–20.

Introduction

29

development of theory fits well with the overall discourse of public theology, but it also acknowledges the different disciplinary contexts of the researchers, with two working from the context of practical theology, one from the context of the anthropology of religion and one from the context of sociology and social policy. Therefore, while public theology is the overall frame of reference, each researcher engaged in empirical work employed standard methods of data gathering as informed by their own disciplinary traditions of research and these were brought into dialogue as the process of research developed over the course of the study. Early in the research process, we decided that a qualitative, rather than quantitative method would better suit our research aims. Thus, the majority of our research was qualitative in approach. However, our project did entail a limited amount of counting as well. Since a megachurch is defined in terms of numbers, particularly at the initial stages of working with a church, we did estimate attendance at church services in order to check whether reported numbers were indeed even close to the mark. In two cases, churches which had more than 2000 people affiliated, but not attending, were ruled out of the study because they did not meet the criterion of 2000 people attending worship in a week. However, apart from this, our approach to the research was qualitative, due to the focus of our study on social engagement activities and the theological motivations of volunteers. We did pay attention to the extent of social engagement activities: how many activities, how many volunteers, how many participants and other similar questions. However, the main question that drove the research was ‘Why’. Why do people volunteer, why do people come to the social engagement activities, why do churches facilitate them and what impact do they have. Max Weber theorised that there are two ways of obtaining social understanding: rationally comprehending logical behaviour and empathetically understanding what appears to be irrational behaviour.120 Therefore, since behaviour motivated by religious ideas can be irrational or rational, we considered that the best way to unearth the motivations behind these actions is a qualitative approach with an empathetic understanding. The ‘why’ questions and lines of enquiry regarding personal motivations often struck at the heart of a person’s identity and faith. Alister Hardy, when studying the religious experiences of people, observed that this kind of information cannot be gained from a large-scale questionnaire because ‘these experiences are so precious and personal to the people who have them that many are likely to be put 120 Max Weber, Basic Concepts in Sociology (London: Peter Owen, 1962), p. 18.

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Chapter 1

off by being asked to fill in such a form about them…’121 Thus, theological motivations are captured in narrative form by means of qualitative methods.122 Within a qualitative research methodology, we adopted a case study approach. Robert Yin describes a case study as: ‘An empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident’.123 He further points out that a case study is useful when a study is exploratory, explanatory or descriptive in nature. Since our study entailed all three of these lines of enquiry, we designed our study so that each church became a ‘case’. We devoted three to four months to each case study site in order to understand not just what was happening, but the complex interconnections between the various factors at play. It was through observing how these actors and events within the case study interacted that our theories could emerge.124 Martyn Hammersley observes that the case study approach allows the understanding of personal narratives to be appreciated in local contexts, which in turn means that there is a potential for greater accuracy than other data gathering methods.125 Certainly, the case study approach allowed us, as researchers, to observe a variety of factors at play over a period of time, in order to build a nuanced picture of what was happening in the research context. We had initially identified ten megachurches in London. At the start of the project our first task was to contact each church as a case study site and negotiate access. This stage of the research was absolutely vital, because once we found the right person to grant us permission to conduct the research, then other doors were opened to us. In some cases, the main church leader was not the gatekeeper, and we needed to do some preliminary research just to discover the appropriate person to approach. In some cases, even though access had been granted by one person, another person further down the chain of command would need to be approached regarding access to their ‘family’ of ministries and social engagement activities. So, gaining access to the case 121 Alister Hardy, The Spiritual Nature of Man: A Study of Contemporary Religious Experience (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), p. 20. 122 This particular design for this study does not mean that we are necessarily critical of quantitative research methods, but that the aims of this project best suited a qualitative approach. For examples of quantitative research in the field, see Mark J. Cartledge, Narratives and Numbers: Empirical Studies of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity (Leiden: Brill, 2017). 123 Robert Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Methods (London: Sage, 2003), p. 12. 124 J.C. Mitchell, Ethnographic Research: A Guide to General Conduct (London: Academic Press, 1984), p. 240. 125 Martyn Hammersley, What’s Wrong with Ethnography? Methodological Explorations (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 198.

Introduction

31

study sites, particularly in a megachurch context, was complex and at times required delicate negotiation. In other cases, we had personal connections with people on the staff, and sometimes this facilitated access, but not in every case. We found that some of the megachurches were aware of their potential to have a high profile in the media and were very cautious to protect their ‘brand’. Churches that had encountered negative press coverage tended to shy away from having a researcher on site. So, despite months, and in some cases years, of negotiation, we managed to gain permission to conduct case studies among five of the megachurches in London. The case study model supports the use of eclectic methods within a research site. For this project we used participant observation, interviews and focus groups, which we describe in turn below. ‘Participant observation’ is a term used by social scientists to describe how a researcher can gather information by simply participating in everyday activities.126 The researcher observes what is happening, listens to what is said, speaks with people and asks questions, and generally absorbs all that is going on. This approach to the start of each case study meant that initially we simply attended services, which are open to the public. In some cases, such as at htb, the eleven services that happen in a week are quite different, so the researcher needed to move around in order to get a taste of the variety of congregations. Observing consisted of taking note of the number and general demographics of people present, through rough estimates rather than making an exact count. The shape of the service, including liturgy (or its absence), the content of prayers, choice of songs, and sermon passages and main points were all noted. The literature that was distributed for service attendees was read and the information point in the church was visited in order to collect more leaflets, church newsletters, flyers for various ministries and activities. Most churches have official greeters at the door of the church, but the researchers would also stand-alone after a service or between services to see if there would also be an unofficial welcome that might occur informally. This participant observation was also a valuable time for identifying what social engagement activities are taking place, and which might be appropriate to visit. In both of the Anglican churches, there were more activities actually happening that were discovered through participant observation than were listed by church leaders or on the church website. Attendance, therefore, 126 William Foot Whyte, Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of An Italian Slum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) is a famous descriptive case study written by William Foote Whyte and published originally in 1943. In the appendix of this book, Whyte describes his experiences and the development of his method as a participant observer.

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was essential. This was also a good opportunity for meeting people informally, identifying who might be good to interview which could be arranged later. Dunlop has found that people are often more open to agreeing to be interviewed if asked face to face, or at least if a prior meeting has taken place before an email or phone request is sent. After access was granted, participant observation was completed within various social engagement activities. Determining the level of participation was more complex in these varied contexts. Whereas in the worship services, there were more straightforward expectations on those who attend, with many people choosing a variety of levels of participation. At the social engagement activities, it was harder to blend in at these smaller gatherings and often people presumed that the researcher was a volunteer in some capacity. Indeed, participating often did consist of taking on the role of a volunteer in terms of serving and preparing food, welcoming people on the door, serving tea and coffee, etc. In each case the researcher was careful to inform other volunteers and the clients that she was participating in her role as researcher. During the case studies, we conducted semi-structured interviews which were audio-recorded in order to create interview transcripts. We started by interviewing church leaders. Although we may have already had a meeting with a key gatekeeper to set up the case study and gain overall permission for the research, these early meetings with leadership often functioned as a means of confirming entry into the research context. The church leaders could ask us questions about our project, and as we talked together it was not unusual for them to advise us to meet with a specific person or to observe a certain ministry. We were able to ask about the church’s vision and strategy for social engagement, as well as different ways of influencing church members’ theological motivation for being involved in social action activities. We then moved on to interviewing the leaders of social engagement ministries, often using these meetings also as a means of gaining access, if appropriate, in order to participate and observe activities. In these interviews, we were able to focus on the precise activity itself, to find out more about its genesis, sustainability, impact and leadership of volunteers. Once we were engaged in participant observation within a social engagement activity, we could then identify volunteers who were willing and interested in taking part in an interview. At this point, we were able to find out a lot about theological motivations for volunteering and hear stories about what was happening on the ground. We did not conduct any formal interviews with the recipients or ‘guests’ of the social engagement ministry, but we did have a lot of informal conversations with them, mostly about their perceptions of the impact of the ministry upon their own situation.

Introduction

33

On several occasions Dunlop also conducted focus groups. For example, during an ‘Entertainment Evening’, the evening meal hosting homeless and vulnerably housed people at All Soul’s Clubhouse, she led a focus group with five guests and four volunteers. This was the group that normally gathered for a Bible study in a room near the hall where the meal was served. Photographs that depicted various scenes from aslan (All Souls Local Action Network) activities, taken by an in-house photographer, were spread onto the table where participants were sitting. These photographs were used to draw out reflections about the work of the church from the participants. The conversation was intentionally informal and bounced rapidly between topics. On another occasion, members of a fellowship group of one of the churches agreed to bring photographs of social engagement activities into the group. Again, these were displayed, and a discussion and reflection were facilitated with group members about what was happening in the photographs and why it was important. On another occasion, via informal networks of htb members interested in the arts, a group was formed to take photographs reflecting on the theme of transformation. The group then gathered around the printed photographs and talked about them, developing a narrative to go alongside the images. This narrated photography method allowed the complexities and emotive aspects of our study to be portrayed and made explicit.127 During the case study of a church, we also collected a variety of electronic and printed documents. We began with an analysis of the church’s website, paying particular attention to the self-understanding of the church as it was articulated in its vision or mission statements, usually found in the ‘About’ sections of the website. Some church websites, such as htb’s, had hundreds of pages, including links to affiliated sites such as Alpha, and were frequently updated. Other churches had more static websites that consisted of just a few pages. We worked through the pages and followed links through to Facebook pages related to specific ministries, or subscribed to newsletters, podcasts, online Bible reading programmes and Twitter feeds. In the midst of this data, we were looking to discover how the church communicates its social engagement activities. We discovered that often webpages not only contained information about these ministries, but they also served as mechanisms for recruitment of volunteers and participants. However, in most cases there were social engagement activities that were not detailed on websites and we discovered them through participant observation.

127 Sarah Dunlop and Peter Ward. ‘Narrated Photography: Visual Representations of the Sacred among Young Polish Migrants in England’ Fieldwork in Religion 9.1 (2014), pp. 30–52.

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While visiting the physical sites of the various churches, we also collected a variety of printed materials. There were welcome leaflets that oriented new attendees to the church. We collected term cards that explained the range of activities and services on offer in the churches for a three-month period. We discovered leaflets or postcards advertising specific events and ministries. We picked up newsletters and magazines, service sheets, prayer diaries, annual reports and congregation surveys. All of these were archived as sources of data about the church. At the conclusion of the case study, all of the data was gathered together. Transcripts were made of all the audio recordings of interviews and focus groups. These documents, together with the notes made from documentary analysis and field notes from participant observation were entered into NVivo, a qualitative research analysis software package.128 All of this text-based data was carefully worked through multiple times to draw out themes and com­ mon threads. A grounded theory approach was adopted, meaning that instead of reading the data through existing theoretical frameworks, we were looking for concepts and possible theories that might emerge directly from the information from the churches themselves.129 These patterns were then brought into dialogue with existing literature in the process of writing. Data was also reviewed by co-authors in the writing of the empirical chapters in order to check themes and their relationships. Throughout the research process, we were careful to follow ethical procedures. Ethical approval for the research to commence was given by the University of Birmingham in 2014 and only after this approval was given did empirical research begin. Permission was sought from church ‘gatekeepers’ and individual interviewees before data was gathered. This is in keeping with ethical approaches to research, whereby the researcher needs to illicit the ‘freely given informed consent of those studied’, requiring the researcher, ‘to explain as fully as possible, and in terms meaningful to participants, who is undertaking and financing it, why it is being undertaken, and how it is to be disseminated’.130 Everyone that we interviewed was provided with an information sheet about the project, and all agreed to sign a consent form to take part in it. We do not 128 See Pat Bazeley, Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo (London: Sage, 2010); For information on version 10, see: https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/home (accessed 25 June, 2018). 129 Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. (Hawthorne, NY: Aldine, 1967). 130 Charlotte Aull Davies, Reflexive Ethnography: A Guide to Researching Selves and Others, (London: Routledge, 1999) p. 46. Here she is quoting from the British Sociological Association’s 1996 Guidance Notes: Statement of Ethical Practice.

Introduction

35

use people’s real names in the dissemination of our findings. However, we do realise that given the fame of the leaders of megachurches, it may, at times, be possible to identify to whom our writing refers. Therefore, we did not promise anonymity to church leaders, although we do protect the privacy of church members and do not refer to any by name of position in order to protect their identity. 1.6

Outline of the Chapters

There are two chapters in Part 1 of the book, which offer a theoretical context for the study. Chapter 2 provides an up-to-date overview of the literature in the field of megachurch studies. It follows the contours of the literature and reviews them by means of a geographical approach. We introduce the nature of megachurches in the usa since it constitutes the largest set of literature on the subject and ask whether there is a clear typology with which to interpret these churches. The dominant sociological interpretation asks whether these churches are explainable in terms of the religious market metaphor and this is considered. We look at megachurches in relation to the mainline church traditions, which stand in contrast to the majority of megachurches that are independent in character. We also consider the African American literature on megachurches and explore whether there are distinctive characteristics emerging from this constituency. We compare the picture that emerges from other geographical locations in the global south, Europe, and in particular the United Kingdom as the immediate context for this study. Following on from a discussion of the explanations of American megachurch development, we explore the main explanations that have been suggested for megachurches globally. In Chapter 3 we bring public theology into conversation with social theory and megachurch practice of social engagement. This chapter provides the second theoretical frame of reference. Public theology is defined and described, and the way in which it is used in this study explained. Church-based social engagement is mapped out and described in general terms before megachurch social engagement is considered. The chapter explores whether the broader context of social engagement in the UK resonates with and typifies the kinds of social engagement found in megachurch studies. Following this context setting, the chapter outlines the dimensions of social engagement in terms of motivations, the state and social policy, ecclesiology and the relationship between them. In Part 2, there are two empirical case study chapters. This section is at the heart of the book and provides original data gather by means of this investigation. The first chapter (Chapter 4) gives detailed description of two Church of

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England city parish churches and their social engagement practices. In this chapter, we provide a description of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, giving an overview of the parish and its history, its current vision, services, evangelistic programme called Alpha, and note its global reach. This is followed by a detailed description of the various social engagement activities that are organised by the church and its satellite churches. In the same chapter, we also present a description of All Souls Church, Langham Place. After giving a brief overview of the church, we outline its contemporary vision, the nature of its services, its fellowship groups and its main means of evangelism through the Christianity Explored programme. Subsequently, we describe in detail the various social ministries, which include work with the homeless, the community centre, as well as creative engagement with different sectors of the London population. The second of these empirical chapters (Chapter 5) gives a detailed description of three African diaspora Pentecostal churches: Kingsway International Christian Centre, Jesus House for All Nations and New Wine Church. In a similar way we offer a description of their background and life before giving a detailed picture of their social engagement activities, alongside observations and interview excerpts that allow us to appreciate how members of these churches frame their understanding of the nature of their activities in relation to the church’s mission. Part 3 contains three chapters and seeks to reflect on the empirical data in the light of the earlier theoretical literature, providing insights into how these megachurches function in terms of social engagement and what kind of significance their practices have for public theology today. Chapter 6 considers the theological motivations that are provided by volunteers from the churches. There are differences between these churches but also some common themes that emerge and allow us to understand the ‘why’ of social engagement in more detail. Chapter 7 investigates the nature of globalisation, the church and the city. It explores whether data from the case studies provides new insights when theological motivations are brought into conversation with globalisation theory. This chapter explores these London megachurches and the significance of globalisation theory for appreciating the nature of social engagement. Finally, Chapter 8 pulls together the main themes that have emerged from the study and elucidates the implications for church and social policy. It does this by exploring ecclesial practice, especially by means of the concepts of relational faith, discipleship and the common good, as well as the analysis of scale, structure and impact of social engagement. It considers the implications for churches and church leaders directly and in particular the use of story-telling, empowerment, resources and collaboration. This chapter also explores the implications for social policy, in particular the relational and

Introduction

37

the values approaches before making some specific recommendations for consideration by the social policy sector. The book is completed by means of a short conclusion, which summarises the research findings, gives brief answers to the key questions posed at the beginning of the study, articulates how this study informs an ecclesiology of social engagement, explains its significance and suggests areas for future research.

Part 1 Theoretical Fields

∵

Chapter 2

Megachurch Studies 2.1 Introduction The global religious landscape is dynamic and none more so than the western world. While there appears to be a serious decline in religious observance among the non-immigrant population, there are also remarkable and significant signs of church growth. One such symbol of Christian vitality around the world is the emergence of very large churches, often referred to as ‘megachurches’. These churches tend to be associated with cityscapes and especially cities that have developed global connections. These are places that act as international hubs for the movement of people, the attraction and support of business, sport and leisure as well as cultural activities. As noted in Chapter 1, the vast majority of these megachurches are Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelical in ethos and character, which means that megachurch studies interfaces with the academic investigation of Pentecostalism. The aim of this chapter is to offer a theoretical context for the empirical research that follows by providing a survey of the literature available on the subject of megachurches around the world. Most of this literature falls within the sociology of religion and the theoretical perspectives brought to bear are largely used within a sociological framework. When theological ideas are expressed they tend to be discussed either in relation to the motivation for life and mission of these churches, on the one hand, or as a way of understanding the ideological commitments of the adherents, on the other hand. Of course, these two dimensions are intertwined. This chapter seeks to sketch out the contours of the current state of research and provide the context in which the empirical studies that follow might be understood. In order to fulfil this aim, the chapter will do the following: (1) discuss the definition of ‘megachurch’ and possible global characteristics; (2) explore the main literature emerging from American studies of megachurches, which is by the far the largest amount of literature dedicated to a particular geographical area; (3) set this American literature within a broader global context; (4) bring the UK megachurch information into focus; and (5) suggest key factors that begin to explain the emergence of megachurches. Megachurches emerged during the twentieth century and became a religious phenomenon in American society in the 1970s. Indeed many of the churches that became megachurches in the 1970s were much older in origin

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_003

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and belonged to traditional expressions of Christianity. There have been very large churches in the usa throughout the twentieth century, although the denotation ‘megachurch’ is a recent convention. For example, there were five Presbyterian churches attracting more than 2000 worshippers in 1900, but the number of megachurches increased to 74 by 1983. Similarly, there were seven Episcopalian congregations attracting over 2000 worshippers in 1930, with the number increasing to 33 by 1960.1 Often, the megachurch phenomenon is traced to the post-World War ii era in the United States of America, with the education and housing boom, and associated with increased social and geographical mobility, although there are examples of large Pentecostal churches outside North America existing before 1939.2 In the religious marketplace of the usa, churches compete for the largest share of Christian church-goers with ever extensive programmes and provision. By 1970 around 50 megachurches existed, growing to 150 by 1980, 300 by 1990, 600 by 2000 and 1,200 by 2005. In 2012 it was estimated that there were 1,650 megachurches in the usa, with approximately 500 in the rest of the world.3 The concentration of numbers attracted to very large churches grows significantly from 1970 onwards. ‘It is almost as if someone flips a switch in 1970, and a 70-year (or more) trend towards deconcentration reverses, and stays reversed to the present day’.4 Earlier megachurches include, for example, Charles Grandison Finney’s Broadway Tabernacle built in 1836 which had 4000 seats and this was matched by DeWitt Talmage’s Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn in 1891 and Moody’s Memorial Chapel in 1925. This seating capacity was exceeded by Aimee Semple McPerson’s Angelus Temple, Los Angeles in 1923 (5,300) and the Church of God in Christ’s D.L. Moody’s Mason Temple, Memphis in 1945 (7,500).5 These buildings suggest that ‘bigness’ 1 Mark Chaves, ‘All Creatures Great and Small: Megachurches in Context’, Review of Religious Research 47.4 (2006), pp. 329–346 (p. 335). 2 The Pentecostal church pastored in Stockholm, Sweden by Lewi Pethrus, named Filadelphia, grew to 3000 members in 1928 and 5000 members in 1934. See: Tommy H. Davidsson, Lewi Pethrus’ Ecclesiological Thought 1911–1974: A Transdenominational Pentecostal Ecclesiology (Leiden: Brill, 2015), p. 254. Its social ministry among the poor reached its climax in 1933 during the global depression, see: Jan Åke Alvarsson, ‘Penteocostalism in Sweden and Finland’, in Vinson Synan and Amos Yong (eds.), Global Renewal Christianity Volume Four: Europe and North America (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House Book Group, 2017), pp. 179–197 (p. 188). 3 Scott L. Thumma and Warren Bird, ‘Megafaith for the Megacity: The Global Megachurch Phenomenon’, in Stanley D. Brunn and Donna A. Gilbreath (eds.), The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics Volume iv (New York: Springer, 2015) pp. 2331–2352. 4 Chaves, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, p. 338. 5 Scott Thumma and Dave Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What we can learn from America’s Largest Churches (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007), p. 24; Chaves, ‘All Creatures Great and

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was something already in the Evangelical and revivalist mentality, which also contributed to the emergence of Pentecostalism proper in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, as noted above, something happened from the 1960s that promoted exponential growth in large churches from the 1970s.6 The now standard definition of a megachurch, based on the work of the Hartford Seminary Institute for Religion Research, is Protestant churches where more than 2000 people attend for the purposes of worship per week. This definition tends to be applied globally, but it originates in this American research.7 It is one that has been adopted for the sake of convenience, but we are aware that it does not agree with the discussion of the sizes of churches in the global south, which often considers churches of 10,000+ as ‘mega’. It also excludes Roman Catholic congregations, which can also be extremely large in places and exhibit charismatic spirituality.8 In most places, the sense is that megachurches represent ‘out of proportion’ size congregations, as well as being Pentecostal in orientation expressing technological, contemporary and non-traditional forms of Christianity.9 To illustrate the point just noted above, in Korea, for example, a congregation is not considered a megachurch until it has reached 10,000+ worshippers.10 Korea has 23 of the 50 largest churches in the world. What can be said is that ‘size matters’ in modern global Pentecostal and Evangelical Christianity. Peter Brierley believes that the myths attached to the megachurches in the usa are almost identically true in the UK, believing that a church of 400 in the UK is essentially the equivalent of 2000 in the usa.11 This may be the case in terms of the proportion of churches but the 2000 threshold provides a global size marker that is significant across many different countries around the world. For this main reason, we have retained the 2000+ criterion in this study.

6 7 8 9 10 11

Small’, p. 340. His figure of the seating capacity for Angelus Temple is incorrect at 7,500 and has been corrected to 5,300. Thumma and Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths, p. 24. Thumma and Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths, xix–xxi. Jonathan D. James, ‘A Moving Faith: An Introduction’, in Jonathan D. James, A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 1–17 (p. 4). J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Doing Greater Things: Mega Church as an African Phenomenon’, in Jonathan D. James, A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 43–61 (pp. 49–50). Sebastian C.H. Kim, ‘Mega Churches in South Korea: Their Impact and Prospect in the Public Square’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 85–105 (p. 86). Eddie Gibbs, Churchmorph: How Megatrends are Reshaping Christian Communities (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009) p. 101; personal email exchange cited.

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Drawing on Thumma and Travis, Ellingson observes that megachurches tend to be theologically conservative, largely Evangelical, use media technology, offer multiple worship services and other types of services, such as consumer goods, thus employing ‘consumer logic’ and tend to be located in urban and suburban contexts, especially the sunbelt of America.12 There is also a tendency towards non-denominationalism, so that even where there is a denominational affiliation this is played down in the marketing of the church. According to Ellingson, one third of megachurches are officially independent (often referred to as ‘non-denominational’) and it is estimated that this figure will rise, with only 11% of megachurches now affiliated with mainline denominations (but see the latest figure below). Ellingson suggests that these churches, drawing on the capitalist culture of which they are a part, imitate the ‘infotainment’ of the prevailing culture, a diversity of worship offerings so that worshippers can exercise choice regarding what to attend. This religious consumption is mixed with ‘therapeutic personalism’ and theological orthodoxy. In order to connect with contemporary culture, it comes as no surprise that the architecture is more reminiscent of corporate America with ‘theaterstyle worship spaces’ and minimalistic use of overt Christian symbolism in order to be relevant to the contemporary ‘unchurched’ person, especially from the younger generations. ‘Nearly worldwide, church size, along with the prosperity gospel and delivery of the abundant life as expressed through good health, deliverance from evil, and an unapologetic embrace of God’s supernatural power are the hallmarks of a dramatically expanding faith’.13 Architecturally, megachurch buildings tend to be functional and very large in order to accommodate the numbers with lots of space for parking and comfort for attendees. They are evangelistic with a focus on conversion, as well as many of them emphasising the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and its mission in the world. These basic characteristics are limited, and certainly not exhaustive, but they do give a general flavour of the type of church culture represented.14 For some, this characterisation represents a secularised form of 12

13 14

Stephen Ellingson, ‘New Research on Megachurches Non-denominationalism and Sectarianism’, in Bryan S. Turner (ed.), The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 247–266. Of course, some features would have been modified had the author considered African and Latin American examples, but there are limits to what can be discussed in a short book chapter. Virginia Garrard-Burnett, ‘Foreword’, in Jonathan D. James, A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), ix–xiii (xi). Aaron B. James, ‘Rehabilitating Willow Creek: Megachurches, De Certeau, and the Tactics of Navigating Consumer Culture’, Christian Scholar’s Review 43.1 (2013), pp. 21–39 (pp. 22–25).

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traditional religion,15 or a product of modernity.16 They argue that it represents a capitulation to the forces of the market in such a way that the distinctive Christian identity has been smothered by worldliness.17 Many sociologists of religion echo this understanding and see it both as a central strength and as a weakness. It is a point to which we return below. 2.2

Megachurches in the usa

Over the course of a number of years the Hartford Institute for Religion Research has conducted surveys of megachurches in the usa. Reports have been published in 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015.18 Many of these surveys have been conducted in conjunction with the Leadership Network and co-authored by Scott Thumma and Warren Bird. The latest report from data collected in 2014 was published in 2015.19 This is a crucial source of information about megachurches in the usa and the latest report deserves to be summarised before we consider a typology of American churches suggested by those involved in this research. In 2014 the largest megachurches attracted more than 30,000 worshippers and the smallest 2000 (thus qualifying as megachurches). In this sample the median weekly attendance was 2,696. The largest megachurches continue to experience rapid and sustained growth over 5% a year and 26% over the last five years. They provide an average of five worship services over a weekend of varying styles and many megachurches (62%) now use multiple locations and an increasing number host online worship (30%), thus moving into the virtual church domain in a significant way. The worship experience is largely contemporary, with bands rather than organs and choirs, and worshippers report the experience as joyful, nurturing, thoughtful, as well as filled with the ‘presence’ of God.20 Overall, traditional worship practices are in decline. The worship is 15

Jeaney Yip, ‘Marketing the Sacred: The Case of Hillsong Church, Australia’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 106–126. 16 Os Guiness, Dining with the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993). 17 Guiness, Dining with the Devil, p. 12. 18 See: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurches_research.html (accessed on 10 December, 2015). 19 Scott L. Thumma and Warren Bird, Recent Shifts in America’s Largest Protestant Churches: Megachurches 2015 Report, http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/2015_Megachurches_ Report.pdf (accessed on 29 November, 2018). 20 For a discussion of megachurch worshipping practices, see: Birgitta J. Johnson, ‘“This is Not the Warm-Up Act!” How Praise and Worship Reflects Expanding Musical Traditions

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supplemented by an array of programmes for different groups in the church. They tend to be focused in their mission, compared to smaller churches, and emphasise evangelism, personal spiritual growth and everyday discipleship. Denominational ties remain for the majority (60%), but these ties are becoming increasingly less important, while network ties are increasing more important. Small groups are critical to the growth and health of megachurches and most are highly committed to these structures. Global mission is important (81%) and there is a major emphasis on community service programmes (81%). Megachurches tend to be more multiracial than smaller churches and multisite churches are more multiracial than single site churches. Now 72% of megachurches provide internship programmes for young people and they normally last 12 months and many are organised in conjunction with seminaries. The main literature suggests that challenges for this generation of megachurches include: promoting active engagement of participants, especially when regular members are attending less frequently (on average 2–3 Sundays out of 4), attracting young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 (there is a slight decline here), combating increasing insularity, as well as the tendency towards independence and lack of cooperation with other churches and community groups, while sustaining growth and health alongside innovation and change, when the pressure is to routinise church life, especially as the senior pastor ages. 2.2.1 A Megachurch Typology? Given this brief overview of the state of megachurches in America, is it possible to differentiate between these churches in terms of characteristics, not just in terms of size? Thumma and Travis identify four types of megachurch, which they call (1) old line or programme based, (2) seeker oriented, (3) charismatic or pastor focused and (4) new wave or re-envisioned focused. We shall consider these different types in turn. First, the old line or programme based church type accounts for approximately 30% of megachurches in the usa [Type A]. It is an older church, typically based in an urban, downtown or older suburban setting and usually they are part of a denomination. They tend to be ethnically monocultural, comprising either Caucasian or African American congregations. The worship is traditional, using liturgy, with music provided by a piano or organ and a choir. and Theology in a Bapticostal Charismatic African American Megachurch’, in Monique M. Ingalls and Amos Yong (eds.), The Spirit of Praise: Music and Worship in Global Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015), pp. 117–132.

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It is reverent rather than exuberant and more likely to be eucharistic focused. The main pastor is someone who is a leader-administrator. He or she has Master’s level education from a recognised seminary. The congregation provides Sunday school classes and other programmes for all its attendees. It aims to maintain a witness in a particular locale and is committed to the community in which it is set. The church architecture tends to be classical in the sense that the building in which the congregation meets is clearly a church building. This connection to its community and its historic building means that it tends to be historically aware; it has a sense of its own historical narrative and this influences its vision for the future. There is a limited use of the Internet for the promotion of its ministry, although it is likely to have some form of broadcasting ministry, either via radio or TV, perhaps sponsoring its own TV channel. Second, the seeker oriented church also accounts for about 30% of megachurches in the usa, having been founded or grown significantly in the 1980s and 1990s [Type B]. It is generally unconventional and is found in the suburbs rather than the urban centres. They tend to be monocultural, populated by Caucasian members of the post-Christian baby boomer generation, but can also be racially mixed. They always contain a large number of younger attendees. The main pastor is typically an extrovert evangelist, who sees his (or sometimes her) ministry as primarily one of seeking the lost. He or she has, however, been educated to Master’s level, with a recognised seminary qualification. The ethos of the church emphasises relationships through small groups rather than programmes, and the key goal of reaching seekers. It may adopt corporate business practices in this endeavour. It is denominationally affiliated but this would not be obvious from its publicity; that affiliation tends to be hidden. The church building is not very church-like, it tends to be open, spacious and modern, and reflects the ethos of open exploration. It is a place for those who dislike or have a problem with the traditional church. Everything that it does focuses on those seeking to know more about Christianity and deciding whether it is for them. The internet presence is clear but it tends to focus on the church’s basic ministries. These types of church do occasionally broadcast their services and are more likely to do so via podcasts. Third, the charismatic or pastor-focused type accounts for 25% of megachurches in the usa, having been founded or experienced rapid growth from the 1960s to the 1990s [Type C]. It tends to be located in the older suburbs and is multiracial, multicultural and independent, often attracting very mixed age and socio-economic attendees. The worship style is exuberant, charismatic or Pentecostal and Holy Spirit focused, with response times or altar calls for the congregation deemed extremely important. However, there are churches in this type that are not Pentecostal. The key feature, according to Thumma and

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Travis, is the role of the senior pastor, who is endowed with ‘charisma’, that is a presence and an authority. The main pastor in this type is the key decisionmaker and he (mostly he) is the main driver for the church, although often his family and especially his wife join him in ministry (and are often represented in the publicity of the church). The educational structure is less formal, with small groups in use, but these are not the focus of church life. The key to this type of church is the experience of worship and the empowering of its members to reach out through such spiritual formation to wider society. It especially prioritises the healing ministry of the church. It often has a weak link to existing denominations and frequently starts its own daughter church. It tends to meet in a large auditorium setting, such as a cinema complex or theatre. Its internet presence focuses on the worship and the messages of its main pastors, with podcasts and chat rooms for attendees and Christians in general. Fourth, the new wave or re-envisioned type of church accounts for 15% of megachurches in the usa, having been founded since 1990 [Type D]. It is located in the suburbs and is often racially mixed, for example Caucasian, Asian and African American. Even though the attendees tend to be on the younger side, these churches have rejected a seeker approach. The worship style is explicitly Christian, with the adoption of historic symbols, creeds and liturgy but with technology involving lighting and sound. The musical styles of the services vary and no one style predominates to the exclusion of others. It is often a multi-site congregation with multi-leader teams. The main pastor is the team leader and the key teacher of the faith. The educational styles of learning are the least traditional of all the megachurches, with a focus on small group processes and especially a ministry to families. The church focuses on the person of Christ in its message and seeks to influence not just individuals but also contemporary culture more generally. It is often a completely independent church that has no obvious denomination affiliation. It meets in smaller buildings and promotes an engagement with the community in which it is set, expecting all its attendees to be active in this regard. It uses the Internet extensively, especially via podcasts; it also uses TV and radio to advertise its ministries to the wider community and beyond. It is clear from this typology that there are important distinctions between these different types of churches. These differences can be identified as geography, ethnicity, worship style, leadership style, educational provision including small groups, engagement with the wider community, connection to the wider church, key vision or focus and its presence in the media. The wider literature on the American megachurch scene pays attention to a range of dimensions and often uses empirical case studies to illustrate or illuminate characteristics or evidence theories, including the observation that some of

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these megachurches have precipitated movements such as seeker-sensitive type churches. We have noted the use of market metaphors to explain the rise in the phenomenon and now return to it. 2.2.2 Megachurches and the Religious Market A number of studies have considered megachurches via the lens of the market and the consumer. While an exclusive analysis in terms of market metaphors would be reductionist, it is so prevalent that it deserves attention in a literature survey. These churches, it is argued, are successful because they have adopted American style branding and commercial techniques to attract large numbers of adherents. In other words, they brand a kind of religious experience and make it accessible to a large group of religious consumers.21 Often these large churches are positioned in relation to population growth in communities around the usa. Once a certain population is attained, then there are sufficient numbers to support a megachurch. Twitchell describes this marketisation in the following manner: Protestantism is experiencing the same brand shifts that occur when Sam’s Club or Costco comes to town. Consumers move in trickles, then droves. The one thing these warehouse churches have in common is what they also share with Franklin Graham’s revival: they usually belong to no traditional denomination. This new delivery system is electronic, local, and efficient. Scholars may call them ‘postdenominational church’ or parts of the ‘new apostolic reformation’, but the layperson knows better. Megachurches are often called ‘purpose-driven’ or ‘seeker-sensitive’ churches, ‘full-service’, ‘seven-day-a-week’ churches. Detractors call then ‘shopping mall’ churches. Those still less impressed call them McChurches or Wal-Mart churches.22 The main selling point is growth, because ‘bigger is better’. And, of course, the bigger the church the more independent it becomes until it fully realises its own entity and breaks from the previous denomination network, thus reinvesting its own profits back into its own finances rather than supporting another structure. Thus, in business terms, the larger the church the more efficient it is in terms of the cost of producing religious services for the consumers. Indeed, in many respects attending a megachurch is like attending a religious 21

James B. Twitchell, Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004) pp. 44–17. 22 Twitchell, Branded Nation, p. 81.

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shopping mall both architecturally and in terms of the services provided: there are many services under the same roof and a huge car park to accommodate the religious visitors. It also provides a variety of entertainment for the children, in case they get bored with the main events or the high definition screens that are dotted around the buildings. As noted above, these megachurches are not without their critics, calling them superficial, dumbed down, personality cults and religious junk food.23 However, populist Christianity has always heard these kinds of criticisms, even if it does not take them seriously. One church that has attracted this kind of analysis is Willow Creek Community church located south west of Chicago.24 It is reminiscent of a Disney park, with auditorium, huge cark parks, shuttle buses, overhead screens, amazing sound systems and slick management of crowds. Bill Hybels, the former senior pastor talked like a business motivational speaker with soft sell appeal.25 The recording of the service used to be mass-produced on CD within minutes for instant purchase at the church shop, 3000 copies at a time. Now it is available online via the website shortly after the services are complete, as well as being available for smart phone users via apps. After worship, it might be time for a visit to the food court, followed by the gym or basketball court. With no religious symbolism whatsoever, it is reminiscent of a mall or civic building or hospital. It is designed this way to appeal to the unchurched, especially men, who by and large find formal and traditional Christianity unattractive and embarrassing. By targeting men, Willow Creek also attracts the rest of the family, or at least this is the strategy. But in order to attract men, the church plays down religious authority as well as finance, therefore they are classified as ‘seekers’: they can join in if they wish but the soft sell approach does not rob them of autonomy too fast and so they feel that they are in control. That is, until they realise they are not actually in control because the Christian message is now understood and it requires a response to follow Christ. In other words, the marketing lens interprets megachurches as participating wholesale in consumer culture.26 The content of beliefs is less important than their presentation, which is why Willow Creek is often regarded by commentators as ‘theology light’. Too much heavy theology is a consumer turn-off, so it is avoided. 23 Twitchell, Branded Nation, p. 89. 24 Twitchell, Branded Nation, pp. 91–105. 25 It should be noted that this chapter was written before the recent scandal was known publicly. It became known during the editing process. For information about the allegations against Bill Hybels and the response of Willow Creek, see: https://www.nytimes .com/2018/08/08/us/willow-creek-church-resignations-bill-hybels.html (accessed 27 August, 2018). 26 James, ‘Rehabilitating Willow Creek’, p. 26.

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Nevertheless, by using consumer culture to attract visitors or seekers, it affords an opportunity to engage with people who would not otherwise darken the door of a traditional church. In this respect it might be argued that consumerism has become a Trojan horse for the gospel, which, once received, subverts the form in which it is presented. Whether this subversion is actually the case remains to be seen, but it is suggested as a strategy for adopting a consumerist approach to mission.27 Willow Creek Community Church has also analysed and assessed its own life and mission with congregational surveys in 2003 (n = 6000), including those who have left the church (n = 300) and in 2007 (n = 5000).28 A number of the findings from the report are worth noting here. The data revealed that: (1) an involvement in church activities does not predict or drive long-term spiritual growth and that increasing involvement in activities does not predict an increasing love for God; nevertheless increasing involvement does raise the probability of tithing and service; (2) small groups provide the best way to cultivate intimacy with Christ; (3) the activities of the church are most important in the early phase of spiritual growth after conversion but that these become less important as the person grows in their relationship with Christ; (4) personal and disciplined spiritual practices are the foundations of a healthy Christian life and individualistic and consumerist assumptions decline with greater Christian commitment; (5) the church’s most active evangelists and volunteers are not, as is often assumed, the new converts full of zeal, but those who are seasoned disciples; (6) more than 25% are dissatisfied with the church and their Christian lives and 25% have considered leaving the church, and there is recognition that some barriers to Christian discipleship might be attributed to a therapeutic Christian culture where difficulties and suffering are unexpected. The response of the church to these findings include the following suggested policy shifts: (1) a move away from congregational dependence on the church staff to a model of growing independence, so that congregants understand themselves as partnering with the church in their spiritual growth and vitality, and the church leadership sees this move as a fundamental challenge to individualism and consumerism of American culture; (2) the steps in the Christian life need to be coached, so that the model of leadership moves from a parent model to a coach model, which includes peer coaching by congregants themselves; (3) the impact of the weekend worship services needs to be relational not just programmatic. The building of community needs to be

27 28

James, ‘Rehabilitating Willow Creek’, pp. 36–38. Gibbs, Churchmorph, pp. 91–97.

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enhanced through the establishment of local units of fellowship.29 The need to build relationships between congregants through the use of small groups is not something that has just been discovered by Willow Creek but it is noted throughout the megachurch literature. It is a way of maximising religious capital and raising individual levels of commitment.30 In some respects, it imitates secular small group practices associated with leisure pursuits. Through these groups there are mutual benefits accrued by the members that spill out into the wider church and increases commitment from individuals and families. This self-critical reflection by Willow Creek is interesting because it raises issues of how very large churches provide social intimacy, as well as social anonymity. In most cases anonymity gives way to social intimacy and this is correlated with spiritual intensity. However, what about the effects of the presence of a megachurch on other local churches? How do they cope with the presence of such a large church in their locale, especially in the usa?31 What appears to be the case is that if the local congregations are dissimilar in tradition and style from the megachurch then they offer another religious niche, which some find appealing over and against the megachurch offering. However, for congregations that are very similar to the megachurch in ethos and tradition, then their similarity is a disadvantage because of the economy of scale compared to the megachurch. Why attend the small local outlet with a fraction of the services when you can have the real thing on the other side of town? Of course, with the travel mentality of the consumer, this religious option not only affects similar churches in the same city or town but also the wider neighbouring towns and cities. Carney provides an interesting and illuminating study of Lakewood Church in south Dallas led by Joel Osteen.32 Drawing on the style of the revivalist preachers in American Christianity, Carney sees Osteen as especially modelling his style on Charles Finney from the 1830s and Aimee Semple McPherson from the 1920s. Following the model of the seeker sensitive approach to megachurch life, Lakewood mirrors Willow Creek Community church with 29 Gibbs, Churchmorph, pp. 98–100. 30 Marc von der Ruher and Joseph P. Daniels, ‘Subsidizing Religious Participation Through Groups: A Model of the “Megachurch” Strategy for Growth’, Review of Religious Research 53.4 (2012), pp. 471–491. 31 Jason Wollschleger and Jeremy R. Porter, ‘A “WalMartization” of Religion? The Ecological Impact of Megachurches on the Local and Extra-Local Religious Economy’, Review of Religious Research 53.3 (2011), pp. 279–299. 32 Charity R. Carney, ‘Lakewood Church and the Roots of the Megachurch Movement in the South’, Southern Quarterly 50.1 (2012), pp. 61–78.

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its massive buildings filled with its modern attractions and utopian ideology, fuelled by a prosperity gospel narrative and the power of positive thinking.33 Thus the marketisation of religion is also meshed with a religious utopian ideology. It provides a self-contained community complete with shops, gyms and programmes for children and youth. It is successful because it attracts 45,000 worshippers per week (from 2012). This utopian dimension is an interesting one that deserves further exploration. Carney states: ‘Megachurches are successful in building on a history of American religion and utopianism through self-contained and secure physical structures. They also expand the scope of this vision by extending their messages’ reach beyond the churches’ walls into the homes of middle and lower-middle class Americans across the country through multi-media enterprises’.34 2.2.3 Megachurches and the Mainline Although many of the American megachurches are independent, and indeed there is a rise in so-called non-denominationalism, that has been driven to a certain extend by megachurches leaving existing denominations, there are certainly a number of mainline megachurches in the usa that also deserve a mention. This is because the characteristics of the American megachurch phenomenon are played out slightly differently in the context of the mainline traditions. Ellingson studied nine Lutheran congregations in the San Francisco Bay area and these included two congregations that would be considered ‘mega’.35 The most successful congregations were less traditionally Lutheran and these included the two megachurches in the study. These churches adapted their Lutheran traditions by including some of the standard megachurch characteristics noted above: seeker-sensitivity, utilitarian and consumerist ethos, as well as narratives of crisis and membership.36 Change has to occur for the denomination to survive, which stands in tension with the authority of the tradition. He argues that the rise of the megachurch worship culture undermines the influence of traditional worshipping practices to shape the spirituality of 33

For analysis of Joel Osteen, see Phillip Luke Sinitiere, Salvation with a Smile: Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church & American Christianity (New York: New York University Press, 2015); and for an analysis of megachurches in the usa in relation to the prosperity gospel, see Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). 34 Carney, ‘Lakewood Church’, p. 76. 35 Stephen Ellingson, The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-First Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007). 36 Ellingson, The Megachurch and the Mainline, p. 5.

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the worshippers as well as their traditional denominational affiliation. In order to resolve these alleged crises of meaning, the leaders of these megachurches seek to manage the relationship between Lutheran confessionalism and megachurch charismatic piety. Ellingson suggests that this management requires: … the intentional marketing of nondenominational, evangelical, or seeker ideas and practices among religious entrepreneurs and the willing acceptance of these goods and services by church leaders who see them as the cure-all for the mainline decline. Colonisation is powerful because it is not simply that Lutheran congregations have replaced all or some of their own worship traditions with the music and theology of evangelicalism to make their congregations appealing to church shoppers, but they also have incorporated the underlying logic and values that animate the pietist tradition.37 This means that the Lutheran tradition is de-centred, although it remains part of the congregational context. In its place is a megachurch seeker sensitive spirituality that focuses less on fixed forms and more on flexibility and adaptability. ‘By freeing themselves from an overly tight adherence to and preservation of one tradition, congregations may gain the flexibility to tailor the tradition to fit the religious interests and needs of people within particular markets. In doing so, they may be able to expand the boundaries of the tradition so that Lutheranism can remain relevant and competitive in an increasingly nondenominational religious world’.38 2.2.4 African American Megachurches There is some significant literature addressing the sub-set of megachurches among the African American population.39 The usual baseline definition of numbers applies to this megachurch subset, with at least 2000 people 37 Ellingson, The Megachurch and the Mainline, pp. 179–180. 38 Ellingson, The Megachurch and the Mainline, p. 192. 39 It is worth noting that once we move to the African American discussion the commentators are more likely to be insiders to these churches than outsiders and thus there is a positive tone rather than a negative one overall. This is not necessarily a negative observation because the ‘view from nowhere’ does not exist, but just as critical ‘objectivist’ voices need to be evaluated, so less critical insider voices need to be evaluated too. It is also important to note that the leading book on American megachurches fails to engage with the Black sector in any detail, see the observation by Sandra L. Barnes, Black Megachurch Culture: Models for Education and Empowerment (New York: Peter Lang, 2010) p. 162.

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attending the weekly Sunday services.40 They are in operation seven days a week and have multiple ministries. Their size ranges from 2,000 to 20,000, with a mean average weekly attendance of 4,832 (as of 2001). Located in the sunbelt: Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta, these areas are also metropolitan areas of Black suburbanities. Most of these areas are urban rather than suburban. For the most part, these megachurches are non-denominational, forming part of the independent Charismatic movement from the 1970s. Very often there is a holiness ethos, even if there is not official connection to Holiness traditions through established denominations.41 Most of these churches were founded after 1958 and the majority trace their origins to the 1980s. While the older churches have remained in urban areas, there is an increasing number of African American churches in the suburbs catering for a growing middle class. The same phenomenon of prosperity theology and the health and wealth gospel noted in the wider American megachurches can also be found in the African American variety, for example T.D. Jakes’ Potters House. Jakes himself appears to lead an opulent lifestyle with jets, mansions, expensive cars and celebrity status.42 As these observations imply, many of the American megachurch characteristics noted above continue to apply to these ethnically defined megachurches, but there are also some differences that can be observed in relation to African American culture and experience.43 One of the interesting aspects of many African American megachurches is the male hierarchy and leadership. Although most of the members are women, almost all of the senior pastors are men. Only one megachurch pastor out of 20 in the state of Maryland was a woman and this could be considered exceptional.44 Her name was Betty Peebles and she pastored Jericho City of Praise in Landover. Similarly, Barbara King of Hillside Chapel Truth Center, Atlanta and Cynthia Hale at Ray Hope Christian Church in Decatur are the only sole female pastors from nearly 30 African American megachurches in the Atlanta area. In general, it has been suggested that this lack of senior leadership is matched by an over-participation 40 41 42 43 44

Tamelyn Tucker-Worgs, ‘Get on Board, Little Children, There’s Room for Many More: The Black Megachurch Phenomenon’, The Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center 29.1–2 (2001), pp. 177–203. Tucker-Worgs, ‘Get on Board, Little Children’, p. 187. Tamelyn N. Tucker-Worgs, The Black Mega-Church: Theology, Gender, and the Politics of Public Engagement (Waco, TC: Baylor University Press, 2011) p. 8. Jonathan L. Walton, ‘For Where Two or Three (Thousand) Are Gathered in My Name! A Cultural History and Ethical Analysis of African American Megachurches’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 133–154. Walton, ‘For Where Two or Three (Thousand) Are Gathered in My Name!’, p. 151.

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at the lay level of church life.45 This male hierarchy is occasionally broken, for example in relation to Community Development Organizations (cdos), which are an aspect of the African American megachurch’s social engagement provision and they are in many cases led by women.46 Indeed, women disproportionately lead megachurch cdos, compared to other areas of church life. In 2001 66% of Black megachurches operated cdos, which demonstrated a commitment to this work, with women crucially involved in leadership.47 One of the most significant areas highlighted in the literature is the way in which African American megachurches are connected to their communities and the constituency that they serve. There appears to be an enhanced social engagement because of the social needs of many in the African American urban community. ‘The megachurches offer this transplanted population a religious experience that is accessible, professional, and relevant to their everyday lives. Through their various ministries and program[me]s black megachurches also cater to the consumer-like needs of the expanded middle class.48 These churches also give their members an opportunity to engage in civil society’.49 As mentioned above, cdos provide a means of engaging with social issues and transforming the lives of not just individuals but also communities. Goods and services provided by cdos are important and they are often carefully selected. They are wide-ranging and include: (1) social service activity, for example health clinics, emergency funds, food co-operatives, food sharing programmes, food banks, clothing banks and homeless shelters; (2) community organising and advocacy, including social issue advocacy, as well as voter registration and education; and (3) economic development activities such as child care centres, books stories, restaurants, business support, job training and commercial development. In 2001 28% of African American megachurches reported having established credit unions that enable individuals and groups access to capital for personal lending, consumer credit and entrepreneurial purposes, including large-scale commercial projects.50 Additionally, many of these churches collaborate with government departments in order to secure funds to do the community development work they wish to accomplish. This collaboration can 45 Tucker-Worgs, The Black Mega-Church, p. 4. 46 Tucker-Worgs, The Black Mega-Church, p. 162. 47 Tucker-Worgs, ‘Get on Board, Little Children’, p. 190. 48 Including the pressure towards individualism in American society, see: Amandia Speakes Lewis, LeRoi L. Gill and Crystal George Moses, ‘The Move Toward American Modernity: Empowerment and Individualism in the Black Mega Church’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 236–347. 49 Tucker-Worgs, The Black Mega-Church, p. 5. 50 Tucker-Worgs, ‘Get on Board, Little Children’, p. 191.

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be traced to Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community initiatives founded in 2000, which was disbanded by the Obama administration. Of course, such collaboration has its price (political as well as economic) and it has been suggested that the prophetic voice, critical of government policy and practice, has been moderated since the reception of sizeable grants with strings attached. Nevertheless, for many megachurches, with a commitment to their cdos’ collaboration with different public and private partners, it is deemed important and the ‘co-production’ of services and goods enhances their community life. However, it must be noted that megachurches vary considerably between the inward focused (prosperity for its members) and outward focused (development for all), with the variety of positions in between.51 One of the important aspects of social engagement that is picked up by Tucker-Worgs is faith motivation. The theological orientations of these churches serve as motives for their public engagement. Theological orientations prescribe both ways of understanding society and the roles that churches should play in society. The social gospel, liberation theology, communal theological orientations, and denominational ties all influence churches to participate in activities that could be described as ‘answering the knock’. On the other hand, the prosperity gospel, a colo[u]r-blind gospel, a privatistic theology, and nondenominationalism are theological orientations that make it less likely that churches will participate in these activities.52 Hence the orientations noted above (inward versus outward) can be attributed directly to the espoused theology of the church. Where there is an outward orientation, then the issues of poverty, racism, inequalities in educational opportunity, health and community resources are addressed, often leading to the label ‘social gospel’ as well as community empowerment.53 Indeed, for many 51

Also, see Tucker-Worg’s typology of Africa American megachurches in terms of three continuums of (1) non-traditional worship and architecture, (2) afrocentric orientation that resists the label ‘Black’ and (3) the tendency to be outward focused having a responsibility to revitalize communities, ‘Get on Board, Little Children’, pp.196–202. See also the discussion of social ministry generally among megachurches in Thumma and Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths, pp. 80–88. 52 Tucker-Worgs, The Black Mega-Church, p. 161. 53 Sharon E. Moore, ‘African American Megachurches and Community Empowerment’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2001), pp. 129–132; and Sandra Lynn Barnes, ‘Black Megachurches: Social Gospel Usage and Community Empowerment’, Journal for African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 177–198.

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in the African American church, there is a link between community development and social structural reform and particular conservative moral values, including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, which puts them at odds with certain political constituencies. In the face of what are perceived to be secular values, the African American megachurches have established their own schools, credit unions, housing associations, leisure centres, as well as positioned themselves politically to influence social and policy issues because of the numbers they represent. In these ways, they are seeking to improve the lives of African Americans and enhance social mobility. The single most important factor influencing social mobility is education; and this is something that the African American megachurches have addressed with considerable energy. Resources from African American history and culture are being used in important ways to educate and to empower the constituency. One of the main resources is described as the ‘self-help legacy’.54 Even though African Americans had full access to public schools after desegregation there was often a disproportionate distribution of resources compared to white neighbourhoods. So private African American schools began to emerge, which provided cultural resources in terms of narratives, symbols and rituals that are used to inform and to shape identity in contemporary American society. Rooted in African American church life, spirituality is used to socialise members into a worldview that expects increased life opportunities and community transformation. This is why a considerable amount of preaching in Black megachurches is highly motivational and inspirational. ‘By exposing a captive audience each week to the pastor’s understanding of her or his calling and scriptural interpretations, attendees are being socialised about the church’s theology, identity, and position in the community’.55 Pastors use sermons as key opportunities to remind worshippers of the on-going problem of racism.56 As a response, there is a focus on the intrinsic value of individuals and their ability to lead godly and successful lives if they avail themselves of God’s favour. All of the church’s teaching is relevant to the whole of life, with the Bible as the textbook for blessing. In many cases this teaching is made available via internet sites and online resources.57 54 Barnes, Black Megachurch Culture, p. 5. 55 Barnes, Black Megachurch Culture, p. 44. 56 Kendra Hadiya Barber, ‘“What Happened to All the Protests?” Black Megachurches’ Responses to Racism in a Colorblind Era’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 218–235. 57 Pamela P. Martin, Tuere A. Bowles, LaTrese Adkins and Monica T. Leach, ‘Black MegaChurches in the Internet Age: Exploring Theological Teachings and Social Outreach Efforts’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 155–176.

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There is evidence that in general megachurches are good for their members’ health.58 In this context, it is interesting to consider how they have addressed one of the most pressing health issues of the last fifty years, namely hiv/aids.59 This is a subject that has considerable stigma attached to it in the African American church historically and yet significant effort has been made to address stigmatisation. One study suggests that there are three key practices used by Black megachurches to make sense of this important issue.60 First, ‘quilting’, the creation of a quilt in memory of a loved one who has died with aids, is a way of combatting the silence that often accompanies stigma and allows the bereaved to reveal their loss publicly. It denotes the offering of symbolic and material outlets for the discussion of deaths caused by aids. Second, participation by church members in the annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of aids (bcwpha) allows the church to connect the people affected with pastoral care informed by their spirituality. It mobilises people in the education of hiv/aids and challenges stigma through the use of testimonial material from people living with aids. Third, a few churches are engaged in activities associated with liberation theology that challenge specific religious practices that are understood to perpetuate the silence and stigma of aids. They seek to give a voice to the marginalised and to challenge the structures of power that facilitate the marginalisation in the first place. Of course, there are tensions here because of the conservative moral stance with regard to homosexuality. Since there is a connection between the leader’s moral vision and the church’s practice, it has been suggested that in the African American megachurch there is a dominant patriarchy and a marginalisation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered worshippers.61 One study has suggested that this had indeed led to invisibility in a famous African American megachurch, when compared to gay-affirming Black churches.62 Given the ceo style of leadership of African American pastors in general, it has been 58

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Melissa Bopp and Benjamin Webb, ‘Factors Associated with Health Promotion in Megachurches: Implications for Prevention’, Public Health Nursing 30.6 (2013), pp. 491–500. Also see: Cassandra Chaney, ‘Who is David and Who is Goliath? The Eddie Long Scandal and the Black Mega-church’, Mental Health, Religion and Culture 16.1 (2013), pp. 58–78. Sandra L. Barnes, Live Long and Prosper: How Black Megachurches Address hiv/aids and Poverty in the Age of Prosperity Theology (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013). Michelle Beadle-Holder, ‘Black Churches Creating Safe Spaces to Combat Silence and Stigma Related to aids’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 248–267. Peter J. Paris, ‘African American Religion and Public Life’, Crosscurrents 58.3 (2008), pp. 475–494 (p. 485). Cassandra Chaney and Le’Brian Patrick, ‘The Invisibility of lgbt Individuals in Black Mega Churches: Political and Social Implications’, Journal of African American Studies 15.2 (2011), pp. 199–217.

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suggested that dissent is quashed if not eradicated, and loyalty rewarded. For many in the African American church, the pastor has been granted special grace at his ordination and therefore his authority is rooted in a divine source. Anyone who is critical of this understanding therefore remains at a distance if continuing to remain a worshipper in the megachurch.63 To make this observation is simply to make a point about ideology and power, rather than health and sexuality per se. On this particular matter, conservative moral values are increasingly in tension with wider secular or progressive moral values and this is not just a phenomenon found in the usa. Therefore, it is not surprising that this would be evidenced among megachurches in America and may be identified among other liberal western democracies as well. 2.3

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Thumma and Bird have attempted to sketch out the numbers of megachurches globally and suggest that 229 non-US-megachurches are known currently, with 40% in Asia, 20% in Africa, 15% in Central and South America, 11% in Europe (= London) and 6% in Australia. Gathering accurate information on these types of churches is problematic because of access and counting issues as well as the dynamic circumstances.65 From internet research, Andrey Puzynin estimated that Europe as a whole has approximately 35 megachurches, with 11–12 in the UK and four in France, as well as a number in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.66 Thumma and Bird have not had access to this information or replicated this internet exercise and so minimised the numbers in Europe. Given the focus of their research, it is worth supplementing it with some examples of megachurches from around the world. In this section, we consider some examples from Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America in turn. Nigeria is one of the most populous countries on the planet and the most populous African nation, so, given the African proclivity for religion, it is not 63 64

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Paris, ‘African American Religion and Public Life’, p. 488. For the purposes of this discussion, we are not distinguishing between the Global North and South because we are simply dividing the countries regionally according to continent rather than in terms of economics or development status as the designation ‘global’ seeks to do. Thumma and Bird, 2015, p. 2340. Andrey Puzynin was a William Paton Research Fellow in the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at the University of Birmingham in 2012 and did some preliminary internet research on megachurches in Europe. This research is unpublished but it gives a sense of the European megachurch landscape.

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surprising that the attendance in the Christian church is huge, especially in the south and east of the country (where the majority of Christians reside). Independent African churches, especially Pentecostal churches, attract significant number of attendees. These include, for example, Deeper Life Church, Lagos, which attracts 75,000 people weekly, Winners Chapel, Lagos, associated with David Oyedepo, which has a 50,000-seater auditorium, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God, associated with Enoch Adeboye, situated in a small town called Canaan Land, located off the Lagos-Ibandan highway, which has an auditorium also seating 50,000 people. Other notable large churches include Benson Idahosa’s Miracle Centre in Benin city, with a 10,000-seating capacity.67 However, megachurches can be found in other African countries,68 for example, in South Africa, with churches such as Rhema Ministries and New Covenant Ministries based in or near Johannesburg, Hatfield Christian Church in Pretoria and the Durban Christian Centre. The largest of these megachurch­es is Rhema Ministries led by Ray McCauley, a multi-ethnic church, influenced historically by the American Word of Faith movement, which ­started  a Bible Training Centre in 1979. Grace Bible Church in the township of Soweto is the largest of the new African churches with over 7000 members attending worship in 2004.69 The descriptions of these exceptionally large churches often note that they can be characterised by youthfulness, social mobility, media usage, a global mindset, as well as Pentecostal spirituality.70 ‘[T]he whole mega-church idea is driven by a certain understanding of biblical discipleship making and a theological interpretation of what it means to be a community of God. Given the numbers that are usually in church on Sundays in urban Africa, a congregation of 2,000 worshippers may be considered successful, but not extraordinary’.71 In this religious context the older denominational loyalties, especially for younger people, simply do not have the same resonance as they used to do. Once this is linked to aspirations of social mobility then it is not hard to understand that the prosperity gospel is an ideology that makes perfect sense for young people 67 68 69

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James. ‘A Moving Faith’, p. 4. Wanjiru M. Gitau, Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered (Downers Grove, IL: ivp Academic, 2018), came to our attention very late in the editing process. Allan Anderson, ‘New African Initiated Pentecostalism and Charismatics in South Africa’, Journal of Religion in Africa 35.1 (2005), pp. 66–92 (p. 77); also see the discussion by Maria Frahm-Arp, ‘The Rise of Megachurches in South Africa’, in Vinson Synan, Amos Yong and J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu (eds.), Global Renewal Christianity Volume Three: Africa (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House Book Group, 2016), pp. 263–284. Asamoah, ‘Doing Greater Things’, p. 44. Asamoah, ‘Doing Greater Things’, p. 49.

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wishing to escape poverty. The size of the church, therefore, becomes an index of success. You cannot have a prosperity gospel message and communicate it effectively unless you demonstrate through numbers that your congregation or church is also prosperous.72 In effect, size becomes part of the plausibility structure of the church whereby belief in its mission is supported through its social base and reinforcement.73 Of course, there has to be a whole package in terms of leadership, which is why conversion, commitment to Christ, holiness, belief in the Bible, the miraculous and spiritual warfare are often mentioned in sermons. In the megachurch pastors’ prosperity mindset there is no contradiction between these spiritual characteristics and the material blessings that can be accrued to the person of God, who is following God’s direction for his or her life. For the most part, there is no problem for Nigerian pastors to spend 225 million usd on the purchase of private jets in 2011, with Adeboye and Oyedepo purchasing two jets in that year.74 The migration of Africans throughout the world has also meant the exportation of this kind of Christianity to global cities in every continent. This transnational movement of people is often associated with the ideology of ‘reverse mission’ (as noted in Chapter 1).75 Many Africans believe that their movement to Europe is for the purpose of the re-evangelisation of the West.76 We shall consider the exportation of African Pentecostal Christianity in the examples of London and Kiev below. In the meantime, one aspect of globalisation is worth mentioning at this juncture because of its significance. This is the use of the Internet by African Pentecostal ministries.77 Websites are now a major component in the communication of the message and ethos of megachurches from the continent of Africa. It also allows pastors to exercise influence beyond the confines of a Sunday worship service or personal pastoral work. The Internet is

72 73 74 75 76 77

Asamoah, ‘Doing Greater Things’, p. 59. Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967) p. 46. Walter C Ihejirika and Godwin B. Okon, ‘Mega Churches and Megaphones: Nigerian Church Leaders and Their Media Ministries’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 62–82 (p. 78). J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘“Unwanted Sectarians”: Spirit, Migration and Mission in an African-led Mega-Size Church in Eastern Europe’, Evangelical Review of Theology 34.1 (2010), pp. 71–78. Afe Adogame, ‘Transnational Migration and Pentecostalism in Europe’, PentecoStudies 9.1 (2010), pp. 56–72 (esp. pp. 67–70). Rosalind I.J. Hackett, ‘The New Virtual (Inter)Face of African Pentecostalism’, Society 46.6 (2009), pp. 496–503. Also see: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘“Get on the Internet!” Says the lord: Religion, Cyberspace and Christianity in Contemporary Africa’, Studies in World Christianity 13.3 (2007), pp. 225–242.

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used by pastors to authenticate their authority and the website, assisted by social media smart phone apps, becomes a portal between the pastor and wider society, as well as an endpoint because all roads lead back to him and his site when searched online. In a sense this dimension of the communication also adds to and exemplifies the commodification and commercialisation of the leader’s message.78 The megachurches studied in Asia have, for obvious reasons, focused on Korea as one of the most influential countries in the world. They have contributed significantly to the growth of Christianity in that country and have reinvigorated missionary activity globally.79 Megachurch leadership has also had significant political connections and this is a feature worthy of further exploration. The first church designated a megachurch in Korea was the Youngnak Presbyterian Church, Seoul, and this was followed by other churches from the 1970s. In Korea size is important and it has been suggested that the ‘bigness syndrome’ is in evidence, meaning that influence and significance are measured largely in terms of the number of members and the size of church buildings.80 The largest church in the world is Korean, the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, to which we now turn. The church was founded after the Korean war in 1958 by David (formerly Paul) Yonggi Cho, who was a convert from Buddhism in 1955. The church grew to 300 people in three years and by 1964 it had 3000 regular worshippers. The numerical growth continued with 4,000 in 1965 and 10,000 in 1967. A new sanctuary was opened in 1973 able to seat 12,000 people and from there growth exploded with 100,000 attendees in 1979, 200,000 in 1980, 500,000 in 1985 and 600,000 in 1986.81 Currently, there are 700,000 people attending for the purpose of worship in any given week.82 These figures, as far as we are aware, cannot be matched by a megachurch anywhere else in the world. They constitute a remarkable religious phenomenon among Christians. It is a church that regards itself in a state of revival, emphasising evangelism and Pentecostal spirituality, including Spirit Baptism, glossolalia and healing. The spiritual practice of prayer is highly prized and mountain-based retreats are very much part of the devotional life of the church, with high expectations of time and intensity of prayer from adherents. In addition, a small group structure, called a cell group, allows families to meet together for prayer and fellowship. Once ten families 78 79 80 81 82

Hackett, ‘The New Virtual (Inter)Face of African Pentecostalism’, p. 501. Kim, Sebastian C.H., ‘Mega Churches in South Korea: Their Impact and Prospect in the Public Square’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 85–105( p. 86). Kim, ‘Mega Churches in South Korea’, p. 93. Kim, ‘Mega Churches in South Korea’, p. 94. James, ‘A Moving Faith’, p. 4.

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have joined the group it splits and the process of formation begins again. Admittedly, the expansion of this church and other megachurches in Korea is not without its critics and the allegation of religious consumption can be found in this context as well. This is often allied to the notion that they are materialist self-serving entities with little interest in wider society and the public good,83 while adherents may counter that it is precisely through their fasting and prayer that they aim to serve society as well. Like the usa, megachurches are perceived to serve the upwardly mobile and provide services that entertain and support middle class Christianity that is both accessible and convenient. The megachurch literature tends to agree with or follows the characteristics of megachurches as defined by Thumma and Travis as being Protestant churches attracting more than 2000 worshippers per week, and this is a convenient way of limiting the types of churches under investigation. However, one of the problems with this characteristic is that it excludes Roman Catholic churches, many of which are charismatic in ethos. The study of the Roman Catholic Charismatic movement in the Philippines identifies this omission and seeks to address it. The populist movement called El Shaddai has now grown into a megachurch with a settled worshipping community.84 It is led by a lay religious brother, Mike Velarde, a business man who experienced personal healing and subsequently shared his experience and prayed for others to be healed by adopting ideas associated with the Word of Faith and positive confession. In this expression, there is a blend of traditional Roman Catholic spirituality with Protestant practices that have emphasised healing and deliverance. The use of TV and radio has reached huge numbers of worshippers and in 2009 Velarde opened the El Shaddai International House of Prayer, a 20 million usd worship structure in a Paranaque City, which has seating for 15,000, standing capacity for 25,000 and an overflow for 200,000 people.85 Joy Tong Kooi Chin studied City Harvest Church, Singapore and offers an analysis based on the MacDonalization lens of George Ritzer to interprets its character and growth.86 The MacDonald’s commercial model is based on 83 84 85 86

Kim ‘Mega Churches in South Korea’, p. 101. Katharine L. Wiegele, ‘Populist Movement to Mega Church: El Shaddai in Manila, Philippines’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 127–142. Wiegele, ‘Populist Movement to Mega Church: El Shaddai in Manila, Philippines’, p. 139. Joy Tong Kooi Chin, ‘MacDonalization and the Megachurches: A Case Study of City Harvest Church, Singapore’, in Pattana Kitiarsa (ed.), Religious Commodifications in Asia: Marketing Gods (New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 186–204; George Ritzer, The MacDonalization of Society: An Investigation into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social Life (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1993).

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the rationalisation of production, as well as the cultivation and sustenance of mass consumption. Chin seeks to apply this sociological model to City Harvest Church as a means of description. In this respect, her work resonates very strongly with the market-based analysis of American megachurches.87 City Harvest Church claims to be the largest church in Singapore with around 20,000 members, having begun in 1989 with 20 young people, founded by its senior pastor Kong Hee. Now it has a 2000-seater auditorium in which it hosts seven worship services each weekend with state-of-art audio and video technology as its strives for excellence and a standardisation of worship experience for participants. Alongside high quality musical worship, sermons are practically-focused targeted towards a younger audience. Very much in the Pentecostal mode, the musical worship and the preaching are accompanied by altar calls, inviting the congregants to walk to the front of the auditorium to receive prayer for healing and blessing, accompanied by prophetic utterances. In this way high quality entertainment is accompanied by a personal quality. Efficiency in worship management is accompanied by efficiency in recruitment, which is led by small group leaders who are expected to multiply their groups on a regular basis, thus adding to the overall numerical growth of the church and its financial viability. Both worship and small group experiences are standardised to appeal to increasing numbers of people and thus exhibit mass consumption of a homogenous spiritual product. Y.A. Sudhakar Reddy studied three megachurches in Andhra Pradesh in India: Calvary Temple in Hyderabad (urban), Holy Ghost Fire Ministries in Visakhapatnam (urban) and Bible Mission in Gooty (rural).88 In this study he argues that there is a combination of global forces and indigenous folk culture that sustains the life and work of these communities. On the one hand, globalisation increases the homogenisation of cultural products and practices, while, on the other hand, popularisation disseminates a diffuse array of symbols, customs and values. Globalisation contains forces that influence dedifferentiation, that is the collapse of the sacred and profane distinction, which are expressed via images rather than texts and these images are increasingly expressed via technology and especially social media. In the Indian context, the migration of people is increasingly about the move from rural to urban 87

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For a broader discussion of why Pentecostal and Charismatic churches grow in Asia, see the comparative study by William K. Kay, ‘Empirical and Historical Perspectives on the Growth of Pentecostal-style Churches in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong’, Journal of Beliefs & Values 34.1 (2013), pp. 14–25. Y.A. Sudhakar Reddy, ‘Nurturing Globalized Faith Seekers: Mega Churches in Andhra Pradesh, India’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 143–165.

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settings. In these urban areas, with the population explosion, megachurches are also emerging alongside this people movement, served by pastors who have received little if no formal theological education, but who are understood as ‘anointed’ by the Holy Spirit. In this context, there is an erosion of the boundary between the public and private realms, which is known as ‘dedifferentiation’. As Reddy explains: Mega churches in India … are creating a culture-sensitive niche for their faith seekers, keeping in tune with the principles of de-difference by reaffirming their identities and preserving their valued ways of life based on spiritual experience and prosperity against, what are taken to be, the pernicious effects of foreign and global influences. My case studies of the three megachurches reveal that churchgoers of mega churches are looking for de-difference in the worship order and their reception of theology, in the form of simple and comforting messages, during worship services. Thus, in keeping with the concept of de-difference, the secular, and the sacred intersect with each other.89 From his research, Reddy offers six characteristic features of these Indian megachurches. These characteristics include the following. (1) The architecture is not permanent and gothic but postmodern, large, convention-type shelters. (2) The leadership is by Spirit-empowered persons, charismatic leaders, to whom special powers are attributed. Volunteers work for the church for little remuneration as co-workers. (3) They have become communal shelters or imagined communities for those who have fears of losing their employment and identity from migration; caste issues are apparently less pronounced in megachurches because of size and use of volunteers. (4) The preaching by leaders/pastors is geared towards seeking an authority powerful enough to relieve their members of fear through healing, fasting, prayers and modern gadgetry. The role of the altar call is important. (5) The imagined communities are reinforced by the respective church leaders through occasional, spectacular outbursts of togetherness, which take the form of festivals, revival meetings, as well as multiple worship services. And (6) using a cafeteria model of ministry, they reach out to people beyond their local congregations. They sell their products: sermons, songs, testimonies, calendars, anointed sacred objects, online services in secular spaces such as hotels and function centres.90

89 90

Reddy, ‘Nurturing Globalized Faith Seekers’, pp. 157–158. Reddy, ‘Nurturing Globalized Faith Seekers’, pp. 158–161.

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Studies of megachurches in Latin America have been limited but there is an interesting study of churches in Brazil by Smith and Campos.91 They argue that the standard definition of a megachurch (Protestant church of 2000+ worshippers), together with an authoritative senior pastor, providing recreational activities and opportunities for volunteering does not work in Brazil. This is because they tend to be associated with TV preachers, popular music, charismatic preaching and testimonies, as well as mass rallies. It is also the case that the traditional boundary line between Roman Catholic and Protestant is more fluid because a number of Roman Catholic Christians also attend megachurches. One example of a megachurch is Igreja Pentecostal Deus e Amour, which began in 1962 by David Martins de Miranda. He inaugurated the church building called the Temple of the Glory of God in 2010, which seats 60,000 people and cost 30 million usd to build. These numbers are replicated in other Pentecostal churches, like the Assemblies of God denomination, which has 845,000 people among 11,000 congregations. There are also neo-Pentecostal megachurches that focus on prosperity as a sign of God’s blessing in a rapidly urbanised context, where goods and services are regarded as a key indicator of personal worth.92 Despite the phenomenal growth of Protestant churches, Brazil is still the world’s largest Roman Catholic country and it embraced Charismatic Renewal from 1967. A training complex was completed in Sao Paulo by the charismatic Salesian priest Monsignor Jonas Abib that has a church building seating 10,000 people and a convention centre seating 70,000 people. It receives 550,000 people over the course of a year and produces programmes and material, including an exercise video by the charismatic priest, Fr Marcelo Rossi, who appears to have achieved celebrity status by helping members to reconnect to the mass and prayer for healing.93 One of the most famous megachurches around the world is Hillsong, located in Sydney Australia, which began as Hills Christian Life Centre in 1983. This was an extension of Sydney Christian Life Centre started by Frank Houston in 1977 (d.2004), which is affiliated to the Australian Christian Churches (formerly the Assemblies of God). Frank’s son and his wife, Brian and Bobbie, succeeded him 91 92 93

Dennis A. Smith and Leonildo S. Campos, ‘Concentrations of Faith: Mega Churches in Brazil’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 169–190. Smith and Campos, ‘Concentrations of Faith: Mega Churches in Brazil’, p. 180. It is worth noting a study of Peru in the same volume, but which does not engage with the megachurch phenomenon, nevertheless it provides interesting commentary on Latin American Pentecostalism, see: Roland Perez, ‘Evangelical Representations in the Public Sphere: The Peruvian Case’, in Jonathan D. James (ed.), A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South (Los Angeles: Sage, 2015), pp. 191–214.

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as leaders in 1999 and rebranded the church extending the congregations to five located in Sydney (three), Brisbane and Melbourne.94 The Hillsong brand is extended to music, small groups, ministry groups (kids, youth, women, men), conferences, TV station, leadership college, performing arts academy and health centre. Around 30 worship services are provided via these different venues and collectively they account for over 25,000 worshippers each week.95 The main church auditorium cost 25 million aud to construct and provides 3,500 seats, as well as a 800-seat youth hall. It has 40 centrally-controlled TV screens and a 4 million aud audio system and is served by a resident lighting engineer. The congregations are young, tending to be less than 50 years old in age and most are in their 20s and 30s. The worship ‘show’ contains strobe lighting, smoke machine, band and choir, with a very tight liturgical structure of 20 minutes praise time and a 35-minute sermon, plus time-sensitive prayer at the end of the service. This organisation in total earned 60 million aud in 2008, half of which was raised from congregational giving. The church has a staff of over 200 and 70 pastors. It runs a Bible College called Hillsong International Leadership College providing a three-year training course for 1,700 students. Once again, the main observation about this church is that it has adopted a market model of being church because it has branded itself in an ex­ tremely successful manner. ‘Rather than resisting the ideologies and practices of the marketplace, this church embraces them and instead chooses to strategically distance [sic] itself from shared cultural understandings of religion’s traditional past practices and doctrines. Hillsong Church in fact de-religionised organised religion into a spiritual product with its own brand’.96 Hillsong music leads the way and draws on the consumer discourse to make Christianity itself very marketable. Its music is the major artefact and signifier of Hillsong identity and brand of religion. This branding has been termed ‘Hillsongisation’ and its music has been translated into many different languages around the world.97 Thus, it has overcome linguistic barriers in order to extend its reach with products that elicit loyal consumers of its music and other items associated with the brand. ‘Hillsong is a brand of religion that promises individuals the 94

95 96 97

See the discussion by Shane Clifton, ‘Australian Developments: Origins, Developments, and Trends’, in Vinson Synan and Amos Yong (eds.), Global Charismatic Christianity Volume One: Asia and Oceania (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House Book Group, 2016), pp. 294–314 (pp. 305–308). John Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, Australian Geographer 36.3 (2005), pp. 315–332 (p. 320), suggests the figure of 18,000, but this is clearly been superseded more recently. Yip, ‘Marketing the Sacred’, p. 107. Yip, ‘Marketing the Sacred’, p. 112.

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ability to make material and empowering changes for the better in their lives. Rather than denigrating contemporary consumerism and material aspirations, Hillsong frames these as worthy expressions of Christian faith by mixing references with consumption and popular culture’.98 In this way, it is a form of globalised religion stressing both contemporary media technology accessible via global market sources, especially via the Internet, in a secular suburban context.99 Allied to this marketisation is the remarkable attraction for volunteering among its members in support of its overall mission. It has been argued that Hillsong both produces and mobilises emotional connections that enable a collective event to be experienced as a spectacle and this in turn produces enthusiastic and loyal recruits that share the evangelistic cause.100 Its narrative promotes welfare and enjoyment, both for its members and for others outside of its immediate church circle. Prosperity is to be enjoyed in ways that promote physical health and slim bodies.101 This includes the enjoyment and practise of sex, with the promotion of Bobbie Houston’s book, entitled: Kingdom Women Love Sex.102 Of course, the main income generation does not come from books about sex, but from the music it sells, the details of which are kept secret. However, what is known is that Hillsong’s charitable arm has a budget of 400,000aud per annum and receives around 300,000aud weekly in terms of congregational giving. From this financial base it is able to engage in a number of ministries, such as Teen Challenge and Mercy, working with young people in need, and Street Teams that engage in random acts of kindness such as cleaning, painting and gardening. It also created a ministry to rescue women involved in sex trafficking, called A21. The Hillsong Enterprise Development resources small business initiatives, as well as sponsoring children in Uganda. Hillsong collected 400,000aud for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and 106,000aud was given to World Vision for its work in Sudan. Mission and relief teams have been sent to Sri Lanka to work with the Assemblies of God churches. Perhaps it is the local social engagement that has had the most 98 99

Yip, ‘Marketing the Sacred’, p. 117. Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, pp. 315–332. It also disseminates its brand of Pentecostalism to Brazil via student attracted to Sydney, see: Cristina Rocha, ‘Transnational Pentecostal Connections: An Australian Megachurch and a Brazilian Church in Australia’, PentecoStudies 12.1 (2013), pp. 62–82. 100 Matthew Wade and Maria Hynes, ‘Worshipping Bodies: Affective Labour in the Hillsong Church’, Geographical Research 51.2 (2013), pp. 173––179 (esp. p. 173); also see: Robbie B.H. Goh, ‘Hillsong and “Megachurch” Practice: Semiotics, Spatial Logic and The Embodiment of Contemporary Evangelical Protestantism’, Material Religion 4.3 (2007), pp. 284–305. 101 Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, p. 324. 102 Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, p. 325.

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impact, as civic communities have lost their role. So, a megachurch like Hillsong, with significant financial and social capital, has stepped into the vacuum. It offers a sense of community and belonging, where people can connect and be resourced. It does not appear to be ‘partisan’, but takes a ‘neutral’ stance politically.103 ‘Hillsong’s evolution and pervasive spirit are local; it exists for its members – not those in distant places or other organisations – and trains its own future pastors. Its resources are locally produced though messages are generic. Like a handful of other megachurches, Hillsong has become large enough to be a denomination in everything but name’.104 This has also led to the planting of congregations in major cities around the world, such as London, New York, Kiev and Moscow.105 2.4

Megachurches in Europe

A number of churches have been identified as being ‘mega’ ones in Europe, although these figures are inevitably out of date because the situation is extremely dynamic with new congregations being established on an annual basis and experiencing both transfer and conversion growth. There are what might be considered megachurches in Kiev, London, Budapest,106 Stockholm, Uppsala, Lausanne, Zurich, Brussels and Paris, as well as Moscow and other eastern European cities.107 Andrey Puznin conducted a preliminary survey of possible megachurches in Eastern Europe, based on the criteria of Protestant congregations attracting more than 2000 worshippers per week in 2012. He identified 12 churches in the Ukraine (see below), seven churches in Russia, one in Belarus, two in Latvia and two in Armenia. Some of these churches have been planted from outside of their host country. For example, Hillsong from Australia has a congregation in the Ukraine, Word of Life from Sweden had a congregation in Donetsk and another one in Moscow, and New Generation Church for Latvia has two congregations in the Ukraine. However, information gathered from 103 Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, p. 327. 104 Connell, ‘Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs’, p. 329. It became a separate denomination in 2018. 105 For a study of the London Hillsong congregation, see Karl Inge Tangen, Ecclesial Identification Beyond Late Modern Individualism? A Case Study of Life Strategies in Growing Late Modern Churches (Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 53–68, 126–175. 106 See the study of ‘Faith Church’ by Hit Gyülekezte, ‘A Sectarian State Megachurch in Hungary’, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 20.3 (2017), pp. 101–116, who observes the association of charismatic gifts, with prosperity teaching and Christian Zionism. 107 Sébastien Fath, Dieu xxl: La Revolution des Megachurches (Paris: Autrement, 2008) pp. 138–139.

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internet research and experience suggests that it is best corroborated with fieldwork because these churches are dynamic and their circumstances can change quite considerably in a short period of time. It is also the case that the reporting of numbers can be inaccurate. Therefore, since information about European churches is very limited, we shall focus on key examples that have been examined in the literature in order to understand just how the phenomenon has been analysed and portrayed, with the caveat noted above that the literature may, in fact, be out of date. Andrey Puzynin has given an overview of megachurches in the Ukraine that offers a context for appreciating the emergence of these types of churches and their distribution geographically.108 All of them are located in or around large cities: Kiev, Donetsk,109 Kharkov, Kherson and Lutsk. The only exception to this pattern is New Generation Church, which is located in the town of Pershotravensk. Several are Baptist and Pentecostal and the majority are less than twenty years old. Two of these churches are planted and led by Africans, the Nigerian Sunday Adelaja who initiated and leads The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations (hereafter: The Embassy of God) and Henry Madawa from Zimbabwe who planted Victory Church. Both of these men arrived as students and then became significant church leaders, with 99% majority white churches, which is understandable in the Ukraine but would be highly unusual in other European contexts because most African-led churches have majority African congregants. In addition to these churches, there are several that have been planted by international churches, what Puzynin calls ‘out-post’ churches, for example Hillsong (Australia) in Kiev and New Generation churches (Riga, Latvia) in Karkov and Pershotravensk. Following the classification of megachurches by Thumma and Travis and as modified by Cartledge and Davies (see 2.5 below for a summary),110 Puzynin offered a description of these different churches in 2012. (1) The Embassy of God is a charismatic church with 8–10,000 people based in Kiev.111 It is a charismatic pastor focused church and it is organised as a hub church around 108 Andrey Puzynin, ‘The Ukrainian Megachurches: Setting a Stage for Empirical Research’, the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies seminar paper, University of Birmingham, November 2012. 109 We are reliably informed that since the war in the east of the Ukraine, the megachurch in Donetsk no longer exists (information received December 2015). 110 Mark J. Cartledge and Andrew Davies, ‘Building Jerusalem? Models of Megachurch in England’, Paper Presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Religion and Culture Interest Group, Regent University, Virginia Beach, usa, 2012. 111 Fath, Dieu xxl, p. 138, suggests the number is nearer 30,000, which was confirmed by Philip Jenkins, ‘Godless Europe?’, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 31.3 (2007), pp. 115–120 (p. 118).

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which satellite congregations function. (2) Victory Church is a charismatic church attracting 4,000 people based in Kiev, with a charismatic pastor focused approach and also a hub church. (3) The Word of Life is a charismatic church plant from Livets Ord in Uppsala, attracting 4,000 worshippers in Donetsk, led by the charismatic pastor Leonid Padun and it is an out-post church from Sweden.112 (4) Salvation Church is a Pentecostal church, with 3,000 people located in Kiev; it is led by Philip Savochta and it is a hub church. (5) Hillsong is a Pentecostal church that attracts 3,000 people and it has congregations in Kiev, led by Evgenii and Vera Kasevich, it is both an out-post church from Australia and hub church in Kiev. (6) The City of Light is an independent Pentecostal church of 2,500 worshippers based in Kiev and led by Dimitriy Mason, a charismatic pastor and it is hub church. (7) Lutsk Pentecostal church is a traditional Pentecostal church attracting 2,000 worshippers led by Peter Melnik and it tends toward the old line or programme based type. (8) New Generation is a charismatic church planted from its base in Latvia, attracting around 2000 worshippers in Kharkov and Pershotravensk. It is led by Andrey Tishchenko, who is a charismatic pastor and it is an out-post church. (9) The Great Commission is a charismatic church of around 2,000 people, based in Kherson and led by Vitaly Shaluhkin, a charismatic pastor. (10) The House of the Gospel church is a Baptist church of around 2,000 people based in Kiev and is led by Vitalii Kozubovskii, it is the old line programme type. (11) Darnitsa Baptist, is a traditional Baptist church of around 2000 people based in Kiev, led by by Vladimir Kunets, and it is an old line programme type. (12) The Christian Hope Church is a Pentecostal church attracting 2000 worshippers, located in Kiev and led by Valeriy Reshetinsky, a charismatic pastor, and it is a hub church. The most famous of all these churches is The Embassy of God and it has attracted scholarly interest because it has been regarded as the largest church in Europe with an international network of churches.113 In 2006 it had 300 satellite congregations, 30 based abroad with six in the usa. Originally, Sunday Adelaja founded a Word of Faith church in Belarus in 1989 but relocated to Kiev in 1993 and after one year it was attracting 1000 people. In 2002 the church was renamed and re-branded in order to bring Christianity into the public sphere and to evangelise the nations. During these years, Adelaja was nearly deported with 22 lawsuits against him for various reasons and this included three years 112 As noted above, due the war, this church no longer exists, as far as we are aware. 113 Catherine Wanner, Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007). For further information on The Embassy of God see: www.ukmegachurches.wordpress.com/tag/ukraine (accessed on 19 February, 2018).

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of close surveillance by the security services.114 His supporters demonstrated on the streets and he was granted permanent residency in 2004. In 2005 there were plans for a 50,000-seater auditorium with 38 worship services held in 30 different locations around Kiev. It is an innovative church with close engagement in Ukrainian life as well as transnational connections around the world. It is truly a global church with a local identity. ‘The leadership of the Embassy of God is striving to bring about broad-based political, economic, social, and above all spiritual reform of Ukrainian society by simultaneously imparting a sense of shared morality to individuals and by creating a host of social institutions that will be founded on biblical principles in an overall effort to reenchant society’.115 Believers are conceived as ambassadors, representing the Kingdom of God in all that they do and at different levels from local to national and international.116 The message could be considered a health and wealth one; and Adelaja has been categorised as a prosperity preacher with some justification. But, once again, this needs to be modified in the light of the church’s work with the poor and those suffering from various forms of addiction. The ministry called Love Rehab works with addicts and it is the core activity of the church’s outreach programme. It is believed that addiction is cured through prayer healing practices and the ministry claims to have freed 3000 people from their addiction. This ministry is led by Pastor Natalya, who struggled with alcoholism for 30 years, and is now free from that addiction. She pioneered a multi-step process and located it within the family context because it is largely written for women who have a relative with an addiction. Thus, women are placed centrally in this ministry. The material in the programme includes a combination of biblical information and personal experience of freedom through testimony. At the centre of the process of freedom is a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is presented as the one who can bring resurrection life to the person. By admitting powerlessness, and the power of sin, sickness and the role of the devil, the person enters an exchange, whereby their powerlessness is acknowledged and surrender to Christ follows, such that agency is transferred to him and the family is required to change its collective behaviour in order to support this new life.117 After conversion, the person begins to recover their own agency in the context of a new set of relationships. These relationships revolve around 114 Wanner, Communities of the Converted, p. 211. 115 Wanner, Communities of the Converted, pp. 212–213. 116 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘“To the Ends of the Earth”: Mission, Migration and the Impact of African-led Pentecostal Churches in the European Diaspora’, Mission Studies 29.1 (2012), pp. 23–44. 117 Wanner, Communities of the Converted, pp. 220–226, explains the process in some detail.

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a recovery facility called the New Beginnings Centre, which former addicts attend and also volunteer their services in support of others. The Embassy of God collaborates with the state in its delivery of these services. Its annual March for Life, which is held on aids Remembrance day, has become a public forum for its engagement with broader society and the political powers. Pastors preach in the open air and implore politicians not to take bribes, for citizens to love their country and for Christians to be engaged in public life and to address addiction, hiv/aids, the family and poverty. Ordinary people are encouraged to be activists for social change. In 2005 the march was renamed ‘March for Jesus’ in an attempt to address moral issues in the nation, and it has been compared to the Moral Majority in the usa in the 1970s. Many of the same people were part of the Orange Revolution in 2004–2005 and the same tactics are in use here. Wanner states: The values advocated by the Embassy of God are not easily classified in terms that have currency in the United States, where [E]vangelicals have a significant measure of political power. Clearly, in some respects they reflect the most dogmatic and unrelenting forms of conservative Christianity, as in their ardent opposition to homosexuality. Yet, their advocacy of government-funded programs for the poor and the disenfranchised echoes aspects of liberal, progressive politics. Their charismatic style is clearly contemporary, but the issues this church holds sacred, namely caring for the poor, echoes views of early Pentecostalism. Across the broad spectrum of liberal and conservative views, the Embassy of God sees itself as taking the lead, of working with the state to steer social change to be in keeping with biblical principles of morality as they understand them. This is the latest incarnation of a defiant compliance.118 So we have an interesting scenario of a prosperity message that endorses materialism and consumerism on the one hand, with a progressive social engagement on the other hand, which gives expression to a community that wishes to change society by revitalising it in a complex and dynamic social and political context. Sunday Adelaja encourages his church members to reject addictive behaviour in favour of increasing educational and business opportunities offered in post-communist Europe.119 Increasingly, it is this type of Christianity that is accepted as a source of moral vision through an engagement with the state and appears to be a strategy towards de-secularisation and the Christianisation 118 Wanner, Communities of the Converted, p. 234. 119 Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘To the Ends of the Earth’, p. 27.

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of society.120 Of course, much has happened to the Ukraine since this literature has been published and it remains to be seen how the new geopolitical context with resurgent Russian interest in the Ukraine influences this situation. Earlier, we noted the Filadelphia church in Stockholm, Sweden, but another more recently established famous megachurch in Europe can be found in Uppsala, Sweden; its connections with the Ukraine have been noted above. Livets Ord, or Word of Life, is an independent charismatic church, very much linked to the world network of prosperity gospel churches. Simon Coleman is the main academic to have studied the church.121 He identified a number of significant characteristics. He regards it as a church influenced by and engaged in the processes of globalisation, participating in a transnational charismatic culture especially in the usa, which is at the same time a threat to contemporary secular Swedish culture. ‘These Christians are concerned to prompt the “flow” of people, ideas, material objects across the globe, and the idea of cementing interconnections between believers united in “Spirit” is powerfully articulated by them in sermons, oral testimonies and literature’.122 In particular, he observes the role that the media plays in this global flow of ideas and objects associated with the prosperity gospel through TV and radio broadcasting, financial donations and merchandise. It is not clear from this study just how the congregation engages with broader social issues in their locale because the emphasis of the study is on the globalisation of the prosperity message and its mediating practices. It is often assumed that France is the most secular of all European countries and this may be the case because of historical as well as contemporary influences. Nevertheless, there is still a strong Roman Catholic presence and increasingly migrants from francophone Africa are establishing churches that address their cultural needs, not just their economic aspirations. The study by Sébastien Fath has analysed four megachurches, or at least churches that he considers to be megachurches in a French context. He links the French megachurch network to the Canadian city of Montreal and the megachurch called Nouvelle Vie (New Life), which is led by Claude Houde and has links to a megachurch called La Borne in the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.123 From this link francophone megachurches have been established in France as well. Observing that megachurches can now be found in many 120 Wanner, Communities of the Converted, p. 248; Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘To the Ends of the Earth’, p. 27. 121 Simon Coleman, The Globalization of Charismatic Christianity: Spreading the Gospel of Prosperity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). 122 Coleman, The Globalization of Charismatic Christianity, p. 67. 123 Fath, Dieu xxl, p. 132.

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European cities, he suggests that in the European context it is appropriate to consider a church of 1000+ people as a megachurch.124 According to his research there are four megachurches in or around Paris.125 They are: (1) Rencontre Espérance, the oldest French megachurch that attracts a 90% African congregation and between 1500–2000 worshippers weekly. A Pentecostal church, it had 4000 members in 1990 and holds services in an old cinema with 850 seats. (2) Paris Centre chrétien is a multi-ethnic church based at La Courneuve and became a megachurch in 2000 with 5000 attendees and 3000 weekly. It is a neo-charismatic church, part of the Third Wave of the 1980s and again it is largely a migrant or second-generation migrant church. It offers a large range of activities for different groups in the church. (3) Charisma (Paris) is a neo-charismatic church of around 5000–6000 worshippers, most of whom are of African descent, meeting in the north of Paris (Seine-SaintDenis). It promises prosperity and success to its members, as well as providing community through small group fellowship. It also has connections to Africa, Europe and North America, with visitors like John Volloton from Lakeland and Sunday Adelaja in 2006. (4) La Porte ouverte chrétienne de Mulhouse (The Christian Open Door, Mulhouse) attracts about 1500–2000 worshippers per week and is located in the Boutzviller quarter. It meets in an old supermarket that can accommodate 1500 seats and provides a range of activities for a diverse group of people socially and ethnically. In addition, there are churches that have megachurch links, for example Puteaux-la Défense, also based in Paris, which is a new church plant from Hillsong, with connections to Hillsong London, attracting just under 300 worshippers in 2008.126 Finally in this section, there have been two studies of a megachurch in the Netherlands, called Doorbrekers (meaning ‘those who break through’). The first study analyses the theological discourse of the sermons in order to get a sense of the theological and cultural values that inform this and other megachurches.127 It discovered that the sermons offer a blend of conservative values, moral strictness while at the same time embracing popular culture. This denotes neither a mere acceptance nor a simple rejection of, contemporary culture, but a form of negotiation in which the individual is at the centre and 124 Fath, Dieu xxl, p. 137; for an updated discussion, see Raymond Pfister, ‘Pentecostalism in France: A Multiform and Ecumenical Movement of the Spirit?’ in Vinson Synan and Amos Yong (eds.), Global Charismatic Christianity Volume Four: Europe and North America (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House Book Group, 2017), pp. 143–162 (p. 157–159). 125 Fath, Dieu xxl, pp. 148–154. 126 Fath, Dieu xxl, p. 146. 127 Paul Vermeer, ‘Church Growth and Appealing Sermons: A Case Study of a Dutch Megachurch’, Journal of Empirical Theology 28.1 (2015), pp. 1–22.

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represents a new form of privatised and strict form of Protestantism. In this context the sermons accommodate themselves to the Dutch religious landscape by being relevant, easy to apply to everyday life, as well as motivating and inspiring adherents to authenticity. This authenticity is marked by differentiation and distance from traditional denominations, as well as an exclusivist approach to soteriology, Jesus Christ is regarded as being the only saviour. In order to remain effective as an evangelistic force, the preachers avoid anything that might be regarded as a controversial issue. The second study assessed the church in terms of its character and leadership style (‘pastorpreneurship’) based on its media technology and mediation of religious authority globally.128 The study argues that megachurches operate physically and virtually as sites of divine blessing that are not primarily based on doctrinal alignment but in shared aesthetic forms that evoke religious experience. It is this religious experience clothed in a contemporary aesthetic form that is so attractive to younger people in the Netherlands and around the world via the transnational networks to which the megachurches belong and invest in strategically. 2.5

Megachurches in the United Kingdom

The research in the UK on the subject of megachurches is extremely ­limited. An article in the magazine Premier Christianity by Andy Peck probably offers the first analysis of the megachurch landscape in the UK.129 It is based on the ­English Churches Survey of 2005 and so, unfortunately, it is out of date. Nevertheless, it gives a sense of where these megachurches can be found in the UK and further research will be able to determine how far they have changed in the intervening years. Some details of these churches are given below. What is interesting is that out of the ten churches identified from Peck’s article, half of them are referred to in the UK as ‘Black Majority Churches’. Nine of the ten clearly defined megachurches are based in and around London, which could be called a megacity. These are megachurches for a megacity! Clearly there are strong geographical and ethnic factors, as well as theological reasons for their existence, given that the majority could be classified as falling within the Pentecostal category. 128 Miranda Klaver, ‘Pentecostal Pastorpreneurs and the Global Circulation of Authoritative Aesthetic Styles’, Culture and Religion 16.2 (2015), pp. 146–159. 129 Andy Peck, ‘What The Mega Church Can Teach You’, Premier Christianity (August 2006), http://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2006/August-2006/What-the-mega -church-can-teach-you (accessed 20 December, 2011).

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In 2008 Fath noted six megachurches in London, which included: Kingsway International Christian Centre, attracting 12,000 people, Kensington Temple, attracting 5000 people, Hillsong attracting 5000 people, Ruach Ministries attracting 4000 people, Glory House attracting 3000 people, Jesus House for All Nations attracting 2,500 people,130 and All Souls Langham Place, attracting 2000 people.131 These figures are also out of date, as is often the case in this research within the space of twelve months, and the table below offers a revised set of figures and expands the number of churches that could be considered as falling within the ‘mega’ category (although these figures may well be inaccurate at the time of going to press). The table below sets out the number of churches in the UK that could be classified as a megachurch in 2016, with estimated numbers from information available at the time of research. In 2012 Cartledge and Davies attempted to categorise these churches in the light of Thumma and Travis’ typology.132 They discovered that while there was some resemblance, there were some features that did not fit so easily. The published literature has, however, focused largely on kicc as the most significant example of a megachurch, although there is some literature on Holy Trinity Brompton which mainly deals with the Alpha Course. For the purposes of this overview of megachurches around the world, we shall focus briefly on kicc, although we shall describe this church more fully in a later chapter. kicc is largely a diaspora African church that was founded originally as a Foursquare Pentecostal church by Matthew Ashimolowo and has since grown to be one of the largest churches in western Europe. It caters mostly for West Africans from Nigeria and Ghana, although other African nations are represented, as well as Caribbean countries. It has been associated with the prosperity gospel and there is evidence to support this narrative. However, Cartledge and Davies suggested that the overarching narrative is about self-betterment and empowerment, so that the prosperity gospel should be seen as supporting a developmental narrative within a Christian context. This message has been adapted and communicated by Ashimolowo through his media ministry, associated with his programme ‘Winning Ways’, which embodies material success and happiness. Through his sermons and TV shows, he seeks to challenge Europe’s Black population to move beyond their present socioeconomic situation and gain greater social mobility by harnessing his Christian message.133 The Holy Spirit indwells them and they have faith in the power of God to change their lives, so that they are consecrated and integrated into a new 130 Jenkins, ‘Godless Europe?’, notes Jesus House, kicc, Glory House and New Wine, p. 118. 131 Fath, Dieu XXL, p. 137. 132 Thumma and Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths, pp. 30–41. 133 Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘To the Ends of the Earth’, p. 30.

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Megachurch Studies Table 2.1  Megachurches in England

Church

Tradition

Attendance

Location

Senior Minister

1. Hillsong

Pentecostal

7,000

London

2. Kingsway International Christian Centre 3. Kensington Temple 4. Holy Trinity Brompton

Independent Pentecostal

5,500

Elim Pentecostal

5,500

London and Chatham London

Gary D?M Clarke Matthew C Ashimilowo

Church of England (Charismatic) Independent Pentecostal Independent Pentecostal Independent Pentecostal rccg

4,500

London

4,500

London

Church of England & Baptist (lep)

2,500

Church of England (Evangelical) Independent

2,300

5. Ruach Ministries =6. Winner’s Chapel =6. Glory House Plaistow =6. Jesus House, Brent Cross 9. Network Church 10. All Souls Langham Place =11. New Wine Church =11. Renewal Christian Centre

3,000 3,000 3,000

2,000

United 2,000 Methodist (originally Pentecostal)

Colin Dye Nicky Gumbel

John Francis London David Oyedepo London Albert Odulele London Agu Irukwu Sheffield Peter and Anne Findley London Hugh Palmer London Michael Olawore Solihull, David Carr Birmingham

Category

CM ?M C?M CM C? ? ? A C C

Note: A, B, C and D = categories according to Thumma’s typology discussed above. M = multisite. ? means that the church does not fit comfortably into Thumma’s taxonomy.

community. Therefore, feelings of inferiority should be abandoned and individuals are encouraged to take dominion over their circumstances in order to find fulfilment and wholeness. It is this personal divine empowerment that unlocks both spiritual and material blessings and the message is especially

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appealing to young professional west Africans living in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.134 2.6

Explanations of the Emergence of Megachurches

Most North American sociologists of religion have used market models to explain the emergence of megachurches in the usa and in other regions.135 The change in American religious tastes is linked to generational interests, religious choice, therapeutic concerns and the development of the self.136 Capitalism is mimicked, as is the entertainment world as an expression of capitalism and education is meshed with these themes so that megachurches offer ‘edutainment’. This type of marketable church experience is a form of religious isomorphism for the American middle classes. Its growth and size are legitimated in the context of religious capitalism. It is modern, dynamic and responsive to the religious marketplace, appealing to elective affinity. Ellingson has supplemented this basic market explanation with the church-sect typology and argues that megachurches are sectarian in a selective sense. This is because they accommodate themselves to aspects of contemporary culture, for example in the use of technology and the rejection of traditional forms of religion, and yet they are in tension with wider culture on moral and ethical issues. He also considers the organisational explanation for emergence and growth. This theory suggests that megachurches grow because of the intentions of their leaders to grow and that this is achieved through the mobilisation of members who are willing to volunteer on a massive scale. With this massive human resource megachurches are able to provide high quality worship experiences, as well as other programmes and events that cater for all ages, but especially for young 134 Mark J. Cartledge and Andrew Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity: A Study of Cyberspace Representation’, PentecoStudies 13.1 (2014), pp. 58–79. 135 Ellingson, ‘New Research on Megachurches’, pp. 253–255. 136 Chaves, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, pp. 337–341, proposes a simple hypothesis, namely that from the 1960s, with the rising costs of running a church, it was more economical to concentrate resources in larger units, which became what we now call megachurches. From around 1970 the rate of congregational giving failed to keep pace with church running costs, which led to the increased transfer to ‘successful’ churches, which in turn concentrated congregational numbers among larger churches leading to their exponential growth. While simple hypotheses are attractive, if we were to place megachurches in a global context then multi-factor explanations are more likely. Even if this is true (which we doubt), made in America does preclude being made elsewhere too, as the history of global Pentecostalism has shown time and again.

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people and young professionals. These huge resources are attractive for existing Christians and so they are drawn from smaller churches in the locale. It is simply an economy of scale argument: they can offer resources and experiences that small churches simply cannot match. It has been suggested that small, local churches respond in one of three ways: (1) they try to become megachurches themselves; (2) they return to their own roots and rediscover their distinctive ethos and tradition thus providing a niche identity among local churches; or (3) they simply do nothing in the face of limited and dwindling resources, leading to decline in congregational numbers.137 It is suggested that there are a number of factors that facilitate the growth of megachurches globally and these include population shifts, migration patterns and the increase in urbanisation. These people movement factors are supplemented by others including internal ones to the church such as the rise of charismatic religious entrepreneurs, the costs of running a medium size church, as well as the waning of traditional denominational identities, the distrust of denominational bureaucracies and the rise of individualism linked to consumerism once again. Enhanced transport facilities, as well as technological advances and an internet presence all contribute to the viability and attraction of the global south megachurch.138 Thumma and Bird identify two dominant models of megachurches globally. The first is characterised ‘by a very large single site on a small plot of land’. They refer to this as the ‘urban vertical profile’. The site is designed to fit into a small plot densely, with several storeys and underground parking. The second model is a multisite model, with several congregations linked together with a common budget and uniform identity but with a network of smaller churches.139 Thumma and Bird link these people and structural characteristics to religious ones. They argue that megachurches promote success and individual advancement by means of motivational and practical sermons. These sermons are delivered by leaders with strong personalities and top-down authoritarian structures that generate high levels of commitment from members who are adjusting to new social realities, including their own displacement, and thus these churches offer security in an insecure and dynamic context. Thumma and Bird also list the complex set of social factors contributing to the emergence of megachurches globally.140 They are as follows. (1) As populations grow in certain parts of the world, so Christians migrate and concentrate 137 138 139 140

Ellingson, ‘New Research on Megachurches’, pp. 260–261. Thumma and Bird, ‘Megafaith for the Megacity’, p. 2337. Thumma and Bird, ‘Megafaith for the Megacity’, p. 2340. Thumma and Bird, ‘Megafaith for the Megacity’, pp. 2341–2349.

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in specific locations. (2) These locations are largely in cities, so urban social locations also lead to the reconfiguration of population distributions. (3) The rise of megacities has matched the rise in megachurches for the reasons of (1) and (2). (4) These megachurches have also become social hubs for celebrities associated with them, be they pastors or media celebrities attending them. (5) Most megachurches represent new religious options and vigorously position themselves as standing in distinction from traditional forms of Christianity and this is especially the case for Pentecostal and Charismatic forms of megachurch, which is the vast majority. (6) Megachurches cater for all types of people at every stage of life and so holistic programming means that community and personal resources facilitate social mobility. (7) Globalisation means that many of these megachurches are interconnected with each other via fluid, developing and adapting networks. (8) Global isomorphism means that migration brings with it similar patterns of church life and this is especially the case for Africans abroad. 2.7 Conclusion This chapter has set the first theoretical context for the empirical studies that follow by outlining the megachurch literature that is available and summarising some of the main findings from a literature review. As can be seen, the body of knowledge is now quite extensive and it is growing all the time. The study of large churches has never been so popular and with good reason. These churches are often strategically placed and they are beginning to have significant social, cultural, religious and political impact in many different ways. In this chapter, we discovered that the majority of the literature is shaped by American-based studies and the approaches and typologies are very influential in terms of the wider discussion. Nevertheless, there are also non-American studies and these studies are beginning to offer different ways of understanding the nature of large churches in their social and cultural contexts. It is not just a western versus non-western split. There are clearly some differences between America and Europe too. Factors that possibly explain the rise of the American megachurch phenomenon do not necessarily travel, despite the penchant among scholars for marketisation and globalisation explanations. The reasons why megachurches emerge and are sustained do appear to be varied and their involvement in and contribution to the local community and wider society, including international impact, is also diverse. We have noted the kinds of social engagement and programmes that are offered by these churches at a

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number of points. These will be discussed more fully in the next chapter, as we locate megachurch social engagement within the theoretical discussion of public theology and church activism in the UK, in order to allow this literature to inform our discussion in preparation for the specific studies of five megachurches in London in part two.

Chapter 3

Public Theology, Social Theory and Social Engagement 3.1 Introduction This chapter puts our study of megachurches and social engagement in London into its theological, social and policy contexts. The practices and themes with which the study is concerned can, of course, be examined from a multitude of disciplinary and sub-disciplinary perspectives. Here, the focus is placed first on situating the research in relation to public theology, which provides the central discourse that interacts with the sociology of religion, social policy and ecclesiology. This chapter highlights some of the ways in which faith-based social engagement has been conceptualised, including through the lenses of social, spiritual and religious capital. It also narrates the way in which the UK policy landscape has developed over recent years, charting the significance of this landscape for churches, and noting some of the key possibilities and tensions. A key message that emerges from work on faith and society across public theology and the social sciences is the need for greater awareness in public life, and across disciplines and professions, not only about what churches and other faith groups do in terms of social engagement, but about why they do it. This would seem to require a coming together of clearly articulated – perhaps first order – theology, empirical accounts including observed practices and narratives given with explanations of them, and social theory. We explore some of the connections that have been made by existing studies, and also draw attention to conceptual resources that inform subsequent analysis and theory development in this area. 3.2

Public Theology1

Ever since the term ‘public theology’ was coined by Marty in 1974, there have been a number of different attempts to define what is meant by the 1 This section was published previously in Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Public Theology and Empirical Research: Developing an Agenda’, International Journal of Public Theology 10.2 (2016), pp. 145–166 (pp. 146–154).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_004

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designation.2 In the discussion of the nature of public theology in relation to Christian ethics, Breitenberg offers both a genealogy of the term, as well as addressing possible objections to its usage.3 This well-worn description of the development of the idea from civil religion to public theology, together with its relationship to philosophy, politics and ethics does not need to be rehearsed here.4 What emerges from this overview, however, is that public theology is derived from faith communities and comprises descriptive, evaluative and normative features.5 Breitenberg offers a succinct and useful definition that provides a point of departure for this study. He defines Christian public theology in the following manner: Expressed in terms of the Christian tradition, public theology intends to provide theologically informed interpretations of and guidance for individuals, faith communities, and the institutions and interactions of civil society, in ways that are understandable, assessable, and possibly convincing to those inside the church and those outside as well. Public theologians thus seek to communicate, by means that are intelligible and assayable to all, how Christian beliefs and practices bear, both descriptively and prescriptively, on public life and the common good, and in so doing possibly persuade and move to action both Christians and non-Christians.6 Graham and Lowe suggest that behind all of the definitions is a tension between a commitment to society and its flourishing on the one hand, namely citizenship, and a commitment to the Christian faith and the life of the church

2 Martin E. Marty, ‘Two Kinds of Two Kinds of Civil Religion’, in Russell E. Richey and Donald G. Jones (eds.), American Civil Religion (New York: Harper & Row, 1974) pp. 139–157. 3 E. Harold Breitenberg Jr., ‘To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Public Theology Please Stand Up?’, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 23.2 (2003) pp. 55–96. 4 See the discussion by Max L. Stackhouse, ‘Civil Religion, Political Theology and Public Theology: What’s the Difference?’, Political Theology 5.3 (2004) pp. 275–293; also see his later discussion in Max L. Stackhouse, Globalization and Grace (London: T & T Clark, 2007) pp. 77–116. 5 Breitenberg, ‘To Tell the Truth’, p. 61. We should observe that the concept of ‘public theology’ has also been critiqued, for example by Angus Paddison, ‘On Christianity as Truly Public’, in Justin Beaumont and Christopher Baker (eds.), Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory and Practice (London: Continuum International Publishing, 2011), pp. 223–236, who suggests that it ‘risks an uncritical alliance with those powers of modernity that would dictate to the church what it must deem “private” (therefore harmless) and what it must deem to be “public” (fit for airing in the public square)’ (p. 226). 6 Breitenberg, ‘To Tell the Truth’, p. 66.

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on the other hand, namely discipleship.7 This tension lies behind the witness of the church, theologians and Christians speaking to society so that they might communicate appropriately and effectively.8 In other words, what is being played out here is Moltmann’s identity/ relevance dilemma,9 which he also applied to the relationship between Christian theology and public relevance.10 The choice is between marginalisation (as a correlate of identity) and accommodation (as a correlate of relevance). It echoes the work of Thiemann who argues that the challenge for public theology is to remain based in the particularity of the Christian faith on the one hand while addressing issues of public concern on the other hand.11 This dilemma raises a number of questions. How can authentic theological and ecclesial identity be maintained without becoming irrelevant in the pluralistic society in which the church lives? To what extent does accommodation to the changing context and values of society fundamentally undermine Christian identity? How can Christian theology speak to the various ‘publics’ of society and in what terms? Indeed, whose publics should be addressed and for what purpose? Graham and Lowe also propose that there are three types of public theology: (1) an engagement with issues of public policy from a faith-based perspective, which seeks an intervention of some kind based on a moral imperative; (2) the support of Christian formation, enabling individuals to exercise their faithful witness in society, especially in the world of work; and (3) the provision of resources to encourage politicians to mediate their faith in the political sphere.12 The first type is policy focused and the second and third types are individually focused. As such they are somewhat limited because public theology, it could be argued, is larger than policy influence and individual contributions via their working lives, even if these are important features.13 7 8

9 10 11 12 13

Elaine Graham and Stephen Lowe, What Makes a Good City? Public Theology and the Urban Church (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2009). In the collection of his writings complied by Scott R. Paeth, E. Harold Breitenberg Jr. & Hak Joon Lee (eds), Shaping Public Theology: Selections from the Writings of Max L. Stackhouse (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), Stackhouse coordinates an engagement with philosophy, ethics and an analysis of social life that leads to an apologetic role for theology in the service of justice (p. 119). Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (London: scm Press, 1974) pp. 7–25. Jürgen Moltmann, God for a Secular Society: The Public Relevance of Theology (London: scm Press, 2011) pp. 5–20. Ronald F. Thiemann, Constructing a Public Theology: The Church in a Pluralistic Culture (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991). Graham and Lowe, What Makes a Good City? pp. 4–6. Also, see: Gerard Mannion, ‘A Brief Genealogy of Public Theology, or, Doing Theology when it Seems Nobody is Listening’, Annali di Studi Religiosi 10 (2009), pp. 121–154, who

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Subsequently, they extend this kind of theology to the church when they say: ‘In the production of public theology the community of faith needs to find a language and an agenda which is meaningful to those both inside and outside the immediate community or tradition of faith, persuasive to both communities and finally contributing to the common good’.14 This perspective is very similar to Day’s approach who also suggests that ‘the community of faith needs to find a language and an agenda which is meaningful to those both inside and outside the tent, persuasive to both communities and finally contributing to the social good’.15 These quotations identify some of the key components of public theology, namely a language, an agenda, persuasiveness and a contribution to the common good. Of course, each of these components is necessarily framed within the identity/relevance dilemma. Theological language needs translation in order to be understood, but to what extent is it irreducible? Can it be translated without serious loss of theological content? The agenda should be meaningful to all parties, but it is here that we are dealing in power politics.16 Who sets the agenda is an important question. Is this a case of letting society set the agenda once again? If so, which voices represent whose interests? Or to what extent might the church collaborate with civil authorities so as to co-create agendas? In terms of relevance, it is the case that the discourse produced should carry some power of persuasion, but given the nature of discourse, to what extent will overt theological categories ever prove to be persuasive? Finally, the ‘common good’ is something which all might agree is desirable, yet what counts as the ‘good’ or indeed the ‘common’ can be difficult to identify in increasingly diverse societies.17 Here, the common good is taken to refer to something similar to the notion of human flourishing, by which we mean that people (individuals, groups, institutions and communities) and the

14 15 16

17

describes public theology as containing a number of types, including: (1) defensive, (2) reactionary, (3) integrationist, (4) pluralist, and (5) pluralist-constructive. Graham and Lowe, What Makes a Good City? p. 10. Katie Day, ‘The Construction of Public Theology: An Ethnographic Study of the Relationship between the Theological Academy and the Local Clergy in South Africa’, International Journal of Public Theology 2.3 (2008) pp. 354–378 (p. 356). The asymmetrical burden of translation on faith groups in the ‘secular’ context has been noted by commentators, for example see: Jürgen Habermas, ‘Religion in the Public Square’, European Journal of Philosophy 14.1 (2006), pp. 1–25; also noted by Rachel Chapman and Leila Hamalainen, ‘Understanding Faith-Based Engagement and Volunteering in the Postsecular Society: Motivations, Rationales and Translation’, in Justin Beaumont and Christopher Baker (eds.), Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory and Practice (London: Continuum International Publishing, 2011), pp. 184–200 (p. 194). See the discussion in Dennis P. McCann and Patrick D. Miller (eds.), In Search of the Common Good (London: T & T Clark, 2005).

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social and cultural fabric of society benefit in some sustained way irrespective of whether there is an alignment with a particular Christian faith commitment or not. However, the common good is a contested notion and one that needs on-going attention and policy redefinition in dynamic social contexts.18 Elsewhere, Graham maintains that public theology draws its agenda from issues of public concern beyond the church and seeks to inform wider society from its deliberations.19 However, a slightly different approach to hers could be offered, which nevertheless builds upon her insights. It could be said that public theology offers a critical theological analysis of beliefs, values and practices of social agents and institutions embedded in public life. These agents and institutions might not be explicitly theological but nevertheless express their theology via symbols and value-laden practices. The intuition of the empirical-theological approach asks: what is going on here and how might it be categorised in theological concepts? These concepts could be explored or tested via various empirical data. The empirical approach in practical theology has pioneered the use of data gathering by means of qualitative methods, such as participant observation, interviews and focus groups, as well as quantitative methods such as questionnaire surveys and structured interviews.20 This data becomes a significant source of knowledge that bridges abstract theological concepts and social policies and practices. In this manner it has the potential to impact both domains in a critical and constructive fashion. Theological reflection draws upon the sources of the Christian tradition (as well as other theoretical perspectives) and reconceptualises them in distinctly theological categories of thought, as a kind of theological social and cultural criticism. In other words, it offers a theological translation of the social and cultural lifeworld, or a reflection on the embedded or implicit theological values and their significance. It then uses these reflections in order to resource the church’s action. And part of this response is both speech and action, but informed by both empirical data and theological theory. This leads us to discuss the nature of the term ‘public’. What exactly is the ‘public’ in this discussion? Indeed, why use the notion of the public at all? The 18

19 20

Gary J. Dorrien, Reconstructing the Common Good: Theology and the Social Order (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990) p. 4; for the beginning of a Pentecostal/Charismatic account of the common good, see Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Renewal Theology and the Common Good’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 25.1 (2016), pp. 90–106. Elaine Graham, Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Public Theology in a Post-Secular Age (London: scm Press, 2013) p. 70. See Allan Bryman, Social Research Methods (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2012). The key text in practical and empirical theology is by Johannes A. van der Ven, Practical Theology: An Empirical Approach (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1993).

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context of secularisation, or at least the perception that religious faith has become much more privatised, is regarded as the backdrop to this language. Theologians who call themselves ‘public theologians’ may do so in order to resist the notion that Christianity is becoming ‘private’, sectarian, marginalised from mainstream society and, therefore, requires reassertion in order to fulfil its vocation.21 This approach, of course, is linked to concrete expressions of church because, on the whole, the theologians who use this designation have some kind of ecclesial affiliation. It has been often associated with correlationist-type theology in the line of Tillich and Tracy, which seeks to relate theological ideas with non-theological ones.22 Such public theologians believe that faith should not be pushed to the margins but, on the contrary, it should engage with all aspects of life. For Tracy, theology should address three publics: the academy, the church and the society, and this latter domain is further differentiated into economics, politics and culture. Faith in its corporate, political and social register is given a higher priority than in its ecclesial life. Ideally, this means that it is conducted in open, accessible and defensible ways.23 Moltmann, again, simply states that public affairs are of ‘general concern’ to society, which seems rather vague, although he identifies the domains of the political, cultural, economic and ecological. For him, the ‘kingdom of God is the broadest, most comprehensive horizon of hope for the general well-being of the world’.24 Indeed, it could be suggested that there are many publics. ‘Public theology … is concerned not only with the affairs of state, but those of a variety of “publics”, such as business and the market, science and philosophy, family life, racial justice, voluntary organisations and popular culture, including the news media, entertainment and the arts: any institution that shapes the way we think, relate and live in the world’.25 However, for some, public theology is concerned with the public of a specific place. For example, Forrester links public theology to the place of the city and indeed locates the city

21

It is worth noting the critique of Angus Paddison at the point because he argues, with some justification, that by using the designation of ‘public’ at the outset theologians have already bought into the public/private dichotomy of modernist rationality, thus they are conceding too much ground a priori to secular rationality and its placement of religion. See: Paddison, ‘On Christianity as Truly Public’, pp. 223–236. 22 Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology Volume i (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1973); David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism (London: scm Press, 1981). 23 Graham, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, xx. 24 Moltmann, God for a Secular Society, p. 252. 25 Graham and Lowe, What Makes a Good City? p. 4.

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over and above the church as the beneficiary of public theology.26 The idea here is that the ‘public’ has a concrete location in time and space and theology interacts with this particularity and seeks its welfare. This position is endorsed by Graham,27 who argues that public theology is primarily concerned with the welfare of the city. In this capacity it is both bilingual and dialogical, speaking truth to power and having a prophetic dimension in conversation with other voices in wider society. Similarly, Kim argues that theology is inherently public because its findings are applicable to an audience that is wider than the Christian church.28 It offers a critical stance that allows it to speak into a variety of different contexts from particular perspectives. It denies the false dichotomy of the public/ private divide, emerging from Enlightenment rationality and modernist epistemologies. Rather, the concept of the ‘public’ refers to an openness to direct its attention to current debates in society and participate in them. The task of public theologians is to convince the church of the relevance of theology to society and members of society that theology can indeed provide insights that are genuinely helpful and useful to public debate. He identifies six main players in the public sphere that together influence the nature of the issues debated and the policies adopted and employed. These are: the state, the media, religious communities, the academy, civil society and the market.29 He suggests that theology is situated in the academy (universities and colleges) and religious communities (churches) but that public theology expands its sources, audiences and applications to include a dialogue with the other four main players, depending on the particular issue being addressed. The method of doing this kind of theology, for Kim, is from the church communities towards the wider society but as a public form of discourse in dialogue with a wide variety of sources, both Christian and non-Christian.30 It contributes to the common good not just the benefit of the church and seeks to reform society towards greater openness and justice. It uses language and concepts that are accessible 26

Duncan B. Forrester, ‘The Scope of Public Theology’, Studies in Christian Ethics 17.2 (2004), 5–19. 27 Graham, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, xxvi. 28 Sebastian Kim, Theology in the Public Sphere: Public Theology as a Catalyst for Open Debate (London: scm Press, 2011), pp. 11–12. 29 Very often public theology is associated with an engagement in the political realm, e.g. see: John W. de Gruchy, ‘Public Theology as Christian Witness: Exploring the Genre’, International Journal of Practical Theology 1.1 (2007) pp. 26–41 (p. 27). The range of ‘publics’ suggest that public theology will always address wider domains, whilst acknowledging the pervasive influence of the political sphere. 30 Kim, Theology in the Public Sphere, pp. 14–15.

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across society as a whole, so it translates both ways: from Christian discourse to those outside and from non-Christian discourse to Christian discourse. It engages with public policy issues and seeks to understand the complexities involved in policy debate. Thus, it becomes an interdisciplinary form of discourse and employs methods appropriate to this kind of enterprise. It seeks justice for victims and uses the prophetic literature of the Bible to challenge injustice in society, being sustained by Christian worshipping communities and lively personal spirituality. On the whole, it appears that issues in society or social policies provide an agenda for theology to engage.31 They are addressed either by individual theologians, who write books and articles, or by church groups of one kind or another, most often they are denominational groups. It leads us to ask: who are the public theologians and for whom do they speak? It seems that most public theologians are academics with some church affiliation who are working in a university setting of some kind. Thus, they straddle the classic publics observed by Tracy: they belong to the publics of church and academy and seek to address the third public of society. Forrester categorises them in terms of magisterial and liberationist approaches. The first is when theologians, associated with a denomination or an ecumenical body, produce a report that offers an intervention informed by theological reflection, for example the Churches of Britain and Ireland’s report entitled: Unemployment and the Future of Work.32 The second approach can inform the first but pays particular attention to the marginalised voices and the disempowered groups in society in order to address issues of justice. It is here that empirical research of the concrete realities can inform theological reflection. To what extent does the theological praxis of church workers in their social contexts inform what is happening? On this point, even theologians seeking to offer comment on contemporary church and society are open to critique. For example, Graham critiques Ward regarding the lack of empirical evidence for his analysis, but the same critique could be applied to her and indeed most public theologians.33 To take another example, Thiemann argues that public theology should adopt the anthropological 31

This observation might be supported by the critique of Charles Matthewes, A Theology of Public Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) who suggests that public theologies can be characterised as ‘self-destructively accommodationist’ (p. 1), but this is not an inevitable outcome of such engagement, although it resonates with the critique of Paddison above (n.21). 32 Duncan B. Forrester, Truthful Action: Explorations in Practical Theology (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000) pp. 118–125. 33 Graham, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, p. 130; Graham Ward, Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).

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strategy of Geertz and aim to develop ‘thick descriptions’ of the social, cultural and moral context in which social policies are developed.34 However, the illustrations that he offers throughout the remainder of the book simply do not contain any empirical description that would approximate to anthropological data. And this deficit appears to hamper the kind of case that he seeks to make. It could be asked, in the context of public theology, how do the various forms of empirical data gathered from the church and para-church communities actually inform the theologising at an academic level? From a practical-theological perspective, it could be the case that theology in action is being advanced in a significant way on the ground, but that a certain ‘empirical blindness’ has meant that its value as a source of theology is missed. This means that information, insight, marginal voices and concrete practices are not fully mapped and used within the construction of publicly relevant theological discourse. Therefore, it appears that empirical research, at the very least, is under-played if not ignored completely. As such, it is unclear how ordinary grassroots agents are participating in and influencing theology and in turn influencing the common good at local and national levels. Whilst public theology can itself be seen as part of the church’s social engagement, the kinds of social engagement with which this empirical study is primarily concerned involve the provision of services, activities and teaching, or the nurturing of relationships within the corporate life of the particular megachurches studied. As such, and in view of the lack of empirical work in public theology noted above, it is important to contextualise our own findings against an inter-disciplinary backdrop. It includes a glance at the way in which social engagement by churches and other faith communities have been studied and conceptualised in the sociology of religion and social policy studies. Therefore, we now move to a discussion of the sociology of religion as it pertains to the religious landscape of the UK. 3.3

Changing Society, Changing Church

The sociologist of religion, Grace Davie, has observed that modern Europe (including Britain) should be considered an ‘exceptional case’ when compared to global ‘patterns of religious life’.35 The London megachurches in our study 34 Thiemann, Constructing a Public Theology, p. 21. 35 Grace Davie, Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), p. 4; also see her earlier statement in Europe: The Exceptional Case. Parameters of Faith in the Modern World (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2002).

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are therefore situated in national and local contexts that differ substantially from those featured in much of the existing megachurches literature, since, as the previous chapter showed, this has tended to focus on contexts outside Europe. Davie’s reason for referring to Europe as the ‘exceptional case’ is its position as the only part of the world in which religion is in numerical decline. This trend is largely borne out by the available statistical data for the UK. For example, Census data indicates that 59% of the population of England and Wales self-identified as ‘Christian’ in 2011.36 Whilst still a majority, this represents a sizeable reduction from the figure of 72% in 2001. Over the same period the proportion of people stating that they have ‘no religion’ grew from 15% to 25%. Data on Christian church attendance shows substantial decline since 1980, with overall attendance across denominations falling from approximately 4,500,000 to below 3,000,000 by 2015.37 Until relatively recently this decline in religious affiliation and participation might have been interpreted as part of the inevitable progression of secularisation, rooted in the values of the European Enlightenment.38 However, over the past twenty years or so there has been a growing awareness that religion has not disappeared in the way that modernist sociologists anticipated back in the 1960s. Instead, there is a view that it never really went away but became more individualised.39 In fact, interest in religion, due at least in part to its continued (and in some cases increased) appearance in the public sphere in the UK and other European countries, has gained fresh attention. The continued presence of religions on political stages and in debates in the public sphere provides an empirical refutation of a longstanding sociological hypothesis concerning modernisation and secularisation,

36 Davie, Religion in Britain, pp. 43, 45. 37 Peter Brierley, Church Attendance in Britain 1980–2015, http://www.brin.ac.uk/figures/ church-attendance-in-britain-1980-2015 (accessed 1 July 2017). 38 One of the main proponents of the ‘hard’ version of the secularisation thesis is Steve Bruce, Religion in the Modern World: From Cathedrals to Cults (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and God is Dead: Secularization in the West (Oxford: Blackwells, 2002). See also Callum G. Brown, The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation 1800–2000 (London: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2009). But there are also ‘soft’ version of the thesis, see Grace Davie, Sociology of Religion (London: Sage, 2008), pp. 46–66, for a discussion of the theory and its development. 39 See Meredith B. McGuire, Religion: The Social Context (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 5th edn., 2002), pp. 292–295.

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namely, that religious beliefs, practices and communities evaporate with economic growth, scientific education and the spread of democracy.40 This ‘paradox’ of the persistence of religion alongside deepening secularisation poses some significant social, political and intellectual challenges. In order to understand the changing face of Christianity in the UK, one needs to look beyond the headline figures. As the following summary of the UK Church Statistics 2010 to 2020 suggests, the situation is not one of ubiquitous decline: [A]lthough church membership in the UK is continuing to decline overall, the rate of decrease seems to have lessened significantly, with the result that the membership level previously anticipated for 2020 will probably not now be evident until 2025. Moreover, the trend is bucked in Independent, New, Orthodox, and Pentecostal Churches, as well as in the category of smaller bodies, all of which reported absolute growth between 2008 and 2013, much of which can be attributed to the effects of immigration.41 Furthermore, whilst there has been sharp decline in attendance and other in­ dicators of participation in the Church of England since the 1960s, this has not been even in nature, and in some geographical locations and traditions ‘unexpected things have happened’.42 For example, contemporary growth among Church of England parishes is concentrated in Charismatic and Evangelical congregations and cathedrals.43 David Goodhew suggests that the ‘key thing to note is that parts of the British church have serious and long-lasting decline during these same years – but parts have grown. British churches have experience both decline and growth. Britain has grown more secular and more religious in the last 30 years’.44 More liberal forms of Protestantism, popular in the 1960s, have declined, with many Christian traditions now offering a more 40

José Luis Romanillos, Justin Beaumont and Mustafa Sen, ‘State-Religion Relations and Welfare Regimes in Europe’, in Justin Beaumont and Paul Cloke (eds.), Faith-Based Organisations and Exclusion in European Cities (Bristol: Policy Press, 2012), pp. 37–58 (p. 38). 41 Clive D. Field, The Second Edition of UK Church Statistics, http://www.brin.ac.uk/2014/ second-edition-of-uk-church-statistics/ (accessed 25 May, 2016). 42 Davie, Religion in Britain, p. 50. 43 Davie, Religion in Britain, p. 8. 44 David Goodhew, ‘The Death and Resurrection of Christianity in Britain’, in David Goodhew (ed.), Church Growth in Britain: 1980 to the Present, (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012), pp. 253–257 (p. 253).

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experiential component to spirituality, rather than focusing only or mainly on cerebral approaches.45 Davie observes, ‘fewer people are now religious, but those who are take their religious lives more seriously – a shift with important implications for public as well as private life’.46 Like a growing number of scholars across the social sciences and humanities, Romanillos et al. suggest that: [R]ather than categorising contemporary religious beliefs and practices as exceptions to a teleological narrative [of secularisation-as-modernisation], there is instead a demand to respond to religious organisations and discourses as formations that might require us to think again about the sociological terms and frameworks of analysis and interpretation.47 Critical re-evaluation of the secularisation thesis along these lines has given birth to the notion of the postsecular. Jürgen Habermas and Klaus Eder have been key thinkers in the development of this concept.48 Eder argues that secularisation served to ‘hush up’ religion in Europe, arguing that in secular societies it simply became privatised. The public expressions are less obvious in these secularised countries.49 Of course, this view that religion removed itself from the public sphere and migrated to the private sphere of individual values was also part of the older notion of secularisation. The idea that public religious institutions such as churches lost their influence and that religious values were individualised is commonly held among sociologists of religion, such as Eder. But the question is whether religion did really ‘go away’ even from the public sphere.50 After all, church institutions continue to exist and in the UK the Church of England has had significant influence on government and public policy throughout the twentieth century.51 Nevertheless, as Cloke 45 Davie, Religion in Britain, p. 9. 46 Davie, Religion in Britain, p. 16. 47 Romanillos, Beaumont and Sen, ‘State-Religion Relations and Welfare Regimes’, p. 39. 48 See J. Habermas, N. Brieskorn, M. Reder, F. Ricken and J. Schmidt, An Awareness of What is Missing: Faith and Reason in a Postsecular Age (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010). 49 Klaus Eder, ‘Post-Secularism: A Return to the Public Sphere’, Eurozine, (17 August, 2006), pp. 1–3; https://www.eurozine.com/post-secularism-a-return-to-the-public-sphere/ (accessed 31 January 2019). 50 Along with others, e.g. Luke Bretherton, Contemporary Christianity and Politics (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 14, we doubt whether religion in the public sphere ever went away, especially in the UK. 51 The idea that we might totally reverse the processes of secularisation, so-called desecularisation would also be problematic and the post-secular does not reverse secularisation in our view but holds religious values and ways of being in tension with the secular. See

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and Beaumont put it, ‘Eder’s key argument … is that religion in Europe has found its voice again, and has begun to re-enter the public sphere with a confident, if multi-faceted, contribution to public affairs’.52 In terms of a new found confidence and ‘a process of renewed public visibility’ for religion,53 this may indeed be the case. Meanwhile, Cloke and Beaumont interpret Habermas’ contribution in the following way: [P]ostsecular society is based around issues of how public consciousness is changing as an adjustment to the continued existence of religious communities in a supposedly secularised societal setting. He emphasises that European citizens are very well aware of the intrusive activities of fundamentalist religious movements in their spheres of influence, and are often unwilling to accept secularist dogma about the disappearance of religion. He argues that religion is gaining influence in the public sphere at both national and local levels both as a community of interpretation – contributing to public opinion on moral and ethical issues – and as a community of service and care, carrying out welfare tasks both without and outside of formal systems of governance. He also sees religion as changing public consciousness in the area of immigration and asylumseeking, raising issues of how immigrant cultures can be integrated into postcolonial societies, and how different religious communities can achieve tolerant co-existence in city spaces.54 By way of a caveat, Graham argues that the postsecular continues to contain elements of secular modernity, and these elements are found throughout public life, but that there are signs of new forms of religious expression as well as renewed significance for existing forms of religion. However, her important point is to say that in all of this movement there is ‘dissonance the discussion by Linda Woodhead, ‘Introduction’, in Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (eds.), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2012), pp. 1–33 (p. 7). 52 Paul Cloke and Justin Beaumont, ‘Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City’, Progress in Human Geography, 37.1 (2012), pp. 27–51 (pp. 35–37). 53 Graham, Between a Rock and Hard Place, p. 46, although Graham continues to note that for Habermas there is an assumption that religious people need to ‘translate’ their values into ‘universally comprehensible terms’, while non-religious citizens simply communicate effectively in their own publicly rational discourse. This public discourse is governed by the criteria of comprehensibility and credibility not of their making (p. 49). 54 Paul Cloke and Justin Beaumont, ‘Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City’, Progress in Human Geography, 37.1 (2012), pp. 27–51 (p. 36); citing J. Habermas, ‘An Awareness of What is Missing’, in Habermas et al, An Awareness of What is Missing, pp. 15–23.

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between these seemingly co-existent currents of disenchantment and reenchantment’, which means it is an ‘awkward and contradictory space’.55 Whilst, as Habermas suggests, religion can shape the way in which individuals, organisations and societies respond to immigration, the religious landscape of the UK, and of London in particular, is itself being strongly shaped and re-shaped as a consequence of immigration. Perhaps the most obviously and widely discussed aspect of this is the increasing representation of religions other than Christianity amongst the UK population. Although this has increased substantially since the 1950s, religions other than Christianity accounted for less than 10% of the population of England and Wales in 2011, with those identifying as Muslim being the largest group (4.8%).56 But, as well as the growth of other religions, immigration has also fuelled the growth of some Christian denominations and traditions. In particular, Christians from West Africa and the Caribbean have influenced the growth of Pentecostalism in the UK, whilst migrants from Poland and other Eastern European countries have added to the numbers attending Roman Catholic churches.57 It has been estimated that Black Majority Churches (bmcs) account for approximately half a million Christians in the UK.58 This is not an entirely contemporary phenomenon, as noted in Chapter 1, the growth of Afro-Caribbean churches in the UK began in the 1950s and 1960s. Hugh Osgood documents the growth and changing nature of these churches since then, noting that ‘the large, single, independent Black Majority Church, drawing people from a wide geographical area, was not the dominant feature prior to 1980. Local congregations serving specific geographical diaspora communities under different denominational umbrellas were much more the pattern’.59 From 1980–2010 he observes that: Black Majority Church growth continued to involve a mixture of churchplanting approaches but was increasingly affected by West Africa’s 1970s evangelical campus revival. More African church leaders were sent to establish branches of existing African-based ministries; a respected professional gathered more fellow nationals; some who were sent to plant 55 Graham, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, p. 53. 56 Davie, Religion in Britain, pp. 43, 61. 57 Davie, Religion in Britain, p. 9. 58 David Goodhew, ‘Church Growth in Britain, 1980 to the Present Day’, in David Goodhew (ed.), Church Growth in Britain: 1980 to the Present (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012), pp. 3–20 (p. 3). 59 Hugh Osgood, ‘The Rise of Black Churches’ in David Goodhew (ed.), Church Growth in Britain: 1980 to the Present (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012), pp. 107–126 (p. 108).

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transferred themselves out of their original church grouping in order to church-plant independently and others who came to train in British Bible Schools planted churches on graduation. Throughout the period, a whole tranche of churches was planted by people who, having arrived in Britain to work professionally, used their initiative to start completely new, independent congregations.60 This trend of both smaller church plants, and the multiplication of much larger churches with 1000 or more members is anticipated to continue. Referring specifically to Nigerian-led Pentecostal churches, for example, Burgess et al. conclude that these churches ‘are quite clearly a social force in Europe: they are expanding, finding new ways of being present in public spaces and engaging with society, and are instrumental in constituting the spaces of the African Diaspora and shaping the self-conception of their members as valuable members of the host society’.61 This highlights the important part that churches can play in helping migrant communities integrate or negotiate developing transnational identities and tensions.62 It is important to note that London differs markedly from the rest of the UK in terms of its religious composition. The Church of England provides one marker of this, with the Diocese of London having experienced 70% growth over the past 20 years, while many other dioceses have been in numerical decline.63 The Roman Catholic church in London is also growing dramatically in number and diversity, particularly through its assimilation of immigrants. Together with the rapid growth of bmcs in the capital, this has given rise to a scenario in which ‘the Christian church in London is growing both in absolute terms and as a proportion of the population. London, in its burgeoning Christianity, is becoming more like American cities such as New York or Chicago which are very far from being “secular cities” (this is especially the case if we add in the growth of other faith communities)’.64 Therefore, London may represent a special case within the UK, although among both the bmcs and the charismatic constituencies, church planting 60 61 62 63 64

Osgood, ‘The Rise of Black Churches’, pp. 109–110. Richard Burgess, Kim Knibbe and Anna Quass, ‘Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal Churches as a Social Force in Europe: The Case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’, PentecoStudies, 9.1 (2010), pp. 97–121 (p. 1). Matthew Guest, Elizabeth Olson and John Wolffe, ‘Christianity: Loss of Monopoly’, in Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (eds.), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2012), pp. 57–78 (pp. 70–73). Goodhew, ‘Church Growth in Britain’, p. 5. Goodhew, ‘Church Growth in Britain’, p. 5.

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extends well beyond London, and it remains to be seen whether the church growth that the capital has experienced will subsequently make its way to other parts of the country through church planting, migration or other processes. 3.4

Faith and Social Policy: Concepts and Context

In this section we consider how the relationship between faith and social policy has been conceptualised in recent studies, as well as suggesting how the contemporary policy context can be mapped. 3.4.1 Conceptualising the Relationship between Faith and Social Policy Shifts in the national political landscape, and the outworking of economic recession in local communities, have brought the activities of local churches and other faith communities and organisations to the attention of policy makers and the wider public in increasing measure over recent years. This does not represent a complete disjuncture from the preceding years, in which New Labour welcomed the involvement of faith groups in building more cohesive communities and promoting multi- and inter-faith initiatives across the country. However, since the election of the Coalition government in 2010 and Conservative administration in 2015, there does seem to have been a step change in the nature, level and orientation of government and media engagement with faith, particularly in relation to provision for social needs.65 Within the academy, and the social sciences in particular, the postsecular turn noted above has opened up new spaces for the examination of faith and its social, cultural, political, and indeed scientific, implications.66 But within society, too, the resilience of faith and faith communities in contexts where modernisation, post-modernism, rationalism, globalisation and individualism have been dominant forces, raises questions about the presuppositions upon which attempts to delineate a ‘secular’ public sphere are based.67 This has become increasingly apparent in the context of austerity, where research in deprived communities has shown that churches tend to remain and serve the wider community after other charities and state-supported activities have been withdrawn due to lack of resources or results. 65

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For a useful summary of the landscape in a broader context, see Adam Dinham and Robert Jackson, ‘Religion, Welfare and Education’, in Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (eds.), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2012), pp. 272–294 (esp. pp. 273–279). E.g. Paul Cloke and Justin Beaumont, ‘Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City’, Progress in Human Geography, 37.1 (2012), pp. 27–51, esp. pp. 31–37. Romanillos et al. ‘State-Religion Relations and Welfare Regimes in Europe’, esp. pp. 38–53.

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Before mapping out the contemporary policy context within which the megachurches in this study find themselves operating, it is worth giving some attention to the different kinds of relationships that Christians, churches, and individuals can have with social policy. Much academic writing on the relationship between religion and social policy refers to religion in general, rather than Christianity in particular; nevertheless, that does not diminish its relevance for our purposes here. For instance, Jawad identifies two key ways of thinking theoretically about the relationship between religion and social policy which she describes as pertaining to: ‘the form of social policy, meaning the way in which religious actors and institutions have shaped the actual development of the welfare state and/or non-state social welfare action’, and ‘the content of social policy and social welfare, for instance, what values and definitions should constitute social welfare, the common good and correct moral action’.68 Furthermore, she notes that ‘religion in social policy is more than just about the mixed economy of welfare or faith-based organisations; it can provide a radical starting point for rethinking the nature of social welfare and, to a certain extent, the economic system’.69 This view seems to correspond with the intent of public theology, across the variety of forms outlined above, and certainly opens up a broad field of enquiry in terms of exploring the relationship between Christianity and social policy. The empirical nature of our study requires us to ask further questions, however. It is not sufficient for us to consider simply the relationship between Christianity as a religion and social policy: we need to unpack the way in which social policy is relevant to churches. To this end, we can further identify that churches are made up of people who experience the effects of social policy on, for example, the quality and extent of the public services they have access to, the tax they pay, the welfare benefits they receive, the planning decisions that affect their local community, and so on. By dint of their visibility and reputation, churches are frequently presented with needs experienced by people within their congregations and local communities upon which social policy has some bearing, for example around benefits, housing, social services, land use decisions, the criminal justice system, or immigration. Furthermore, this exposure can mean that they play a part in signposting people to services that are part of the state welfare system, or that they become co-producers of welfare within that system, either formally or informally.

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Rana Jawad, Religion and Faith-Based Welfare: From Wellbeing to Ways of Being (Bristol: The Policy Press, 2012), p. 55. 69 Jawad, Religion and Faith-Based Welfare, p. 55.

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Some practical expressions of the relationship between churches and social policy are more visible and easier to discern than others, for example the long­ standing role that churches have played in formal education at primary and secondary levels. Similarly, a service provided under contract to local government is a relatively easily identifiable relationship, whereas, assisting someone who is unable to buy food because of a delayed benefit payment may be a response to a complex combination of short and long term structural and personal problems. Some churches have engaged in migrant advocacy to assist converts to Christianity who seek refugee or migrant status and may indirectly influence practice on the ground if not policy. However, a church, or church member who engages in campaigning or advocacy work, may not know whether their action ultimately has an influence on social policy, and may in any case engage in this activity in a way that is not readily identifiable as part of their churches’ corporate social engagement. 3.4.2 Mapping the Contemporary Policy Context Since 2010 a range of austerity measures have been introduced by the UK government in order to reduce their budget deficits. These have included welfare reforms, increased use of sanctions within the social security benefits system, and cuts to budgets for local government and public services. Christian responses to the impacts of some austerity measures – such as The Trussell Trust’s network of food banks,70 the House of Bishops’ Letter regarding the 2015 General Election,71 and interventions in the House of Lords around the government’s plans to abolish Tax Credits – have been highly visible in public debate in the UK over recent years. Furthermore, as noted above, migration and the growth of migrant populations are re-shaping the UK’s faith profile, opening up new intersections between faith and the public sphere, and generating new questions for policy makers and politicians. Churches in the UK find themselves in a political context in which there is growing interest in their potential as service providers, and even as guardians of ‘British Values’, but in which antagonism is also frequently expressed towards challenges advanced by church leaders around issues of social and economic justice. Like the New Labour leaders who preceded him, the former Prime Minister, David Cameron, publicly applauded the role of faith communities in meeting 70 See https://www.trusselltrust.org (accessed 26 January, 2017). 71 Who is my Neighbour? A Letter from the House of Bishops to the People and Parishes of the Church of England for the General Election 2015 (London: The Church of England, 2015); see https://churchofengland.org/media/2170230/whoismyneighbour-pages.pdf (accessed 26 January, 2017).

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needs and helping to foster active citizenship. For instance, speaking about the Big Society in 2011, Cameron stated: ‘Tradition, community, family, faith, the space between the market and the state – this is the ground where our philosophy is planted’.72 In some respects, this corresponds with the Third Way politics espoused by previous Labour governments: both emphasise the importance of a strong civil society or third sector, and value associational life as a contributor to social wellbeing, citizenship and cohesion. However, there are also significant differences in the Coalition and more recently Conservative governments’ stance towards faith in comparison to New Labour’s approach.73 One such shift has been a move away from a strongly multi-faith approach, towards one which – at least to some extent – reasserts the centrality of ‘Christian values’ and institutions in British culture.74 Furthermore, Adam Dinham suggests that since 2010 the UK government has sought to ‘revalourise’ the Church of England.75 The Near Neighbours programme, established in 2011, has been presented as an example of this. Funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, this is a small grants programme to help local faith and community groups in London, Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford, Burnley and Oldham launch initiatives to boost the level of social action and social interaction in religiously and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods.76 The funding was administered by the Church Urban Fund – the Church of England’s agency for social engagement. The allocation of this role initially raised some concerns both within and beyond the Church of England, but support has also been expressed for this decision, including from representatives of other faiths.77 An evaluation of the programme shows that 35% of participants in the projects funded under the first wave of funding were Christian, 35% 72 73 74 75 76

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David Cameron Speech on the Big Society, Cabinet Office, https://www.gov.uk/government /speeches/speech-on-the-big-society (accessed 25 May, 2016). See Jawad, Religion and Faith-Based Welfare, pp. 119–122. E.g. Rowena Mason, ‘David Cameron: I am Evangelical about Christian Faith’, The Guardian (17 April 2014) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/16/david-cameronevangelical-about-christian-faith (accessed 25 May 2016). Adam Dinham, ‘Ontologies of Public Policy: How Philosophical and Religious Ideas Shape and Mis-Shape the Public Policy Debate’, unpublished Presentation to Philosophy, Religion and Public Policy Conference (University of Chester, 8–9 April 2014). Church Urban Fund, Near Neighbours, Small Grants Fund Final Impact Report: April 2011–December 2013, Near Neighbours, http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/users/ Andrew%20Matthews/Near-Neighbours/NN-Final-Grant-Report_Jan2014.pdf (2014), p. 1 (accessed 23 February, 2016). Clare MacLaren, ‘“Nearer Neighbours?”: An Analysis of the Factors that Inhibit or Promote Effective and Sustained Social Action and Interaction between Faith Communities in Bradford’, Unpublished dissertation, (unpublished Master’s Dissertation, 2013, University of Leeds); Terese O’Toole, ‘Faith and the Coalition: A New Confidence to “do God”?’,

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were Muslim and smaller proportions were of other faiths or none.78 In May 2016, £1.5 million of further funding for Near Neighbours was announced by the government. The scale of this funding, however, points to another important departure in government policy. A strong theme of New Labour policy on public service delivery was the contracting out of service provision to third sector organisations, including many faith-based groups. This tended to be administered at local government level, and funding was at a level intended to support the provision of professional standard public services by these organisations. There was also considerable investment in infrastructure to support third sector organisations, provided through the Capacity Builders initiative. An openness to the involvement of faith groups in public service provision has remained, and, as Jawad observes, ‘the government is now much more worried about discrimination against faith-based organisations, and consciously seeks to add clauses which stipulate that religious groups are offered opportunities to provide welfare services’.79 However, in many policy areas, the financial resources made available by government for the kinds of services that many faith based organisations were involved in providing has been substantially reduced. Capacity Builders was disbanded along with many other ‘quangos’ shortly after the 2010 General Election.80 For example, the National Audit Office estimates that there has been a 37% real-terms reduction in government funding to local authorities from 2010–11 to 2015–16.81 In the UK, local authorities are responsible for resourcing adult and child social services, schools, environmental services, housing services, amongst other responsibilities. Some Christians have seen the reduction of state funding for public services, and the increasing social and economic needs presented by the economic downturn, as an opportunity for churches to ‘step up’ in terms of social engagement. Whilst many have framed this in a less positive light, the former perspective certainly seems to have been the one that the government has anticipated and encouraged. An indicator of this was the allocation in 2013 of a share of £3.1 million from the government’s Social Action fund to the Christian international relief and development agency Tearfund, working in partnership with Westminster Faith Debates, (2013) http://www.bristol.ac.uk/medialibrary/sites/ethnicity/ migrated/documents/workingpaper3.pdf (23 February, 2016). 78 Near Neighbours, Small Grants Fund Final Impact Report, p. 2. 79 Jawad, Religion and Faith-Based Welfare, p. 79. 80 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/oct/14/government-to-reveal-which-quangos -will-be-scrapped (23 February, 2016). 81 https://www.na.o.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Impact-of-funding-reductionson-local-authorities.pdf (accessed 25 May, 2016).

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the Cinnamon Network, an organisation which seeks to support and replicate church-based social action projects across England. The grant was given to enable the Cinnamon Network to provide start-up grants and support projects that encourage volunteers to address social issues, including: food banks, employment programmes, debt-relief work, freedom from addiction programmes and helping homeless people.82 It should be noted, however, that these sums are small relative to the amounts of funding being withdrawn from statutory service provision for vulnerable social groups. Recent years have also seen the establishment in 2012 of an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society. This is chaired by Stephen Timms MP and aims to promote understanding of faith-based organisations engaged in social action in the UK, to highlight their contribution to the social, civic and spiritual capital of communities, to promote best practice, to consider how regulatory and legislative arrangements can make the most of their potential contribution, and to engaging in international conversations and actions in this area.83 One product of the work of this group has been the development of a Covenant document that local authorities and faith leaders can sign up to, which sets out a charter for how local authorities and faith groups will work together. The aim is ‘to remove some of the mistrust that exists and to promote open, practical working on all levels’.84 Birmingham City Council and faith leaders in Birmingham became the first to adopt the Covenant document in December 2014. An account of the relationship between faith and policy in the UK would be incomplete without reference to the work of Citizens UK, which exemplifies the growth of what is known as broad-based community organising.85 This has seen coalitions of activists, among whom faith groups are strongly represented, coming together to agree mutual campaigning priorities which are then taken to local and national decisions makers. Issues addressed have included

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https://www.na.o.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Impact-of-funding-reductions-on -local-authorities.pdf (accessed 25 May, 2016). All Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society, 2014–15 Summary Report (June 2015) http://www.faithandsociety.org/resources//appg-on-faith-and-society-summary -report-2014-15/ (accessed 20 June 2016). All Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society, Summary Report, p. 4. Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life, Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good, http://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Living%20with%20 Difference.pdf (accessed 20 June 2016); also see Luke Bretherton, Resurrecting Democracy: Faith, Citizenship and the Politics of a Common Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

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the National Living Wage and appeals for the UK to accept larger numbers of Syrian refugees. Given the context of the British religious landscape, and Christianity in particular, as well as the nature of social policy and its relationship to religion, we can now focus on the specific nature of church social engagement in terms of a definition, types of activity, tensions and sociological explanations. 3.5

Defining the Church’s Social Engagement

Much of the social science research on faith and social engagement has focused on the activities of faith-based organisations, such as charities that have been established by local churches or individual Christians to help meet particular needs. These are perhaps easier foci for research, since, in appearance at least, they would seem to be amenable to well-tested approaches to the study of third sector organisations. Taking churches as a unit of analysis, however, highlights the need for a more concertedly inter-disciplinary approach, since the concept itself is loaded with theological as well as sociological meaning. The word ‘church’ is used in many ways, but aside from being a name given to certain buildings used for Christian worship, or to a particular denomination, two key ways in which the term is used and understood are as the global ‘body’ or community of Christian believers, or as a local gathering or community of Christians (as in ‘the local church’ or a congregation). On first consideration, the latter of these is perhaps more easily apprehended, being more visible and tangible in the ways that groups and organisations are typically measured and researched in the social sciences: one can count the number of attendees at a Sunday service, for example, or request a list of the members of a given local church. For some purposes this may be sufficient. Both locally and globally, understanding church as a community of believers makes them difficult entities to quantify, since neither can be fully understood without some reference to theology: doing so requires an answer to the question, ‘what constitutes a Christian believer?’. As J.A. van der Ven points out, whilst the sociological analysis of churches as associations sheds light on some of their features and practices: …the explicit reference to God as the origin and aim of the church is lacking in the term association, as is the reference to God as the source and destination of the church. It is in this that the religious identity of the church lies. That is why community of believers contains an essential, indispensable, explicit supplement with regard to the church as an

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association. Without this supplement, the church runs the risk of being reduced to a socio-cultural association.86 If we are willing to conceptualise churches as communities of believers, we also need to look in different places and at different forms of engagement as embodying or expressing the relationship between church and society. Indeed, even conceiving of these as two separate entities becomes problematic. As Adam Dinham commented in a keynote address at a conference on Philosophy, Religion and Public Policy at the University of Chester, ‘the public sphere is infused with religious people and ideas’,87 and as van der Van observes, the church is a part of society, and thus ‘it is not adequate to talk about church and society’ but rather ‘it is better to talk of a “church in society”’.88 Furthermore, the biblical concept of the church as the ‘body of Christ’ invokes a particularly pervasive and permanent sense of belonging which is more closely intertwined with one’s identity and relationships than might typically be the case with membership of an organisation, for example. Certainly, there seems to be a need for broader and more nuanced ways of conceptualising and understanding the interaction, influence and different modes of engagement that occur between churches, and the wider community of which they form a part, at the local level, nationally, and in a global sense. How then might we conceptualise churches’ engagement in society? Firstly, we need to attend to forms of social engagement that differ from service provision and include building community, advocacy and campaigning activity,89 and to acknowledge that what appears to be spiritual provision (e.g. courses such as Alpha) may also play a part in meeting what we would ordinarily conceive of as social needs, and vice versa. Secondly, we should not expect all the social engagement activity of churches to be highly organised, collective or centrally planned. Thirdly, we should not necessarily look for activity undertaken exclusively by Christians: we can expect to find partnerships and collaborations, some temporary and issue focused, others much longer term and deliberate, between Christians and people of other and no faith, that contribute in some way to wellbeing or human flourishing.90 The down side of such a

86 87 88 89 90

Johannes A. van der Ven, Ecclesiology in Context (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), p. 43. Dinham, A. ‘Ontologies of Public Policy’, this quotation is taken from a presentation. van der Ven, Ecclesiology in Context, p. 31. David Conradson, ‘Expressions of Charity and Action towards Justice: Faith-Based Welfare in Urban New Zealand’, Urban Studies, 45.10 (2008), pp. 2117–2141. Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life Report, p. 61.

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holistic approach, however, is that it presents a vast landscape within which to research questions around Christianity and social engagement. If churches are defined as communities of believers (acknowledging that neither of these terms is unproblematic), a different approach is needed to identifying their presence and activity in society. From this viewpoint, we find fragments of such communities throughout each sector of the welfare mix. Considering the theme of faith engagement in urban governance, for example, Dinham and Lowndes ask ‘Can policy take account of joined up people as well as of joined up governance?’,91 alluding to the way in which, for some respondents, faith intersected every aspect of their lives, challenging assumptions about distinctions between the personal and the public spheres. Thus, we find public service professionals and politicians whose work is motivated and informed by their faith. Likewise, people working in voluntary organisations, running businesses, care giving in the home, or carrying out multiple and other such roles may all perceive of these roles as part of their function or purpose within the church. As such, it may be helpful to think in terms of identifying both ‘diffuse’ and ‘corporate’ forms of social engagement on the part of churches. The former includes the influence and impact that churches have within society through the activities of the individuals, such as through their employment, family life, political engagement, involvement with charities or local community life, and so on. The latter includes activities that churches organise and undertake collectively, which might include worship, prayer, food banks, courses, youth clubs and sports activities. We can also expect to find a range of beneficiaries of churches’ ‘social engagement’: some will be targeted to those who make up the church, some to those who do not see themselves as part of the church, and some for both at the same time. Although we acknowledge the significance of more diffuse forms of social engagement, for the purposes of this study, we are primarily interested in corporate forms, defining churches’ social engagement as: theologically-motivated corporate effort to exert social influence in the pursuit of human flourishing. Human flourishing has been adopted as a term which corresponds well with the holistic notion of wellbeing encompassed by the Hebrew word ‘shalom’, and which has resonance within policy discourses about wellbeing as well.92 91 92

Adam Dinham, and Vivien Lowndes, ‘Religion, Resources and Representation: Three Narratives of Engagement in British Urban Governance’, Urban Affairs Review, 43.6 (2008), pp. 817–845. On human flourishing, see the work of Miroslav Volf, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2011); Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015); and

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Sociological Perspectives on the Church’s Social Engagement

In this section, we consider the types of service provision, the tensions that exist between faith-based organisations and the state, as well as the concepts of faith and social capital, which have played such an important role in recent discussions in the literature. 3.6.1 Types of Service Provision The increasing prominence of social engagement by faith communities – as congregations, through faith-based organisations, or in more diffuse ways through individual actions and relationships – has been noted in scholarship across a wide range of disciplines over recent years.93 This engagement may take the form of direct service provision, political activism or communitybuilding activities, and occurs at a variety of scales from the neighbourhood level, to local, regional, national and international involvement. As noted above, we define social engagement in terms of the corporate effort to exert social influence. This corporate dimension lends itself to a closer focus on activities organised by churches rather than the more diffuse forms of social engagement that might take place through people’s working or personal lives. As such, it gives rise to a greater focus on service provision than campaigning, for example, which is perhaps more likely to be done by individuals. However, as will become clear in subsequent chapters, in some of the megachurches studied, the holistic lens through which social engagement was viewed meant that our analysis could not be strictly limited in this way. In relation to service provision, Williams et al. suggest that ‘fbo [Faith Based Organisation/s] activity … embraces a range of welfare arenas, including support for children and youth, the elderly, homeless people, and asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, and a range of welfare activities relating to housing, poverty and debt, disability, and community regeneration’.94

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with Justin E. Crisp (eds.), Joy and Human Flourishing: Essays on Theology, Culture, and the Good Life (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015). Andrew Williams, Paul Cloke, Samuel Thomas, ‘Co-constituting Neoliberalism: FaithBased Organisations, Co-option, and Resistance in the UK’, Environment and Planning A, 44.6 (2012), pp. 1479–1501; Adam Dinham, Faith, Public Policy and Civil Society: Policies, Problems and Concepts in Faith-based Public Action, (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009); Robert Furbey and Marie Macey ‘Religion and Urban Regeneration: A Place for Faith?’, Policy and Politics, 33.1 (2005), pp. 95–116; Amos Zehavi, ‘Religious Supply, Welfare State Restructuring and Faith-Based Social Activities’, Political Studies, 61.3 (2013), pp. 561–579. Williams, Cloke, and Thomas, ‘Co-constituting Neoliberalism’, p. 1479.

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Likewise, in response to the question, ‘what do faith groups do for their wider communities?’, the Christians in Parliament Faith in the Community report tells us: ‘lots’.95 Expanding on this, findings from their survey of 155 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales showed that faith groups were identified as providing food banks, street pastors, debt advice, caring for the young and the elderly, anger management and a wide range of other activities. Focusing more specifically on Christian social engagement, a recent Church Urban Fund report on the influence of churches in deprived neighbourhoods focused on twelve case study churches. These were engaged in their communities through a wide range of activities, which the report categorises into five key areas: meeting basic material needs (e.g. night-shelters, foodbanks, hot meals); employment (e.g. job clubs); life skills (e.g. financial education, support); children and youth work (e.g. schools work, youth clubs) and neighbourliness (community gatherings; hospitality; building trust and belonging).96 These reports highlight the significance of the church’s provision of long term and informal interventions, as well as the crisis provision that has been foregrounded in recent media coverage of food banks, for example. Particularly notable over the past fifteen years has been the growth of ‘franchised’ forms of Christian social engagement, whereby resources to deliver a tried and tested project are provided to local churches or related organisations, typically at a cost. This might include training, handbooks, computer software and other forms of support. Amongst the most well-known and widespread of these are the Trussell Trust network of food banks and Christians Against Poverty, which offers debt advice, job clubs and help with life skills. The Cinnamon Network is now offering or signposting churches to a growing range of social action projects that can be accessed and developed in a similar fashion.97 These developments are largely but not exclusively rooted in evangelical or charismatic churches. 3.6.2 Understanding the Tensions The reorganisation and retrenchment of state welfare provision is cited as contributing to increasing contemporary political, media and academic interest in 95 96 97

Christians in Parliament Faith in the Community: Strengthening Ties between Faith Groups and Local Authorities, (2013); http://www.eauk.org/current-affairs/publications/loader .cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=38452 (accessed 25 January 2017). Paul Bickley, Good Neighbours: How Churches Help Communities Flourish (London: Church Urban Fund, 2014); http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/PDFs/Research/Good%20 Neighbours%20Report-CUF-Theos-2014.pdf (accessed 26 May, 2016). The Cinnamon Network, http://www.cinnamonnetwork.co.uk/projects/ (accessed 26 May, 2016).

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faith groups’ role in the public sphere.98 However, this is not the only story that can be told. There is also a supply-side dimension to faith based social engagement: changes in theology, practice, size, demographics, confidence and the capacity of different faith groups over time influence the nature and extent of their involvement in local communities. Furthermore, there are ways in which faith communities resist, subvert, campaign against, or indeed are oblivious to neoliberalism and national or local level government policy and economic decisions.99 As Jamoul and Wills point out ‘faith organisations are a potentially powerful political resource in the contemporary city…. However, it is not an engagement that buys wholesale into the mainstream political and economic agenda’.100 Many of the policy issues affecting faith communities and fbos correspond with those influencing the third sector organisations (such as charities and social enterprises). These include questions about the role of volunteers and their willingness (or otherwise) to be actors in implementing government policy,101 the implications of accepting government funding on values and ethos,102 the challenge of campaigning for social justice whilst also acting as delivery partners with government, and the potential to be used as a cheap way of providing welfare services, with statutory ‘safety nets’ having been withdrawn.103 In addition, the lack of religious literacy and understanding in the public sphere can make it difficult for motivations and values to be discussed in a way that is both sensitive and widely comprehensible.104 Those critical or at least wary of the 98 99

Williams, Cloke, and Thomas, ‘Co-constituting Neoliberalism’, p. 1480. David Conradson, ‘Expressions of Charity and Action towards Justice: Faith-Based Welfare in Urban New Zealand’, Urban Studies, 45.10 (2008), pp. 2117–2141 (p. 2120); B. Cairns, M. Harris, and R. Hutchison, ‘Sharing God’s Love or Meeting Government Goals?’, Policy and Politics, 35.3 (2007), pp. 413–432. 100 Lina Jamoul and Jane Wills, ‘Faith in Politics’, Urban Studies, 45.10 (2008), pp. 2035–2056. (p. 2056). 101 Cairns et al., ‘Sharing God’s Love or Meeting Government Goals?’, pp. 427–429. 102 E.g. Helen Rose Ebaugh, Janet S. Chafetz, and Paula Pipes, ‘Funding Good Works: Funding Sources of Faith-Based Social Service Coalitions’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 34.4 (2005), pp. 448–472; Paul Cloke, Sarah Johnsen, and Jon May, ‘Ethical Citizenship? Volunteers and the Ethics of Providing Services for Homeless People’, Geoforum, 38.6 (2007), pp. 1089–1101. 103 Adam Dinham and Vivien Lowndes, ‘Religion and Urban Regeneration’; Faith Based Regeneration Network, Faiths, Social Action and Big Society, (Faith Based Regeneration Network, 2010) http://www.fbrn.org.uk/files/FbRN%20conference%202010.pdf. (accessed 3 July, 2016). 104 Faith Based Regeneration Network, Faiths, Social Action and Big Society (Report from the Faith Based Regeneration Network UK National Conference held on 19 October 2010); http://www.fbrn.org.uk/factsheets/faiths-social-action-and-big-society (accessed 25 January, 2017); Greg Smith, ‘Faith in Community and Communities of Faith? Government

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involvement of faith communities worry about inclusion/exclusion issues as well as conditionality (the idea that a service is supplied based on some form of faith participation).105 A continuing theme in discussions about the relationship between faith groups and the state is that of instrumentalism: the concern that faith communities are valued primarily in so far as they contribute to government agendas, and that they may be unwittingly, unjustly or inappropriately co-opted into fulfilling them.106 The reasons for government partnering with faith communities and fbos in the current climate seem very similar to those identified by Bretherton’s review of government reports and speeches, from which he concluded that ‘faith designated groups’ were: …seen as: (1) effective means of achieving social policy goals in areas where government has had little success (for example, in inner city schooling and urban regeneration); (2) good entry points for reaching socially excluded groups in culturally sensitive ways; (3) having concrete resources that can be utilised (for example, buildings, and local staff); (4) having a long-term commitment to, and past experience within particular localities, in contrast to welfare professionals who commute in and out and who tend to operate with a very different worldview than those they serve; and (5) being cost effective and able to provide best value for money.107 None of these observations are necessarily problematic in and of themselves; however, it is worth holding these up against the explanations that churches and Christian organisations themselves give for their own existence and activities, and how they perceive their capacities, priorities and relationship to government, as well as to their local communities. 3.6.3 Faith and Social Capital In addition to direct service provision, faith communities and their activities are frequently seen as a means of building community and encouraging citizens to be actively involved in their communities. Here again, much of the

Rhetoric and Religious Identity in Urban Britain’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 19.2 (2004), pp. 185–204. 105 Davie, Religion in Britain, pp. 209–211. 106 T. O’Toole, ‘Faith and the Coalition’, pp. 1–4; Greg Smith, ‘Religion, and the Rise of Social Capitalism: The Faith Communities in Community Development and Urban Regeneration in England’, Community Development Journal, 37. 2 (2002), pp. 167–177. 107 Luke Bretherton, Christianity & Contemporary Politics, pp. 41–42.

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existing literature does not distinguish between the contribution or nature of different religions or denominations in this respect. Faith has been identified as an important factor in motivating civic engagement: for example, the 2005 Citizenship Survey showed that those who actively practise a religion were more likely to volunteer than others.108 More recent work on the British ‘civic core’ showed that members of this civic core – those that contribute 90% of volunteering hours, four-fifths of the amount given to charity, and nearly 80% of participation in civic associations – are significantly more likely to say that they are ‘actively practising their religion’, than those outside it.109 However, whilst this tells us something about the extent of the contribution that people of faith make to society, it says little about the nature or quality of the relationships they build along the way, and understanding these is essential if we are interested in the influence of faith in and between communities, which are of course relational in nature. One way in which scholars have sought to conceptualise such relationships is through the lens of ‘social capital’, which refers to networks and relationships between individuals, and the trust, reciprocity and shared values that these generate. Social capital has become a prominent, albeit contested concept, both in the academic literature and in the public and political sphere. This is largely due to the influence of New Labour’s Third Way and then the Conservative/Coalition’s Big Society project, both of which have emphasised active citizenship, civic renewal and the strengthening of local communities. At the same time, a growing body of reflection and research on the role of faith in relation to social capital has arisen.110 For example, in their study Faith as Social Capital, Furbey et al. conclude that: ‘faith communities contribute substantial 108 Home Office Citizenship Survey, (London, Home Office, 2005). 109 John Mohan and Sarah L. Bulloch, ‘The Idea of a “Civic Core”: What are the Overlaps between Charitable Giving, Volunteering, and Civic Participation in England and Wales?’, Working Paper 73, (University of Birmingham, Third Sector Research Centre, 2012); http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/documents/tsrc/working-papers/workingpaper-73.pdf (accessed 23 February, 2016). 110 R. Furbey, A. Dinham, R. Farnell, D. Finneron, and G. Wilkinson, G. with C. Howarth, D. Hussain, and S. Palmer, Faith as Social Capital: Connecting or Dividing? (Report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Bristol: Policy Press, 2006); Mark R. Warren, ‘Community Organizing in Britain: The Political Engagement of Faith-Based Social Capital’, City & Community, 8.2 (2009), pp. 99–127; Chris Baker and Greg Smith, ‘Spiritual, Religious and Social Capital: Exploring their Dimensions and their Relationship with Faith-Based Motivation and Participation in UK Civil Society’, Paper presented to British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Group Conference, Edinburgh, April 2010; http:// williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Spiritual-ReligiousSocial-Capital-Baker-Smith.pdf (accessed 23 February, 2016).

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and distinctive bridging and linking social capital through their co-presence in urban areas, their connecting frameworks, the use of their buildings, the spaces that their associational networks open up, their engagement in governance, and their work across boundaries with others in the public domain’.111 Depending on their values and the way in which these are expressed in practice, faith communities can play an important role in creating social environments in which individuals feel accepted and valued, and within which a sense of belonging can be nurtured.112 The bonding capital nurtured within such communities can play an important part in integrating and supporting those who would otherwise be marginalised. For example, reporting on research on broad-based community organising in London, Jamoul and Wills stated that: ‘At a time of democratic disengagement and the decline of social capital, faith organisations are often havens of association, support and solidarity in the contemporary city, particularly for ethnic minority groups’.113 In their US-based work, Unruh and Sider argue that congregational social capital can contribute to civic benefits in three main ways: (1) by empowering corporate social action; (2) by encouraging social engagement by individual members; and (3) by facilitating the sharing of resources within and beyond the congregation’s relational network.114 They also suggest that religious culture helps to shape the vision that translates social capital or capacity into social action. However, concerns have also been raised about the potential cooption of faith communities and faith-based voluntary organisations by government through the political use of the social capital concept.115 There are fears that political demands for faith communities to serve as the ‘social glue’ in local communities may prevent them from fully exercising the values and purposes upon which they are based. One approach to this problem has been to develop further concepts which capture additional dimensions or characteristics of faith communities. In a report arising from a study of community regeneration through churches and church-based projects in Manchester, 111 Furbey et al., Faith as Social Capital, p. 50. 112 E.g. Heather Buckingham, ‘Capturing Diversity: A Typology of Third Sector Organisations’ Responses to Contracting Based on Empirical Evidence from Homelessness Services’, Journal of Social Policy, 41.3 (2012) pp. 569–589; David Conradson, ‘Spaces of Care in the City: The Place of a Community Drop-in Centre’, Social & Cultural Geography, 4.4 (2003), pp. 507–525. 113 Jamoul and Wills, ‘Faith in Politics’, p. 2052. 114 Heidi Rolland Unruh and Ronald J. Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 219. 115 E.g. Furbey et al., Faith as Social Capital, p. 6.

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Baker and Skinner develop and define the concepts of spiritual and religious capital as follows: Spiritual capital refers to the values, ethics, beliefs and vision which faith communities bring to civil society at the global and local level. It also refers to the holistic vision for change held within an individual person’s set of beliefs. Spiritual capital in this form … relates to intangibles such as ideas and visions… Religious capital reflects the pragmatic and functional outworkings of spiritual capital … [it] is put into practice by faiths – in institutional or network form – supporting practical work within their own communities, as well as participating in other areas of social and public life for the benefit of wider society.116 Their report goes on to identify different ‘strands’ within each of these forms of ‘capital’, and further work by Baker and Smith, for example, has sought to apply these strands to a diverse range of spiritual and religious groups.117 A particular advantage of this approach, perhaps, is that it can identify points of agreement or commonality between faiths and denominations. It also highlights significant variations that correspond with differing theologies and worldviews, demonstrating the need for a more nuanced approach to understanding and working with faith communities than has often been found among policy makers, politicians and in the public sphere more broadly. When considering the issue of faith and community cohesion, there is also a ‘darker’ side which cannot be ignored: faith – often in association with, or as an aspect of, culture or ethnicity – can sometimes be a factor that divides communities, leading to isolation, segregation and in some cases tension or violence. A Home Office report commissioned following riots in parts of Oldham, Burnley and Bradford in 2001 found that ‘separate educational arrangements, community and voluntary bodies, employment, places of worship, language, social and cultural networks, means that many communities operate on the basis of a series of parallel lives’.118 Given this lack of contact, the report suggests it is 116 Chris Baker and Hannah Skinner, Faith in Action: The Dynamic Connection between Spiritual and Religious Capital (London: William Temple Foundation, 2006), p. 12; http:// williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Faith-in-Action-William -Temple-Foundation-2003.pdf (accessed 23 February, 2016). 117 Baker and Smith, ‘Spiritual, Religious and Social Capital’, pp. 1–39. 118 T. Cantle, Community Cohesion: A Report of the Independent Review Team, (London: Home Office, 2001), p. 9; http://image.guardian.co.uk/sysfiles/Guardian/documents/2001/12/11/

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not surprising that ignorance frequently develops into fear, particularly where extremist groups of different persuasions exploit this to undermine cohesion. Again, it should be noted that it is difficult to distinguish here the influences of faith, ethnicity, culture and other factors. Countering this outcome, however, it could be said that faith communities can play a part in building bridging (between groups), as well as bonding (within groups) social capital,119 and empirical studies have documented the potential for effective relationships to develop between congregations of different faiths and between these congregations and secular organisations.120 Indeed, building harmonious relations with those of other faiths or none is seen by many people of faith as integral to practising their faith. Nevertheless, as Baker and Smith observe, building social cohesion is also influenced by geography, denomination and education among other factors.121 It has also been noted that ‘bridging and linking remains a relatively fragile dimension of the activity of many faith communities, mainly because it relies on a small number of highly motivated people with the vision to see opportunities beyond the more immediate needs of bonding’.122 Variations in the generation of bridging and bonding social capital within and between faith communities of differing characteristics cautions against assenting to a simplistic view that such communities are homogenously ready, willing and capable suppliers or creators of social cohesion and vibrant civil society. Such a view would overlook some of the social and spatial inequalities, political and theological differences which, in practice, produce a more complex and contested relational landscape. Measures of volunteering, giving and other forms of civic participation point towards the significant contribution that faith communities make to civil society in the UK, and relationships and connections within local communities represent a useful, if incomplete, way of understanding this influence. We close this section with an important caveat from the late Don Browning (a famous American practical theologian from the University of Chicago), on the subject of ecclesial generated social capital, which is extremely insightful. He wrote:

communitycohesionreport.pdf (accessed 13 May, 2016). 119 Baker and Smith, ‘Spiritual, Religious and Social Capital’, pp. 18–21. 120 E.g. Jamoul and Wills, ‘Faith in Politics’, pp. 2035–2056; Cloke and Beaumont, ‘Geographies of Postsecular Rapprochement in the City’, pp. 27–51. 121 Baker and Smith, ‘Spiritual, religious and social capital’, pp. 21–29. 122 Furbey et al., Faith as Social Capital, p. 25.

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It is dangerous to think of churches in terms of social capital. Churches are carriers of religious stories that reveal God’s will and grace. Salvation, not the increase of social capital, is the primary purpose of churches and their narratives…. Christians do not live the Christian life to produce social capital but it appears that increased social capital is a long-term, secondary consequence of Christian life.123 This insight is an important one, reminding us that the social ministry or engagement cannot be reduced to social capital, even if it generates a considerable amount if it (as if it can be measured, of course). 3.7

Understanding the ‘Why’: Theology, Sociology and Ecclesial Practice

While the evidence of what churches are doing may be growing, from the perspective of the social sciences, it seems that we know relatively less about who or what they are, and why they are doing it. One of the problems with concepts such as social capital and community cohesion is that they predispose us to somewhat instrumentalist thinking, jumping to questions of how churches’ resources might be harnessed for policy purposes, without first seeking to understand how such groups conceive of their own purpose and relationship to the rest of society. Being able to begin to answer these questions of identity and purpose is important if we are to identify true points of convergence and synergy between the objectives and activities of particular faith groups and policy makers, and to distinguish these from areas where distinctiveness and autonomy needs to be maintained. A challenge, of course, is that such questions do not have simplistic, generic answers: variations will occur within and between churches, denominations, and individuals, let alone in association with class, culture, life experience and location, to name but a few factors. Within the social science literature, the word ‘faith’ is frequently used, avoiding reference to the varying contributions and types of engagement by different religious groupings, and escaping the need to differentiate between contrasting explanations, forms and practices. However, specificity and depth are important in building understanding of complex questions such as how faith and society relate to one another. Intensive, qualitative empirical research is an important way of building up a 123 Unruh and Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society, p. 237, citing their source as John A. Coleman, ‘Religious Social Capital: Its Nature, Social Location and Limits’, in Corwin Smidt (ed.), Religion as Social Capital (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2003), pp. 33–47 (p. 45).

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picture of these internal narratives: how people of faith perceive and explain the relationship between their faith and society. Unsurprisingly, when asked to talk about the relationship between their faith and social engagement, research participants tend to offer fragments of theological reflection or teachings, or practical examples. These fragments can be difficult to interpret without reference to the ‘bigger picture’ narratives or theological frameworks to which they relate. There are examples of social research that attend closely to the theological narratives emerging from fieldwork and from traditional and theological sources.124 In human geography, David Conradson’s research on landscapes of care explored the way in which the Christian concept of agapē love was ‘operationalised’ by staff and volunteers at a drop-in centre through particular value-informed ways of relating to others.125 Similarly, Cloke et al.’s research on UK homelessness services included detailed discussion of the Christian understanding of ‘caritas’, in contrast to a secular humanist approach, and explored how this was evidenced both in organisational discourses and individual practices in these settings.126 This literature is both innovative and insightful, but much of it has focused on faith-based organisations or on aspects such as service provision and social cohesion, giving a limited picture of the relationship between churches and local communities and wider society. Public theology and ecclesiology (the theological study of the Christian church) have dealt with this relationship far more thoroughly, but this literature can be difficult to engage with directly from disciplinary perspectives where an implicit methodological and conceptual atheism is the norm, or where there is little prior knowledge of theological concepts and language. It is also the case that, with a few exceptions,127 existing empirical work in this field in the UK has thus far tended to focus on evangelical and liberal congregations, with less attention being given to charismatic and Pentecostal churches. 124 It could be argued that Evangelical movements traced their roots to the pietism found among those associated with the Clapham group, such as William Wilberforce, who influenced British Society significantly and pioneered this role for others to follow. For a discussion of the influence of Wilberforce, see: Eric Metaxas, Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (New York: HarperCollins, 2007). 125 Conradson, ‘Spaces of Care in the City’, p. 512. 126 Paul Cloke, Sarah Johnsen and Jon May, ‘Exploring Ethos? Discourses of “Charity” in the Provision of Emergency Services for Homeless People’, Environment and Planning A, 37.3 (2005), pp. 385–402. 127 E.g. Andy Wier, ‘Faith-Based Social Action Below the Radar: A Study of the UK Charismatic-Evangelical Urban Church’, Voluntary Sector Review, 5.1 (2014), pp. 29–45; Andrew Williams, ‘Spiritual Landscapes of Pentecostal Worship, Belief, and Embodiment in a Therapeutic Community: New Critical Perspectives’, Emotion, Space and Society, 19 (2016), pp. 45–55.

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Finally, in this chapter, we close by noting the findings from a US-based study on church-based social engagement and in particular megachurch engagement. Unruh and Sider in their study of megachurches define social ministry as ‘any corporate effort of the church to influence society or improve quality of life beyond the church’s membership’.128 This is somewhat similar to our definition, except that we have used the concept of ‘human flourishing’ as opposed to ‘quality of life’, which appears to resonate with a ‘medical model’ in the UK context. The components they include are: (1) corporate effort, (2) social influence and (3) improvement to quality of life. Within this definition they identify four broad categories of social ministry: (1) relief services – giving a hungry person a fish – directly supplying food, clothing etc.; (2) personal development – teaching a person to fish – empowering individuals to improve their physical, emotional, intellectual, relational and social status; (3) community development – giving people fishing equipment – renewing the building blocks of a healthy community, such as housing, jobs, health care and education; and (4) systemic change – helping everybody get fair access to the fish pond – transforming unjust political, economic, environmental, or cultural systems, which is often accomplished through advocacy methods.129 3.8 Conclusion In this chapter, we have situated our study at the intersection of public theology, the sociology of religion and social policy discussions of religious social engagement. These fields of study provide the inter-disciplinary context of ecclesial social engagement, through which we aim to interpret the empirical data gathered through qualitative enquiry. In the rest of this book, we shall aim to explore the empirical data to address issues emerging from public theology and social engagement. The next section of the book offers a set of nuanced case study chapters that explains the different churches in context and the nature of their social engagement. Specifically, we shall listen to the voices of the agents engaged in social ministry among the megachurches and in particular their theological motivations for their activity. These motivations will then be brought into conversation with the concept of globalisation since the global city of London provides the concrete context for their life and expression. This will be followed by a discussion of the implications of our findings for the church and social policy, finally suggesting a possible way of articulating an ecclesiology of social engagement by way of a conclusion to this study. 128 Unruh and Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society, p. 28. 129 Unruh and Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society, p. 29.

Part 2 Empirical Studies

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The Church of England 4.1 Introduction In this chapter we consider two Church of England parishes, Holy Trinity Church, Brompton and All Souls Church, Langham Place.1 The aim of the chapter is to describe these churches and their social engagement activities in sufficient detail in order to understand the ‘what’ of their social engagement. We seek to address what exactly it is that they do and the narratives by means of which these activities are expressed and explained. We also seek to identify key themes that emerge, which will be picked up and reflected on later in this study. We begin our discussion with Holy Trinity Church, Brompton. 4.2

Description of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton

This section reports the findings of the three-month case study research undertaken at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton. The research consisted of a review of relevant literature, not least the church website, but also other written material that informs our understanding of the church context. Sermons were watched online and the daily ‘Bible in One Year’ was read for the duration of the case study. The study also entailed participant observation at church services, social engagement ministries, and other church activities, generating hundreds of pages of field notes. Interviews were conducted with more than twenty people, from church leaders, to ministry leaders, volunteers and those who participate in the various activities of the church. In addition, informal conversations were held with people involved in the church at all levels. This data has been drawn together in this chapter to chart our findings regarding the social engagement activities of the church.

1 Intensive fieldwork was conducted by Dunlop at the following times: htb, April–June, 2014; All Souls, September–December 2014. Most empirically-gathered material was obtained during these periods. Apart from the Senior Pastors of these churches, any names used are pseudonyms in order protect the privacy of participants.

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4.2.1 The Parish Holy Trinity Church, Brompton (hereafter ‘htb’) is located in South Kensington, a wealthy area of London with museums, the Royal Albert Hall and Harrods, the iconic upmarket department store. The church was started in 1829 by ‘a small number of people with a vision for God’s ministry in the area’,2 the building was funded by Parliament’s Commissioners for Building New Churches.3 htb proceeded to grow and serve the community as a typical parish church, although the parish itself grew to include two other Anglican churches. In 1865 an Assistant Minister (otherwise described as a ‘Curate’) left htb to start Anglo-Catholic style services, acquiring the funds needed to build St Augustine’s Church, Queen’s Gate on the edge of the parish in 1869.4 In the 1970s the parish merged with nearby St Paul’s Church, Onslow Square. Further details regarding the church buildings that currently comprise htb and host the eleven weekly worship services are detailed more fully in a subsequent Section 4.2.4 below. 4.2.2 History Andrew Walker observes that, although the spread of Pentecostalism in Britain was sectarian and largely working class, when the Charismatic Renewal grew within the Church of England and the British Roman Catholic church, it was essentially a middle-class movement and formed a ‘church’ within the Church.5 Indeed, this is precisely the picture we see at htb in South Kensington in terms of its charismatic tradition within the Church of England. Furthermore, it is impossible to understand the social action motivations of htb without an understanding of their place within the Charismatic movement. Having provided an outline of the emergence of the Charismatic Renewal movement in Chapter 1, we briefly describe htb’s relationship to this movement more specifically. In the late 1960s an Assistant Minister, Nicholas Rivett-Carnac, invited speakers Jean Darnell and Colin Urquhart to teach about the Holy Spirit, which was credited with laying the foundations for what happened later within the church.6 Anglican Charismatics had already taken on many of the forms and practices of the Charismatic Renewal, for example, David Watson had been

2 From a sermon by David Walker, (htb Assistant Minister), 14 September 2014. 3 Barbara Clapham and Catherine Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations (London: Holy Trinity Brompton, 2005), p. 5. 4 Clapham and Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations, p. 29. 5 Andrew Walker, ‘Charismatics on the March’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 6.2 (1991), pp. 11–13. 6 Clapham and Tye, p. 38.

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writing for some years about spiritual warfare.7 Former barrister, Sandy Millar, came to the parish in 1976 as an Assistant Minister and eventually, in 1985, became the Vicar of the joint parish of htb and St Paul’s Church, Onslow Square. Influenced by the Charismatic Renewal movement of the 1960s and 70s and the preaching of Pentecostal leader David du Plessis, Millar wanted to open up the church to become more accessible to younger people, through applying ‘charismatic-style freedom to the worship’ and doing away with clergy robes.8 John Wimber, an American Charismatic Evangelical and leader of the Vineyard denomination, was highly influential in the Renewal movement in Britain during the 1980s.9 In 1982 he preached at St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood, during a convention of Anglican Evangelicals and that same year he preached at htb for the first time. In 1984, he returned to Britain and hosted a six-day conference called ‘Third Wave’, at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.10 This event had a major impact on the Charismatic Renewal and its appreciation by a wider British Christian audience, comprising talks and workshops on inner healing, deliverance, spiritual warfare and church growth.11 The largest denominational group in attendance were the Anglicans, including people from htb.12 That same year Nicky Gumbel became an Assistant Minister at htb, which had become a key player in the Charismatic Renewal movement. Given the subsequent large increases in church attendance, in 1989 Sandy Millar re-opened the previously disused building of St Paul’s Church, Onslow Square, located within the parish. In 1994, Nicky Gumbel invited Eleanor Mumford, the wife of a Vineyard church leader, to share a testimony at htb Sunday services about her visit to the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church where she had experienced what was being referred to as ‘the Toronto Blessing’, a powerful spiritual experience. Sandy

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David Watson, Hidden Warfare, (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1970). Clive Price, Glorious Awakenings: First-Hand Experiences of Revival (London: Triangle, 1999), p. 17. Raymond Turvey, the vicar from 1975–1980, had dispensed with robes for the evening service. C. Peter Wagner, ‘The Third Wave’, Christian Life 44 (February 1986), pp. 6–7. Scholars such as Wagner have conceptualised historical movements of the Holy Spirit as happening in three waves. The first wave was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit early in the twentieth century, giving birth to the Pentecostal movement. The second wave constituted the Charismatic Movement which included historical and mainline denominations. The third wave was seen to be a time of classical Pentecostals joining with all others affected by Charismatic Renewal in a growing sense of unity. Stephen Hunt, ‘The Anglican Wimberites’, Pneuma: the Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, 17.1 (1995), pp. 105–118. Hunt, ‘The Anglican Wimberites’, p. 112.

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Millar also managed to travel to Toronto to visit the Airport Vineyard Church.13 People recounted that a wave of the Holy Spirit passed around the church when she prayed, and according to the church’s newspaper, Focus, ‘hundreds were powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit’.14 Over that summer, services attracted long queues of people eager to experience the ‘Toronto Blessing’.15 Millar invited clergy and church leaders from around the UK to come to htb to experience the blessing. Indeed, more than four thousand churches from a variety of traditions ‘received’ the Toronto Blessing in the UK at that time. In April 1995, Alpha magazine featured an article with the headline, ‘Has the Toronto Blessing Run Dry?’ Sandy Millar commented, ‘… there’s no doubt at all … that we are in an unusually wonderful move of God’s Spirit’. He continued by explaining that the next step taken by the church would have a major impact on the world.16 John Wimber, who was hugely influential in relation to htb, said, ‘One of the reasons I come back again and again and again when you ask me, is because of this: it’s happening here. You are winning the lost; you are planting churches; you are worshipping God; you are feeding the hungry; you are doing the works of the kingdom. God is calling you to shake this city, and if you shake London, you will shake most of the world’.17 Nicky Gumbel, Tim Hughes and other htb leaders acknowledge the strong influence of both John Wimber and Sandy Millar on the church, particularly in relation to openness to renewal by the Spirit of God. It is this sensitivity to the Holy Spirit learned from Millar that Nicky Lee, now Associate Vicar of htb, credits with the huge growth of htb.18 In 2005 Nicky Gumbel became the vicar of htb. In the following section we continue to tell the story of htb, with particular attention to the vision of the church and how this works in practice over four sites. 4.2.3 Current Vision Both Sandy Millar and Nicky Gumbel present compelling visions for church planting. According to the htb website, The Bishop of London at the time of 13

htb in Focus, 12 June 1994, the monthly paper of Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican Church in London, viewed in Renewal Journal 5.1 (1995), pp. 24–31. https://renewaljournal.blog/2011/05/23/renewal-blessings-reflectionsnbspfrom-england/ (accessed 18 June 2018). 14 Price, Glorious Awakenings, p. 19. 15 Clapham and Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations, p. 42. 16 David Hilborn (ed.) ‘ Toronto’ in Perspective: Papers on the New Charismatic Wave of the Mid 1990s (Carlisle: Acute, 2001), pp. 225–226. 17 Price, Glorious Awakenings, p. 22. 18 Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014.

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research, Richard Chartres, described Sandy Millar, under whose leadership much of the initial church planting took place, as a ‘professor of church planting’. In fact, one htb church leader told us that htb is not so much a ‘megachurch’ as it is a ‘church planting movement’ and increasingly this appears to be true. At the Leadership conference in 2014, Nicky Gumbel said that starting in 1984, htb has participated in 45 church plants around London and further afield.19 He said that the church has grown in London by 100,000 people in the last ten years. Indeed, htb is not like other megachurches that seek to keep growing their central community numerically. Instead, working with a local bishop, they plant congregations into empty church buildings or reinvigorate existing but dwindling congregations. They send an Assistant Minister, with perhaps a few other staff members to lead the church, and up to 100 congregation members into the new context. In 2010 they planted their first church outside of London, in Brighton, which by 2014 had grown to 1000 worshippers. Increasingly, these church plants are more like ‘grafts’, working in partnership with existing congregations, not always Anglican. For example, St Swithins was planted in Lincoln in 2014 in partnership with a free church. Sometimes this church planting/grafting is done more informally. For example, Dunlop was invited by a member of the church to visit a ‘Connect’ group, a fellowship group of about twenty-five people living in East London. By the time Dunlop managed to attend a meeting, the group had decided to respond to the invitation of a Vicar in East London to join his church. So, this group of young professionals moved from attending htb to resourcing a much smaller church more local to where they lived, supporting a growing work among students. Significantly, they would continue to meet as a group. The vision of htb is stated on their website: ‘We are a vibrant Anglican church in the heart of London, with a vision to play our part in the evangelisation of the nations, the revitalisation of the church and the transformation of society’.20 This vision reflects their commitment to the evangelistic process called the Alpha Course (hereafter simply referred to as ‘Alpha’), their church planting and grafting activities described above, and their social engagement ministries.

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Technically it is 39 church plants and six church partnerships. https://www.htb.org/about-htb (accessed 21 March 2016). In 2014 at the time of the fieldwork, the vision was ‘the re-evangelisation of the nations and the transformation of society’. According to the htb Communications Director, the addition of the phrase, ‘revitalisation of the church’ reflects htb’s commitment to building and resourcing local churches, and recognizing the need to work with other churches.

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4.2.4 Worship Services Alpha and the various ministries will be discussed below, but first we will give an overview of the worship patterns of htb. A leader of the church told us that they estimate they have 4000–5000 people attending worship on a Sunday over eleven services on their four sites. They believe these numbers are fairly accurate, because they have people with counting clickers on each door to chart growth. Nicky Gumbel in a sermon on 21 September 2014 spoke about ‘the 5000 people who are probably in one of the services today, 10–12,000 who are involved each month …’ They recognise that people no longer attend church every Sunday, more often it is two or three times a month, so that the number of regular attendees is larger than their average Sunday attendance. The church website proclaims that htb ‘is one church on four sites’ – Brompton Road, Onslow Square, Queen’s Gate and Courtfield Gardens.21 At Brompton Road, the original Holy Trinity Brompton site, there are four services on a Sunday: 9.30am, 11.30am, 5.00pm and 7.00pm. These are relaxed services with a band playing light rock style music, professional lighting, slick sermons, notices via a professional video clip, and usually close with a time for people to go forward to receive prayer. The style is informal, the clergy do not wear clerical collars or robes, and instead sport chinos and button-down shirts. Dunlop attended multiple services at each of the sites and included here are excerpts from her research journal after attending an 11.00am service at Brompton Road on 6 April 2014. There were about 600 people of all ages and all ethnicities there, and many people were standing at the back because of a lack of seats. There were high tech cameras and sound with a large screen at the front which had the leader’s face on it and moving lights and effects and song words. To start the service, a video was played with images of people doing extreme things like climbing mountains and other dangerous sports which gradually transitioned into images of people worshipping. Overlaid were the words of a prayer that the body of believers will be built up. The subtle message was that worship at an exciting place like htb is similar to doing extreme sports and seeing breath-taking views. This was followed by five worship songs. The service continued with Nicky Gumbel interviewing four people who had participated in the last Alpha course, gently inviting them to share what the course was like and what changes it made in their lives. Gumbel invited the wider congregation to join the next Alpha if they hadn’t already done it. A member of staff gave a sermon and this 21

https://www.htb.org/about-htb (accessed 16 March 2016).

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was followed by more sung worship and an invitation to go to the front for prayer ministry.22 The other services attended at Brompton Road followed a similar pattern. At the Leadership Conference in 2014, Nicky Gumbel said that there are people from about 60 different nationalities that worship with them on a Sunday. As mentioned above, in 1978, after years of negotiation, St Paul’s Church, Onslow Square was merged with the htb parish and in 1987 the building was restored so that regular Sunday worship could be held there.23 In 1990 Nicky Lee, an Assistant Minister at htb and close friend of Nicky Gumbel since student days, was appointed to lead St Paul’s. The two churches were united in 1995 by Sandy Millar to ‘create a larger base with exciting opportunities as a centre for church planting and for resourcing other churches’.24 Currently at Onslow Square there are services at 10.30am, 4.30pm and 6.30pm. The 11.30am service is similar in format to the services at Brompton Road and often has livelink video to Brompton Road for the sermon. The 4.30pm service has a target audience of youth and students, and Dunlop recounts: There were about 400 young people aged 16–21 present, sitting on cushions scattered on the carpeted floor of the traditional church with the band set up in the middle, all facing each other. The service leader, Tim Hughes, explained at the start of the service that ‘we are all the band and the choir, we are in the round, all singing together’. There were the usual video notices, energetic worship from the band in the middle, a message from Tim Hughes about the purpose of worship, prayers, more songs from the band and an invitation to come to the centre for prayer ministry.25 This service is followed by another at 6.30pm, which is equally informal but attracts a slightly older cohort of people in their early twenties, students and young professionals. In 2010, St Augustine’s Church, Queen’s Gate was joined with htb. During the week this church building is used for many of the William Wilberforce ministries, whose offices are located at the back of the building. When

22 Dunlop, htb Research Journal, entry dated 6 April 2014. 23 Clapham and Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations, p. 39. 24 Clapham and Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations, p. 43. 25 Dunlop, htb Research Journal, entry dated 18 May 2014.

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attending the 11.00am Choral Eucharist there, Dunlop spoke with several longterm attendees and wrote about the experience in her research journal: Before the service I was welcomed by a lady in her 70s who gave me a service book and order of service and told me that she has been a member of St Augustine’s for many years. She said that the Bishop of London gave them a choice – closure or a huge change to the church. So, they agreed to the latter and were, in her words, ‘taken over’ by htb. According to her, the traditional 11.00am service has been continued much the same to people’s ‘relief and pleasure’. Another man, who served as an acolyte during the service, said that the changes since the merge were no more than one would expect with a change of clergy and that any changes made were gently done. ‘We are not just tolerated, we are included and encouraged to flourish’. Another congregant told me that a few people left the church at the time of the change but a majority stayed. He said that people from the William Wilberforce Trust ministries, particularly from the homeless drop-in and the Recovery course, come to this service and are directed to it from those ministries. He said that about a third of the people in attendance that Sunday were from the previous congregation, about a third were planted by central htb and a third are newcomers since the merge with htb. There were about ninety people at this service on that Sunday. Several people were keen to help me understand the unique format and style of the service, fearing that I would be shocked at the contrast with the loud and trendy htb services. Several people were identifiable as homeless, and they were made to feel welcomed and included. One man arrived drunk and was asked to leave because he was disrupting the service. But he was told that he was always welcome back and that it was not him they were chucking out, but his drunken state. The service was ‘Sung Worship’ out of the Anglican Prayer Book. There were no big video screens, but instead the service featured incense, candles and bells, a priest wearing vestments, a robed choir, a team of people in cassocks and surplices processing in, etc. The preacher, training at St Mellitus, wore casual clothing. The htb News video was played on a loop at the end of the service (during the organ voluntary) without sound on small screens.26 In addition, there is a 9.00am Holy Communion with traditional music and a service of Holy Communion on Thursdays at 12.30pm. Certainly, 26 Dunlop, htb Research Journal, entry dated 1 June 2014.

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this church seemed more like a typical Anglican church, following the lectionary and using Common Worship. Finally, htb Courtfield Gardens has one service on a Sunday at 10.30am. The service is held at St Jude’s Church in Earl’s Court, which was acquired by htb in 2012, and renovated to serve as St Mellitus, an Anglican theological college. It houses St Paul’s Theological Centre, a lay theology training course begun by htb in 2005. In 2007, at the invitation of the Bishop of Chelmsford, they set up St Mellitus which joined the North Thames Ministerial Training Course with St Paul’s Theological Centre.27 The year St Mellitus opened it had 100 students training for Anglican ministry, making it immediately larger than Ridley Hall in Cambridge. Now, with 300 ordinands, it is the largest training college in the UK and they have expanded into the North West and South West, setting up training centres in these two regions. A church leader at htb Courtfield Gardens explained that this service is more loosely linked to htb because it is in a different parish. Dunlop observed that there were about 250 in attendance, aged between 30 to 60, and a few children. She recounts: On coming into the service I was given an ‘htb Annual Review 2014’ and another one for St Mellitus. I was also given a cup with granola, plain yoghurt and fruit on top with a pain au chocolat and a coffee. As I sat down I chatted with a young woman sitting next to me. She told me that St Jude’s has its own sermon series and is a bit separate from other htb congregations due to its connection with St Mellitus. I think she must be right, on one hand, because on the outside of the church there was no sign identifying it as an htb Church. On the other hand, the htb news was played at the beginning of the service and htb events were signposted and leaflets about htb were given out. She said that St Jude’s is more ‘biblically meaty’ than the other churches, which could be due to the preachers being drawn from the staff of the theological college. The service began with a couple of songs from a small band and was followed by prayers in the form of Anglican morning prayers, but gently paraphrased. There were intercessions about Afghanistan, and the church community. There was a prayer that ‘we become a community that meets real needs, practical needs and empowers spiritual growth in each other’. People were invited to exchange signs of the peace and then five songs were sung. After a Bible reading that concluded with the typical Anglican response, 27

Interview with Graham Tomlin, 15 May 2014.

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‘This is the word of God, thanks be to God’ a member of the St Mellitus staff gave a sermon, based on St Mark’s Gospel 14.1–11, when Jesus was anointed at Bethany. The sermon was set in the context of passion-tide and lent. The preacher noted how the passion of Jesus flowed out of the centre of his being. Response prayers were led by the service leader, also a member of St Mellitus staff, which included a prayer to be recommitted to God, to ‘give our passion to him as the Spirit moves, and to be overwhelmed by the Spirit of God’. There was a closing invitation to come forward for prayer and about 20 people responded while the song: ‘Holy Spirit you are welcome here … Your glory is what our hearts long for, to be overwhelmed by your presence Lord’ was sung.28 This service was also quite different from the services at Brompton Road. It felt more like a typical gently charismatic, evangelical Anglican congregation, as opposed to the high tech, super trendy services at Brompton Road and Onslow Square. htb owns a large four-storey building on Cromwell Road that houses the church offices, Alpha publishing, and media suites. At our initial meeting, the Communications Director took Cartledge and Dunlop to the top floor in the lift, where we discovered what looked like a trendy London Public Relations firm – large ‘Apple Macs’ on long tables, walls covered in chalk boards for creative work, sofas and youngish people chatting and working together in a bright cheerful, mostly white, open space. A book shelf showcased all of the current titles published by Alpha. There was not only a publishing group, but also a media group and a design centre. There were other offices on other floors – the offices for international Alpha, conferences and events planning, management of the five buildings, the Vicar’s administrative office, Assistant Ministers’ offices, youth workers and so on. We finished our tour by going to a common room on the basement floor which was buzzing, full of people having meetings and conversations. 4.2.5 Alpha In 1977 htb Assistant Minister, Charles Marnham, wrote the Alpha course to help a group of Christian mothers mature in their faith. It was developed in order to take new Christians deeper into their faith and initially was run in the vicar’s home.29 In 1990 Nicky Gumbel took over leadership of the course and re-focused it for people outside the faith. The htb Communications 28 Dunlop, Research Journal, entry dated 6 April 2014. 29 Price, Glorious Awakenings, p. 18.

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Director told us that at htb, Alpha is run three times a year and each course attracts 1500 people and requires 300 volunteers. The course participants queue up outside the church in order to be registered by a team of people inside. But htb has not kept Alpha for themselves. They have packaged it and distributed it all over the world. There are forty Alpha offices in nation’s capitals around the world. According to the Alpha website, millions of people have completed the Alpha course and it is currently running in 169 countries in 112 languages.30 Gumbel writes about the early interest generated by Alpha from other churches and the first Alpha conference: I kept getting these phone calls. They came mostly from church leaders. They were from many different parts of the church. They were always long telephone conversations. They all wanted to know: ‘How come you get so many people from outside of the church on the course?’; ‘What exactly is Alpha?’; ‘How do you run it?’ I thought perhaps the best solution was to get them all in one room at one time and tell them all at the same time. As a result, we put on our first Alpha Conference in May 1993. To our astonishment a thousand church leaders turned up. I was relatively new to Christian ministry and was extremely daunted at the thought of a thousand church leaders, most of whom were far more experienced in ministry than I was.31 In an interview, Nicky Lee, explained that making the Alpha course first and then other courses available to others was a response to the Holy Spirit and to people asking for them. Especially as plants grew out of htb, these young churches wanted to use the materials of the main church, so it made sense to package them up for ease of distribution.32 However, its appeal is not limited to htb church plants, nor merely to other Anglican churches. As Nicky Gumbel says, I think one of the things that most excites me is that Alpha is being run around the UK, and that it crosses denominational barriers. So, it’s being run by Roman Catholic Churches, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Salvation Army, Pentecostal, Independent Churches, Vineyard Churches – the

30 31 32

https://www.alpha.org/global (accessed 16 March 2016). Bible In One Year, https://www.bibleinoneyear.org (accessed on 5 August 2014). Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014.

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whole spectrum. And I think that is so powerful. And I think that is why people come on it – they want to see what it is that people can agree about.33 Alpha is not without its critics. Sociologist Stephen Hunt has argued that that Alpha responds to the contemporary religious context by creating a version of Christianity that can be marketed as a commodity.34 Many others have conducted studies evaluating the effectiveness of Alpha,35 compared it with other courses,36 and discussed what should happen after an Alpha course.37 Some are quite positive about Alpha’s role within church practice. For example, Peter Brierley, after a study of the attendance numbers of churches that run Alpha, concluded that they are less likely to decline in numbers than churches that do not run it.38 More recently, James Heard has written about the strengths and weaknesses of the course, drawing on ethnographic research and offering a theological critique. Although he charts the excellent success of the course for those returning to the faith, he notes that the plausibility structures provided by the Alpha small group are too short-lived to make a lasting impact for those from completely outside the Christian faith. Essentially, his critique is that by trying to combine catechesis and evangelism the course fails to do either fully.39 For our purposes, there are three important aspects of Alpha for understanding the context of social engagement activities at htb. First, essentially, by setting up their own mechanisms for publishing and distributing Alpha books, dvds and leader’s guides, they have laid down the tracks for future courses to be published. They have published various versions 33 34

35 36 37 38 39

Nicky Gumbel, interview on the Alpha Website Journal in an interview with Alex Douglas: http://www.alpha.org/journal/feature/94 (accessed 18 March 2016). Stephen Hunt, The Alpha Enterprise: Evangelism in a Post-Christian Era (Ashgate: Aldershot, 2004); Stephen Hunt (2001) Anyone for Alpha?: Evangelism in a Post-Christian Society (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2001). See also Pete Ward, ‘Alpha – the McDonaldization of Religion?’, Anvil: An Anglican Evangelical Journal for Theology and Mission 15.4 (1998), pp. 279–286; and Tony Watling, ‘Experiencing Alpha: Finding and Embodying the Spirit and Being Transformed – Empowerment and Control in a (‘Charismatic’) Christian Worldview’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 20.1 (2005), pp. 91–108. C. Hand, Falling Short? The Alpha Course Examined (Epsom: Day One Publications, 1998); also see Martyn Percy, ‘“Join-the-dots” Christianity – Assessing alpha’, Reviews in Religion and Theology, 4.3 (1997), pp. 14–18. Mike Booker and Mark Ireland, Evangelism – Which Way Now?: An Evaluation of Alpha, Emmaus, Cell Church and other Contemporary Strategies for Evangelism (London: Church House Publishing, 2003). Michael Green, After Alpha (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1998). Peter Brierley, ‘Church Growth in the 90s’, Quadrant (May 2001). James Heard, Inside Alpha: Explorations in Evangelism (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2009).

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of the Alpha course, including ‘Youth Alpha’ and ‘Senior Alpha’. Furthermore, the Relationship Central courses such as The Marriage Course and The Parenting Courses are also packaged and available to buy from Alpha publications. While conducting the fieldwork, the leader of the Bereavement Course mentioned that this was soon to be ‘rolled down the tracks’ and a quick check of the Alpha website shows that it is available for free download.40 Dunlop observed the addictions ministry, ‘The Recovery Course’ was being filmed during the fieldwork with the aim of being packaged for distribution. This ability to publish and distribute material produced within the church community is an important factor in their influence. Second, Alpha is very much rooted within the Charismatic tradition. As Nicky Gumbel says: Alpha doesn’t work without the Holy Spirit, because that is what changes people’s lives and gives them an experience of God’s love being poured into their lives. People need an opportunity for that.41 Indeed, as the fieldwork unfolded, and research participants were asked to talk about why they voluntarily give their time for various ministries, invariably they would talk about having an experience of the Holy Spirit while on the Alpha weekend away that was life changing. For example, one person said: About halfway through Alpha, at the Holy Spirit weekend, I had a sort of moment. I had something in my heart about all this God stuff. I realised that I was very arrogant … And I had this moment where I thought, like the C.S. Lewis quote, if this stuff is true, then it is really important. And I got a bit scared. And I prayed. And I had a friend of mine, who said you should just pray to God, so I prayed and I became a Christian. In most cases the participants would share how this experience generated a new perspective on life that led them to see others as people loved by God and to want to help others around them. Paul Cowley, the leader of the William Wilberforce Trust, said: The reason we get all the volunteers is that we run three Alpha courses a year, with over a thousand people on the site. It’s bound to be the biggest 40 41

https://shop.alpha.org/product/364/bereavement-journey (accessed 18 March 2016). Nicky Gumbel, interview on the Alpha Website Journal in an interview with Alex Douglas: http://www.alpha.org/journal/feature/94 (accessed 18 March 2016).

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Alpha course in the nation. And all those people who come on the Alpha course, I don’t know what the percentage is, some of the Alpha boys will tell you, but maybe 45% of those become involved in church. And most of them are young things, ages 23, 24, and they get excited about social action. I do one of the talks on the Alpha course, I get a chance to share my story, and they are always keen to get involved. So for me, it is like a sweet factory from which to get volunteers. So, the church leadership links their ability to gather volunteers with the life change that happens on the Alpha course. Third, the church leaders perceive Alpha to be not merely an evangelistic tool, but a means of social engagement. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Nicky Lee: Interviewer: The vision statement of htb mentions ‘the re-evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society’, and I am quite interested in this transformation of society aspect. Which ministries of the church do you see as working towards social transformation? Nicky Lee: Well on the one hand I could say everything, everything that we do is working towards social transformation because the expectation is that as people come to Christ, part of Christian formation, their growth and discipleship, they will have an effect on the people around them and the society around them. So, that is everything we are about. So these two parts of the vision statement aren’t just two separate things. They work absolutely together. It is as people come to Christ that they become transformers, in a sense. Through the parable of the sheep and the goats (that’s not strictly a parable I know) it is those who know Christ, who were filled with God’s love, who instinctively and naturally reach out to those who are homeless or sick or in prison and so on. And then when Jesus says ‘you did this for me’ they say ‘what? I had no idea’. Because this is the overflow of love from their hearts. That is very much integrated into what we are doing. We don’t see these as being in separate silos if you like. And therefore, it is very closely tied with what is happening with Alpha, what is happening on Sundays, in teaching, in helping people to grow in discipleship. Indeed, Alpha can even been seen as the mechanism that a church uses to engage with their local community. In an article in the Alpha Journal in 2014, Tim May writes: ‘Alpha is a story. It is a story of stories – millions of stories. To date, over 23 million people have done Alpha, asking questions about life, faith and

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God. Alpha is also the story of what individuals can do together; as churches grapple with how to connect with people, Alpha has created a space where churches can engage with their community’.42 4.2.6 Global Reach htb is concerned not only with the spread of Christianity in London, but even further afield. Each summer htb hosts a holiday week, called Focus, that draws together congregational members and people from the htb church plants. In 2014 they held it at Camber Sands on the South coast and 6000 people attended. At the opening celebration, Nicky Gumbel highlighted the vision of Focus: ‘This is a holiday but it’s a holiday with a purpose … to see the name of Jesus raised high, and to play our part in the re-evangelisation of the nations and the transformation of society … Our prayer is that the name of Jesus be lifted high in Camber Sands, in Sussex and in the whole of the United Kingdom’.43 But htb does not just aim to reach the United Kingdom with the gospel and Alpha is not the only activity of htb that has a global reach. The annual Leadership Conference, held in the Royal Albert Hall, draws people from all around the world. In 2014 there were 5,800 people from 60 different countries. Not everyone fits into the Hall and so the overflow of attendees was accommodated at the Brompton Road site. On the second day of the conference, when Nicky Gumbel welcomed everyone, he reported that on the previous day over 50,000 people streamed the conference in 79 countries via the Internet. Furthermore, Worship Central, which is the team that leads sung worship for htb, offers training in worship leading and holds large events all over the world. The have a seven-week course, similar to Alpha with dvds and workbooks, that people can lead within their own churches. A description of the course on the website says, ‘We are passionate about the power of worship to transform our communities and have designed the course to equip, empower and encourage worship leaders and teams to be as effective as they can be’.44 The connection that is made between community engagement and worship will be explored in a later section. This course has been delivered in 80 countries around the world.45 Worship Central also have academies that offer a one-year course to train aspiring worship leaders, with centres in London and Sheffield, but also in Malaysia, usa and Australia. Furthermore, they run 42 43 44 45

Tim May, ‘Hope – Alpha in the Community’, Alpha Journal (17 April 2014). http://www .alpha.org/journal/feature/136 (accessed 18 March 2016). July 2014 Focus from ‘News’ on the htb website, http://www.htb.org/news/article/focus -hits-south-coast (accessed 31 July 2014). https://www.worshipcentral.org/course/faq (accessed 21 March 2016). htb Annual Review, 2014, hardcopies distributed via worship services.

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events throughout the year in locations all over the world. So, for example, in April 2016 they were running a ‘Guitar Training Day’ in Vancouver, a Leaders Gathering in Oslo, a Gathering in Washington DC and a Worship Leaders Hub in Edmonton.46 4.3

Social Engagement

In this section, we outline the various social engagement ministries of the church. As we have seen above in the description of Alpha, the ministries are not easily differentiated between social action and evangelism, because Alpha itself is seen as having the potential to change society. For example, in an interview with Nicky Lee, he spoke about how important both evangelism and social transformation are and how intentionally intertwined they are in practice. From the start he made it clear that both are important in everything they do – Sunday services, Alpha, courses, worship, the William Wilberforce Trust activities, all work together both to bring people to Christ and to transform society. They do not see ‘social action ministries’ as separate from all their other activities. So, in deference to this view, we outline all the ministries of the church, which will illustrate how the inter-relationship between evangelism and social transformation works in practice. 4.3.1 William Wilberforce Trust Paul Cowley, the founder of the William Wilberforce Trust (hereafter ‘wwt’), in an interview explained that everything that htb does is geared around social action, but the wwt activities act as the direct arm of htb for social action. He said, We run night shelters during the winter months, and we run drop-in [which] is where we can do more counselling and listening to people. We run the Recovery Course which helps people with alcohol and other addictions, in another area we run a course called Dealing with Depression, which is an increasingly growing ministry. We work in another area with people with mental health issues, we run a warehouse that helps people get back into employment, it helps people learn to fix furniture and getting back into the working ethos. We do the prison work inside the prisons in the UK and internationally and we partner with multiple organisations to do all this stuff. We also run a charity called Caring for 46

https://www.worshipcentral.org/events (accessed 21 March 2016).

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Ex-Offenders which helps men and women when they come out of prison, we meet them at the gate and help them into employment, accommodation, mentoring and getting them back into society.47 He recounts how as a troubled young person he had spent some time homeless and in prison. After he became a Christian through the Alpha course at htb, he got involved in the prison ministry. As he came to understand the complex issues faced by people in prison, he wanted to do more than lead Alpha in prisons. So, in 1997 he joined the staff at htb and founded Caring for Ex-Offenders, which links churches with people coming out of prison to support them in adjusting back to life in the community. Then he realised that often people coming out of prison had to deal with addictions, so he instigated the Recovery Course. Then he saw that people need help managing their finances, so they started the Money course and a Debt counselling service. He also realised that former prisoners may have been facing various mental health issues, so he started the Dealing with Depression course and counselling support. He also saw a great need for supporting homeless people, so the drop-in shelter and the night shelters for winter months were developed. In 2011 he gathered these ministries together under the umbrella of the William Wilberforce Trust, named in honour of Wilberforce’s work to reform prisons and abolish slavery. In 2014 when the fieldwork was conducted, the wwt had grown into a very large organisation, encompassing a diverse range of activities and ministries. Cowley said in an interview: We helped over 2000 people with addictions, through the recovery course, 1500 ex-offenders, who we helped from prison through church, 460 through debt counselling service and we made over 100,000 interventions with homeless people.48 wwt employs forty staff and he estimated that the annual budget was £1.3 million, mostly gained through fund-raising activities. According to a document ‘htb Annual Review’ which was distributed at services on 6 April 2014, the William Wilberforce Trust work was about 15% of the expenditure of the annual budget of htb for 2013. In 2016 the board of wwt decided that in order to maximize the potential of the various ministries, the charity should close and the various ministries

47 48

Interview with Paul Cowley, 9 April 2014. Interview with Paul Cowley, 9 April 2014.

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should fall under new structures.49 It was felt that social transformation is an activity that cannot be packaged up to share with other churches. So, instead of focusing on helping others do similar ministries, htb would concentrate on engaging with their own local context, and other churches would be welcome to ‘come and see’ how it is done.50 Several (but by no means all) of the wwt ministries were examined as part of the case study, through participant observation, interviews and informal conversations. These include the following: 4.3.2 Alpha in Prisons Understandably, the researchers were not given access to observe Alpha be­ ing run in prisons, but, more mysteriously, were not allowed to interview leaders or volunteers. We do know from various sources that Emmy Wilson first led an Alpha Course in Exeter prison in 1994.51 According to the Alpha website, Alpha for prisons was launched in 1995.52 In an interview, Paul Cowley said that Alpha is now being run in prisons in 72 countries around the world.53 At the Leadership conference in 2014, Nicky Gumbel stated that 323,000 people worldwide had participated in the Alpha course while in prison and 81% of UK prisons have Alpha courses delivered in them. The Alpha Prison website says: Recent studies show that 68% of offenders are re-arrested within five years of release. However, those inmates who complete Re-Entry Initiatives have an average recidivism rate of 20%. This is exactly the reason why our work is so vital to the safety of our citizens and to the re-entry success of our inmates. Through an interdenominational, national network of churches which regularly run Alpha, Christians are sharing their life changing experiences with inmates in our nation’s prisons and jails. Through Alpha and the local church, we believe that fewer people will return to prison once released.54 At htb, volunteers work with one of the chaplains of the local prison, who is an htb staff member, to run Alpha three times in a compressed form. Afterwards, they continue meeting with the inmates in a small group. 49 50 51 52 53 54

https://www.williamwilberforcetrust.org (accessed 23 March 2016). Informal interview with Communications Director, 24 March 2016. Clapham and Tye, Holy Trinity Brompton Through the Generations, p. 42. http://alphausa.org/prison/ (accessed 24 March 2016). Interview with Paul Cowley, 9 April 2014. http://alphausa.org/prison/ (accessed 24 March 2016).

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4.3.3 Caring for Ex-Offenders In 2014, Caring for Ex-Offenders was an organisation that worked with churches to provide training, vision, and a network to support people coming out of prison. It worked in six countries around the world and had around 4000 volunteers working through 600 churches.55 It formed a network, linking prisons where Alpha is run with local churches. In 2016 it was scaled down to be a local ministry based at htb, which aims to operate as an example which can support churches across the UK who can adopt its tools to develop their own ex-offender ministries. Paul Cowley believes that this type of re-entry programme helps to reduce reoffending, bringing it down significantly. Prisoners who have participated in Alpha in prison have the option to request that the local church who ran the course provide a mentor to meet with them regularly and help them make the transition back into life in the community once they are released. The church also runs an employment scheme that helps people get back into the habit of working. 4.3.4 Homeless Drop-in htb opens the doors of the Queen’s Gate building to offer hospitality to homeless people every Wednesday and Friday. The leader of the ministry explained in an interview that on Wednesdays they receive about 180 guests and on Fridays, because they close slightly earlier, about 140.56 Upon arrival, people are served a light breakfast of toast, tea and coffee. Here is an excerpt from Dunlop’s research journal on the day of a visit to the drop-in centre: There were about 75–100 people there, mixed races and nationalities, mostly men aged 20–50. As people entered they were given a name badge with a number on it. The welcomers were very warm and people seemed to be happily chatting together. Quite a few were sleeping on the floor or on chairs, one was strikingly sleeping in the pulpit and all one could see was his feet (one bandaged) sticking out. Most were sitting in chairs at tables around the room, drinking the free tea, coffee, water and squash that was being served. There was also toast, biscuits and fudge on offer. There were board games on tables and an area with paints, brushes and easels. Music (later she learned it was worship music) was playing in the background.

55 56

Interview with Paul Cowley, 9 April 2014. Homeless drop-in ministry leader, interview on 9 April 2014.

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The ministry has about 20–25 volunteers for each session. The ministry leader said, We try to encourage the same [volunteers] to come, because that is what is most beneficial for the guests. And we try to create some kind of community within the volunteers as well, so that they feel that they are really part of something. And I think that generally they do feel like they are part of something so, you tend to get the same people coming back, and that is what I would like to try and encourage. I would like to encourage that from the start, because the whole idea is to build relationships with the guys and that is only possible if you come on a regular basis, for a long period of time.57 They also have case workers who are employed by a local church who come in to support people’s practical needs in terms of accessing benefits, writing a curriculum vitae and housing. They also host a number of activities, including art sessions, hair dressing, Bible studies, board games, newspapers and a bike club. The local police provide broken, abandoned bikes and people are taught how to fix the bikes, and once given a road worthy certificate, they are given the bike. They also have a cupboard full of donated clothes that people can take if needed. The researcher was struck by the beauty of the setting for this ministry: The drop-in was held in the main worship space of the church. The building is full of natural light from tall windows, the walls soared upwards and were covered with mosaics and painted stones that portrayed scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints. Over the door out into the street was a large painting of a saint with hands outstretched to bless people as they leave. At the front there was an altar covered in gold fabric and a crucifix scene with a dove which extended 30–40 feet high. The ministry leader spoke about the effect of the setting on the homeless dropin. At the time of the interview, they had only been in this church building for four months, and in this short time he observed that somehow the building causes people to be more respectful and calmer. He noted that the paintings and mosaics on the walls visually tell the stories of the Bible, which he hopes gives them a sense of awe at the presence of God. 57

Homeless drop-in ministry leader, interview on 9 April 2014.

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The htb Assistant Minister who leads Bible studies and communion services in the church as part of the homeless ministry shared a story: A guy walked in last week and just broke into tears, a young guy and he is really struggling and he showed us he had just tried to kill himself, cut his wrist, the week before, he said ‘I’m an alcoholic, I feel trapped’ it was just an amazing openness from this guy who just came in and knew that what we were doing and didn’t know what to do with it and he broke down in tears and we prayed for him. And the other homeless, the other guests, just prayed for him. As he left, one of the other guys said, ‘I’ll try and keep an eye on him’. And he showed him the addiction courses that we run.58 Several of the volunteers and leaders who serve at the drop-in centre spoke about a desire to break with an ‘us and them’ thinking regarding the homeless guests. At the Leadership Conference, Paul Cowley spoke about looking out at a room full of homeless people and seeing a sea of potential friends. Indeed, through participant observation the researcher noticed that volunteers and leaders are not differentiated from each other, all wear name badges and cannot always visually be discerned from one another. Indeed, one volunteer spoke about how the drop-in functions like church for her. ‘Church to me is the body of Christ, church is family, church is doing things that bring you closer to God, church is where we can’t do without God. And I would say that a number of us here feel that way. And this [the drop-in centre] is the place where we feel we do church’.59 She described how sometimes homeless people are unable to take the next step of accepting help until they first receive emotional support. And she said that this is what they are able to offer at the drop-in centre, because they have a safe space and try to have a continuity of volunteers to form long-term relationships with the guests. 4.3.5 Homeless Winter Shelter In the winter months, htb also has a shelter for accommodating homeless people to sleep overnight in the church. It started with churches getting together to do something about people sleeping rough in cold weather. It was called the West London Churches Concern, and each church opens their building for one night in the week. Seven churches work together, each open one night of the week, and the size of the smallest church dictates how many they can accommodate. A church leader spoke about how it would be too difficult 58 59

Interview with an htb Assistant Minister, 19 June 2014. Interview with drop-in volunteer, 8 July 2014.

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to have people sleeping in the church every night of the week, because there are other activities taking place. He pointed out that doing it one night of the week is made possible by working together with other churches. He said, ‘But this is a great example, because you suddenly think all together we can make a difference. And that has been so exciting to be able to help what initially started as 30 men, and then we were able to help women on the streets as well and the numbers have increased’.60 4.3.6 Recovery Course According to the founder, ‘The Recovery course is a Christ-centred 12 step programme, trialled for 6 years, all helpers are former addicts, more than 1000 people have done it, and the feedback is that it works’.61 The director of wwt had recognised the need to offer concrete help to people struggling with addictions. So, he asked a church member to develop a course, based upon the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), because at its core is the belief that a genuine spiritual experience is the only cure for an addiction. Having started with Christian foundations, AA had moved to be broader, calling people to look to a higher power. The course founder sought to restore Christianity into the centre of the course, particularly the practice of prayer. Initially it met with great success when first run on a council estate in 2007, and, when brought into htb, the numbers swelled to average at approximately 60 participants who would see the course through to the end each time it was delivered. Some have no spiritual background and are often hostile towards Christianity, others have some kind of Christianity in their upbringing, and others are Christians from the church. People with a variety of addictions come, from heroin, crack, alcohol, gambling, as well as self-harming, people with food addictions either anorexia or bulimia, sex addiction, including pornography, child pornography, addiction to prostitutes, as well as people who are addicted to handling stolen goods or to shoplifting. The course was run twice a year and lasted for four months. It does not aim to be evangelistic, but the course founder said in an interview that people often come to faith through participating in it. There is no pressure for people to accept Christ at all. But I think that what happens on the course, even among people who are quite hostile to Christian belief, because the structure of the course is talk, then smallgroup time, the best work happens in the discussion groups. And you only need one to start reaching out to the higher power as a possible solution 60 61

Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014. Interview with ministry founder, 9 April 2014.

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and coming back the following week and saying ‘It’s worked I haven’t used all week’. Or ‘I’m just at peace. I don’t know what’s happening’. And then those who are the most skeptical think, ‘Well that higher power worked for them, maybe I’ll try it’. And then they find it works for them.62 The founder is astonished by how well the course works. He said that for people who stick with the entire 16 weeks of the course, a majority of them find some form of help with their addiction. The course has been shared with other churches around the world, often in conjunction with their prison work. The founder shared how a church in Portsmouth ran the course and said: The leader rang me up just to say, ‘We have run three courses a year over the last three years and I just wanted to tell you that it is extraordinary what has happened. On the last course we had 10 heroin and crack addicts and every single one of them is now clean and not using, every single one of them became a Christian, every single one of them regularly attends church on Sunday’. I am just hearing this kind of thing from loads and loads of people. And the results are astonishing. I personally don’t try and analyse it, because I’m just bewildered by the whole thing. The researcher observed a session of The Recovery Course at a time when the talks were being filmed to be later packaged into a resource. It was held at the Brompton Road site; a meal was served and people sat in four different groups. The participants were a mixture of ages, races and about half were men and half women. There was a talk, given by the ministry leader, then there were small group discussions, led by the volunteer discussion facilitators, who were former addicts themselves. A group invited the researcher to join them as a listener. Here is an excerpt from her research journal: I was made to feel welcome and the women included me by passing me snacks and drinks and the handouts. Several of the women shared about the physical changes in their body after having stopped drinking alcohol. Their cholesterol levels, vitamin D, etc were back to normal, which meant that their liver was functioning again, and the results were in evidence after just three months for some. Most spoke about how meaningful it is to pray and to speak to God and to have found Christian community.63

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Interview with ministry founder, 9 April 2014. Dunlop, Research Journal, 19 June 2014 – Observations of The Recovery Course.

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The founder decided to pioneer the course as an organisation separate from htb, so, as of March 2016, it was not run at the church while they looked to find someone else to lead it. But it continues to be led in many other contexts across the UK and the world. 4.3.7 Money Course In 2008 a group of church members came together to respond to the requests for help with managing money. Starting as a Bible study about money, it eventually was developed into a course that offers practical advice about managing money, which, although it still has an unapologetic Christian basis, can appeal to anyone regardless of their faith. First run in 2009, it has been packaged up and filmed for the distribution of dvds and course materials. It runs over eight sessions, often in four weeks, two sessions in one evening. The ministry leader and founder said, It’s a very practical course dealing with the importance of budgeting and wise use of money, we talk about how to budget, what budgeting means, how to handle debt in your budget, issues about saving, we talk about giving, not as a theological exercise, but as a way to externalise our relationship with money, to liberate us from being quite so insular with it, and a way to help people budget is to release them into more freedom in how they view their money, their finances. We talk about practical steps to stay within your budget, and manage finances, so how to use bank accounts in a certain way to help with that process. Dealing with finances is a two-sided coin. There is practical stuff that you can do, absolutely, but unless and until your attitudes to money align with those practical issues, you will always, probably, fall back into difficulties with money. So, it’s dealing with attitudes and their relationship with money, as well as the practical side.64 Most of the participants are from within the church family, and come from a variety of financial situations. At htb the course has been run three times a year, with about 30 participants on each course. Additionally, about 60 other churches have led it, using the free downloadable resources. It operates and is distributed in partnership between Alpha and Stewardship, which is a charity that supports Christians to be able to donate their money to a charity which

64

Interview with ministry leader, 17 April 2014.

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can then reclaim the tax, with the intention of generating more income for the charity.65 4.3.8 Crosslight Debt Advice htb has been involved in debt advice for a number of years, working in partnership with Christians Against Poverty. In 2009, Crosslight Debt advice ministry was started as an independent service. The founder moved from working in finance in the city into the paid staff of the church in order set up Crosslight. He said in an interview, ‘We help anybody who is struggling under the burden of debt or financial difficulty, so we help people who are facing eviction, council tax arrears, dealing with bailiffs, falling behind on credit cards and loans, and threats with court action, anything that comes under the heading of debt. We set it up to do this in partnership with other churches’.66 Since then, they have seen fewer and fewer organisations in the area available to offer free debt advice, due to government cuts in funding. They now have a partnership with Hammersmith and Fulham council, which includes the contact details for Crosslight at the bottom of a council tax bill if it is in arrears. Crosslight is funded by htb, other churches and other small grants. The meetings with people to offer debt advice are held within the church building. The founder said, ‘At last count about 87% of our clients have absolutely no connection to the church, they come from the local community. There is something very powerful about welcoming them into the church in order to provide them with something that is very practical and meets their needs with no strings attached’. At the time of the research, Crosslight employed four full-time staff and had forty-five volunteers. When asked about the impact of Crosslight, the founder said, The impact is that we stop people from becoming homeless, the impact is that the marriages and relationships stayed together when they were falling apart. In a number of cases, children were not being taken into care because their whole life has improved, people don’t have bailiffs knocking at their door and having their goods taken away. They are able to feed themselves properly because we’ve helped … So, there is a financial impact of the work that we do, we save [the local authority] a lot of money by coming in and sorting out the situation, going through the finances, working out what they can put forward, preventing them having to go to court, preventing the council having to evict and finding a new tenant, and likewise with council tax, going to court, appointing bailiffs, paying 65 66

http://www.themoneycourse.org/Course/About (accessed 26 March 2016). Interview with ministry leader, 17 April 2014.

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bailiffs, all that kind of stuff, there is a monetary cost to all of that, so there is certainly an impact. In 2016 Crosslight became an independent organisation, with a branch still operating out of htb, but branches also at St Paul’s Church in Hammersmith, St Stephen’s Church in Twickenham and St Nicholas Church in Chiswick.67 Again, we see that htb is working towards devolving its social engagement activities, supporting them as they start and then freeing them to become independent. 4.3.9 Radical Hospitality In 2009 a group of three friends held a seminar at the Focus church conference highlighting the vision to meet the needs of vulnerable and at-risk children and young people. This grew into an annual event, and in 2013 it became a ministry within htb whose vision was ‘[t]o encourage and resource Holy Trinity Brompton and the network of associated churches to be involved in the transformation of society by meeting the needs of vulnerable and at risk children: by supporting social services and voluntary sector agencies with offers of practical help in crisis lodging, respite care, foster care and adoption’.68 They have built up partnerships with Night Stop in London (housing homeless teenagers in people’s homes) and other statutory and voluntary aided adoption and fostering agencies. These groups provide training and opportunities so that when people respond to Radical Hospitality’s efforts to raises awareness about the need for supporting children and at-risk young people, they have an existing network of service providers. They partner with ‘Home for Good’, a Christian organisation that encourages churches to support fostering and adoption, so that when a family decides to welcome a new child into their home, the entire church community supports the family in this challenging endeavour.69 The ministry leader, who herself was adopted, said: I think our unique selling point, you have to have one, is that churches provide so many ready-made communities where the support structures are there and they are ones that have been there – you think of this church, maybe 150 years – there has been an ongoing community there, and I think that is pretty unusual in social settings nowadays, within our cities. There is a breakdown of those sort of support structures, where you’ve got people who are there from decade to decade, and for a child 67 68 69

http://www.crosslightadvice.org/our-branches/ (accessed 26 March 2016). From a document given by the founder in an interview on 9 June 2014. http://www.homeforgood.org.uk (accessed 26 March 2016).

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who has been wrenched out of their normal family support structures, having the broader network of relationships is absolutely key.70 An annual Christmas lunch also operates within the remit of Radical Hospitality. Initially, the church decided to invite homeless people off the street to a Christmas dinner on Christmas day. The church provides the venue and the volunteers and the local council funds the money for the food. The ministry leader explains: Basically, St Paul’s, Onslow Square, is opened up and it is very much not, ‘we are nice Holy Trinity Brompton people and we are inviting the homeless people to have Christmas lunch with us’. Instead, it’s very much a community event that everybody gets involved in. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. So, it’s not like all the poor lonely people sit down and everybody else serves them. This is much more, we are all in this together and everybody helps out, there is a volunteer team that is a wonderful mixture of people with loads of resources and people who have nothing, they are just coming in together and preparing it. It’s quite fun. Families do it and they really enjoy it. I think they served a ridiculous number last year, I think nearly 300, which, on a volunteer team, they produced the most incredible meal. So, it is great fun. We listen to the Queen’s speech, and Nicky turns up and says something. It is just very relaxed and very lovely.71 Families ‘host’ tables and treat it like a traditional Christmas meal, making people feel welcome and included. The ministry leader emphasised that anyone, rich or poor, who finds themselves on their own at Christmas is invited to come. 4.3.10 Community for the Elderly Older people are also supported through specific htb ministries. Although the time limitations of the project did not enable a researcher to attend any of the church’s engagement with people in this age category, the website shows that there are several activities of the church designed to help older members of the community.72 The website states that in response to studies that show that ‘older people often become socially isolated; loneliness is a high risk factor for depression, which in turn can lead to many other health problems’, therefore 70 71 72

Interview with ministry leader on 9 June 2014. Interview with ministry leader on 9 June 2014. https://www.htb.org/building-community-older-people (accessed 10 June 2016).

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the church created a befriending ministry. This entails inviting volunteers to visit someone in their home once a week or fortnight, offering practical help or just simply talking. The church is also providing volunteers to support the work of a local Adult Day Centre on the Fulham Road. Furthermore, concerts are held six times a year at htb Onslow Square, specifically for elderly people who live in the local community. The event draws 300 to 400 people at each concert, with performances ranging from classical violin to children’s choirs and opera. Sandwiches and cakes are served around tables, providing space for older people to spend time with old friends and form new relationships. Finally, there is an Alpha course designed specifically for older people called ‘Senior Alpha’ which runs in the afternoons over a cup of tea and biscuits. 4.3.11 Marriage and Marriage Preparation Courses Nicky Lee and his wife, Sila, lead Relationship Central, which is a group of courses that aims to support people in the area of personal relationships. Nicky believes that these ministries work as a preventative to stop family breakdown. In an interview he said, ‘if family life was transformed, strengthened in our society, it would have a massive impact on the work that the William Wilberforce Trust is doing. Most of the people that they are working with, whether on the streets or in prison, there is a dysfunctional family background, there is a broken family. So we see these working very closely together’. The courses are usually run three times a year, and he estimates that there are about 2000 people a year who are involved either as participants or volunteers. In the ‘Bible in One Year’, Nicky Gumbel writes, Marriage and family life are hugely important. They are part of God’s natural order, and are a vital part of the fabric of society: Pope John Paul ii once wrote that family is the ‘foundation’ of society and ‘nourishes’ society continually. Nicky and Sila Lee have invested their lives in strengthening marriages and family life. Their courses and books on marriage and parenting have had a profound impact on thousands of people in our own local church and now all around the world. Recently the Chinese government has become interested. A Chinese government official said to Nicky and Sila, ‘A strong society depends on strong families and strong families depend on strong marriages’. In 2014 there were 6000 courses running in 116 countries and have been translated into 44 languages.73 Most courses include a meal, a course handbook, talks and group interaction. 73

Interview with ministry leader, 8 April 2014.

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Nicky and Sila Lee have developed these courses out of their experience of offering advice and support to married and engaged couples within their church community. They started running them in 2006 and initially they were used as resources for church members. But interest in the courses rapidly grew and now these courses have been run in more than 1000 churches. Like Alpha, the Marriage and Marriage Preparation courses were also filmed and study books were published and distributed. Their appeal intentionally extends beyond church goers, and it is estimated that around half of the participants are not church members.74 Nicky Lee explains how the courses interlink with each other: We say, ‘we run another course here which is a great way to talk openly about your values, and it’s called Alpha’. So, people come from the Marriage Preparation course and go to Alpha. We also say, ‘two years into your marriage, come back and do the Marriage Course to invest in your marriage’. And so very often people will do that, because they’ve enjoyed Marriage Preparation and they will come back.75 Lee believes that the courses help people whether or not they go on to join the church, but being a part of a church can offer another layer of support for people’s marriages. Christian community has a big impact on family life. Because today couples are so often isolated, the wider family is broken up, they don’t live nearby, parents, in-laws, might not be near the community where they grew up, and couples soon get isolated. And that puts a lot more pressure onto marriages and then families, so that even the fact of drawing them into a place where there is the creation of community is actually helping them in marriage and family life. Lee would like to see the government and the wider public recognise the value of relationship education. He notes that by the time a couple goes to a counsellor, it is often too late to save the marriage. So, he says, ‘we want to try to help in the early stages of marriage, within the first five years of marriage. And then that will set them on a course of recognition this is a good thing to do, to invest in our relationship and invest in our family life’. His vision is for these courses 74 75

Anna Moore, ‘A Mission to Save Marriages’ The Guardian (28 December 2013). http:// www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/28/mission-to-save-marriages (accessed 22 March 2015). Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014.

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to be run by a church within a local community because even if people are not interested in questions of faith, they may be willing to invest in a significant relationship. This then gives the local church a role within the community. Indeed, this has become the case in West London, where, as one participant told us, ‘the marriage prep course has just rippled out through West London, in that it is now what you do if you are getting married. You know, about 200 couples come every term and it doesn’t matter whether you are Christians are not’.76 Thus Christian values are taught and explained to non-Christian couples as part of social engagement. 4.3.12 Parenting Children and Parenting Teenagers Courses Nicky and Sila Lee also devised the Parenting courses, which have been packaged up into dvds and participant books. The Parenting Children Course is for parents of children 0–10 years old and the Parenting Teenagers course is for parents of 11–18 year-olds. The courses have very limited Christian content and have been created so that both those inside and outside the church can participate and gain helpful parenting skills. The courses had been run three times a year, similar to the Marriage Course, but was now increasingly being run in smaller groups in people’s homes. As Nicky Lee said, ‘we think that might be a more effective way [to] reaching people rather than drawing them out of their immediate community’.77 These courses have also been picked up and used by churches not only in the UK, but around the world. A leader of the Parenting Children Course said, ‘the course gives some very practical tools and some new insights for the parents to tackle problems and it also gives the sense of confidence’.78 One of the leaders of the Parenting Teenagers Course explained that they are now looking to run the courses within schools. She said that the course has a unifying influence on parents, who realise that they are not alone: What we find is a lot of people come on the course and at the end of the first week their shoulders have completely relaxed, and they are sitting there thinking ‘alright, this happens to somebody else’ or ‘I’m not the only one who is struggling with this issue’. I think that is the greatest thing that the course gives to people. That they realise they are not alone because raising a child is a universal thing, the issues aren’t always that different

76 77 78

Interview with ministry leader, 15 May 2014. Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014. Interview with ministry leader, 1 May 2014.

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… And we try to encourage parents, that actually teenagers are just as enchanting as toddlers.79 The aim of these courses is not just to help people within the church, but to support people in the wider community. An Assistant Minister who leads the Parenting Children Course said: Fundamentally, we believe that the family is the basic building block of society and if that breaks down, then the whole of society breaks down. And we think that that is what we are seeing at the moment in the UK. And we are trying to play a very small part in turning that tide, really. Working with parents to support them in their family life and protect that and enhance it and strengthen it. It is, of course, difficult to chart the impact of courses such as these, particularly when they are seeking to operate as a preventative measure. However, a clinical psychologist and leader of the Parenting Children Course has brought the courses into community centres in urban deprived areas and sought to chart how much improvement the parents report three months after completing the course. She said: The course is remarkably effective. My results are astoundingly positive. Most universal courses, the results are in neutral, or negative. This one is positive across the board. My supervisor, who is not a Christian, had his jaw on the ground. He said, ‘I have had millions of pounds of grants to research parenting courses and I’ve ended up with nothing, and you have this little course and look at these results’! She would like to see the course approved by the government to be offered by the local councils in community centres, as well as by local churches. In addition to these parenting courses, there is a ‘Parenting Alone’ course for single parents, a ‘Waiting for Children’ course and ‘Restored Lives’, a course for recovery from divorce and separation. The church also runs ‘molo’ – Mums of Little Ones – which aims to be a supportive community for mothers with small children. Nicky Lee said, ‘isolation is a big factor and we are trying to get people into a place where there is community … So this is a part of

79

Interview with ministry leader, 8 April 2014.

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helping with the transformation of society, building strong families, through family relationships’.80 4.3.13 Post-Abortion Healing Course This course began in 1993 by two church members who had ‘a personal vision to bring healing to people after an abortion’.81 With the help of a network of friends they ran their first course with six women who wanted support working through issues after abortions. After this initial success, they have run it two or three times a year for the last twenty years. The course founder estimates that they have had between 200 and 300 women and around thirty men come through the course. He said in an interview that during this eight-week course for ‘an overwhelming number of cases, we can help them resolve their issues’.82 The course was written drawing on existing material and has been developed and adapted over the years, taking an explicitly Christian view. They have recently started to draft the material into a form that other churches could take and use within their own context. The course founder does not get involved in campaigns, instead, he says, ‘I believe the way to transform society is from the bottom up, not from the top down … Our ministry kind of peels away the curtain and shows people what is going on and so our aim is not to campaign, it is not to get people who have been through an abortion to go out and protest, we just want people to become aware of the deep emotional risks’.83 4.3.14 Bereavement Journey This course, which offers support to people who are grieving, was begun twenty years ago by a church member. In an interview she explained that in her work as a counsellor she saw how effective group work could be, and, as someone who had worked through significant grief herself, wanted to start a ministry for people within the church who were bereaved. So, she wrote the course, based upon Christian foundations and some material from a bereavement charity. It runs for six sessions, two or three times a year and usually has about thirty people on a course. The course founder says: So, my main aim for the course is about looking at their response to loss. Because everything in our life is about response, we can either grumble and say ‘why me?’ or we can get the vision that this could be a 80 81 82 83

Interview with Nicky Lee, 31 March 2014. Interview with ministry leader, 12 May 2014. Interview with ministry leader, 12 May 2014. Interview with ministry leader, 12 May 2014.

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transformative process. And working in bereavement counselling has shown me that people are transformed through loss because they grow, if they will accept the challenge to go through it and not avoid it.84 She notes that although the course was originally devised for people within the church, it was later revised so that although it still has a Christian foundation, it does not have Christian material within it, apart from a prayer at the end. This means that the course functions as an outreach into the community and many people who are outside the church come to it. She called the course ‘a gift to the community’. And ‘gift’ was meant quite literally, because since the interview the course has been filmed and published with Alpha and is available for free from the website.85 The course founder explained that htb is a generous church that has tried to give away whatever blessing it has received. 4.3.15 New ID (Eating Disorders) Course Twice a year a six-week course is run to support people who struggle with ‘eating disorders’. This course began ten years ago by a member of htb and has its own website where the course can be purchased as a pack which includes dvds of testimonies and talks and also a workbook. According to the website, it is being ‘used by churches all over the world for those struggling with eating disorders. It brings the message that “freedom is possible …”’ 86 According to one of the course leaders at htb, who is a professional psychiatrist, the course normally attracts around forty people (mostly women) from within htb but also others from surrounding churches who would prefer to remain anonymous, as well as those from outside of the church context. The leadership team also consists of a psychotherapist who talks about depression and a dietician who supports participants with issues regarding nutrition. However, in an interview, the leader emphasised that a person does not need to be a mental health professional in order to run New ID. Speaking about how the course fits within church life, she said: So much of church life is actually based around food, the sacraments – the bread and wine, the house groups where we share a meal, we meet up for coffee, we meet for drinks, we meet for meals, just with any other kind of social group it is very difficult for people to participate when they have an eating disorder. It can be incredibly difficult for them. And so 84 85 86

Interview with ministry leader, 15 May 2014. https://shop.alpha.org/product/364/bereavement-journey (accessed 22 March 2016). www.newID.info (accessed 22 March 2016).

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I think that adds to a sense of isolation and the stigma and the worrying about being found out, about having something as shameful as an eating disorder, this really is a barrier to people getting help in general. So, New ID can be so important to build up the momentum where they are finally able to get up the courage and motivation to transcend this fear of being found out and do something to help recover from their eating disorder.87 The title of the course intentionally indicates that a new identity is possible through finding freedom from the eating disorder, which is a claim to bring some kind of transformation. Dunlop attended a ‘Refresher evening’ at which participants from the last course could talk about what changes had occurred in their lives as a result of the course. Before the session started a young woman shared in casual conversation that the course had been really helpful to her. She had now been referred to a counsellor for therapy, which was proving helpful. The session consisted of a book and app recommendation, reflection activities and setting goals. One young woman reflected, ‘[the course] helped me see that I really want to recover’. There were other comments from different participants along similar lines.88 Afterwards, the course leader said that ‘this kind of progress in such a short space of time is astonishing, compared to groups offered by the nhs. The women were stepping back from behaviours and separating emotions from food’. Not all ministry leaders took part in the research, and for some courses it would not be appropriate for a researcher to attend for privacy reasons. However, from term cards and the website, we know that htb also offers ‘The Well Course’ – for those needing healing from the wounds of sexual abuse and rape. And another mental health course offered by htb is called ‘Dealing with Depression’ and runs over five weeks. 4.4

Holy Trinity Church, Brompton: Summary and Emerging Themes

htb is a highly active church with a dizzying number of ministries and courses. At the heart of the narrative of the church lies listening to the Holy Spirit in creating, developing and sharing the Alpha course. This not only means that a steady stream of people are joining the church and volunteering for the ministries and courses, but because the church has had success with one course in particular (Alpha), it is able to ‘roll out’ others in a similar fashion using the 87 88

Interview with ministry leader, 9 April 2014. Dunlop, Research Journal, New ID Refresher, 1 May 2014.

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same process. The infrastructure provided by volunteer administrators, cooks, website designers, film teams and publishers means that each time a new course reaches maturity, it is shared widely with churches around the country. This means that htb has a huge influence not only in the UK, but also around the world. Although htb is a massive organisation, this study revealed that many of the ministries and courses were not started by clergy, but by church members. Their desire to respond to a need was supported by church leaders, and with the help of existing structures, these ministries have thrived. Furthermore, many of the ministry leaders and volunteers are people who have experienced bereavement, addiction, prison or adoption, and after having their life turned around through their Christian experience, have then wanted to help others. There are two important points that are worth highlighting at this stage, but they inevitably touch on a number of related themes. First, the influence of charismatic spirituality is evident not just in the Alpha Course and its explicit focus on the work of the Holy Spirit, but in the ways in which activities are started from the bottom-up, with promptings and visions. The role that charismatic music and worship play should not be underestimated, as well as prayer ministry, where individuals are prayed for at various points in church life. The theological framework for the integration of charismatic spirituality and social engagement could be traced to the work of John Wimber in the 1980s and places htb within the spectrum of churches influenced by him and Third Wave Christianity. Thus the ‘kingdom of God’, the in-breaking rule of God among his people, is an idea that frames all of the ministry discourse and should be noted in this way. This means that because everything is intertwined within this kingdom of God framework, evangelism and social engagement are not regarded as separate activities, however they are organised, packaged and played out in various sectors of life. Thus, some of the courses that are constructed and delivered are explicitly Christian and evangelistic, for example the Alpha Course. In other courses it appears that the Christian language is played down and translated into more accessible discourse. In this regard, the ‘translation’ of first order theology enables the course to work in a wide social context. In this way, htb is engaging in public theology, but in a localised and contextual manner that is pragmatic and individual need-based: in order to assist the most people possible then the discourse is theology light. This translation practice seems to be apparent most in courses like the parenting and bereavement courses. Second, the key way in which society is perceived to be transformed is principally via individual change. That is, conversion lies at the heart of social change, which is why the Alpha Course stands centrally in the life of the

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church, and social engagement activities connect to it in significant ways. How­ ever, this individualism needs to be qualified in four important ways. First, there is a focus on relationships and helping people who are isolated to become connected to friendship groups and improve their social and mental health by functioning within a broader network of relationships. This means that relationality is important. Second, the large numbers of volunteers are generated via the Alpha course or through other types of courses. Without this focus on the individual there would not be the great numbers to support and make possible the large range of courses. Equally, there would not be the spill-over effect, whereby individuals from htb also volunteer at externally-run activities. Third, the impact of these events and courses in particular are global, with people from around the world benefitting from live-streamed events and the courses are translated into many languages and accessed around the world. So, this church is a globalised franchise with social and spiritual benefits packaged and distributed around the world. And fourth, the church also collaborates with other churches and local councils to provide services to many people free of charge. They are willing to engage in aspects of what might be considered community development, developing resources for the local community to address important needs such as debt and bereavement counselling. In this regard they are functioning very much like a local Church of England parish church, which has been embedded in the fabric of English society for well over a century. 4.5

Description of All Souls Church, Langham Place

This section describes the findings from the three-month case study that was conducted at All Souls Church, Langham Place (hereafter ‘All Souls’). The case study entailed participant observation at church services, various ministries and activities of the church. The researcher, Dunlop, conducted interviews with clergy and ministry leaders. Informal research conversations were held with volunteers and participants of social engagement ministries. Finally, two focus groups were held, one was with homeless or vulnerably-housed people who attend the Saturday evening Bible study, the other was with a fellowship group consisting of church members. Alongside this gathering of empirical evidence, Dunlop studied a large variety of written material produced by the church: the website, the church magazine called The Broadsheet, books and many leaflets. The chapter begins with a description of the church and then moves on to discuss the social engagement activities, including the ministries of their social engagement organisation, their community centre, and churchbased activities.

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The section reveals some of the inherent challenges of operating as a church community that consists of a rapidly changing population, gathered from all over London. All Souls, as we will show, benefits from the legacy of a wellknown and visionary leader, and continues to navigate a course set by that leader, but within the rapidly changing London city centre context. 4.5.1 Historical Background All Souls is a Church of England parish church, located on Langham Place at the top of Regent Street in the West End of London. Commissioned by King George iv, the distinctive, Grade I listed building with a circular portico topped with a stone spire was designed by John Nash, completed in 1823 and consecrated on 25 November 1824. The church was called ‘All Souls’ because the founders aimed to accommodate every living soul in the parish with enough seating in the church building.89 Most likely due to its location, the church rapidly became fashionable and the seating for 1500 in high-boxed pews was frequently full.90 The church’s second Rector, Charles Baring, was a well-known evangelical and friend of Lord Shaftesbury, who established All Souls within this tradition.91 In 1940 a land mine damaged most of the church ceiling and the congregation moved to St Peter’s, Vere Street and was not able to return to Langham Place until 1951.92 During the war, the church regularly held services on all four platforms of Oxford Circus tube station, which functioned as an air-raid shelter.93 John Stott was born to a Harley Street doctor (a few streets away from All Souls) and returned to the parish as an Assistant Minister (Assistant Curate) in 1945 and later became Rector in 1950 and stayed until 1975 when he became Rector Emeritus. When he began his ministry at All Souls, his Rector, Harold Earnshaw-Smith, was actively involved in working to promote the struggling evangelical movement within the Church of England, which was characterised by a commitment to evangelism and expository Bible preaching. Being an evangelical had come to be seen as anti-intellectual. Stott recounted that when he was ordained in 1945 the evangelical movement was ‘despised and rejected’. He continued, ‘[t]his was a tragic situation, because we evangelicals claim that the constitution of the Church of England is itself thoroughly evangelical and 89

Timothy Dudley-Smith, John Stott: The Making of a Leader. (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1999), p. 31. 90 ‘History of All Souls’ in a leaflet, entitled, ‘All Souls, Langham Place, London W1, Visitor Information’, provided by the church office on 13 June 2016. 91 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 31. 92 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 214. 93 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 210.

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reformed’.94 Stott took up the challenge to rebuild, unite and strengthen Evangelicalism, chairing two National Evangelical Anglican Congresses in order to revitalise classical conservative evangelicalism.95 Paul Welsby, an historian of the period, observes: John Stott was a person of wide vision and deep understanding, and very persuasive. A gifted expositor of the Bible, a prolific writer and an evangelist, he was also a statesman who possessed the ability to understand other points of view. He was vicar of All Souls, Langham Place in London … and under his leadership that church became the heart of evangelical Anglicanism.96 Since then, the church has been referred to as the ‘Evangelical Anglican cathedral of the southeast’.97 Still referred to affectionately by church members as ‘Uncle John’, his ministry was highly influential not only in the UK,98 but later around the world.99 In 1982 he founded the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, which still has its headquarters at St Peter’s Church, Vere Street. A prolific writer, he authored over forty books and hundreds of articles.100 John Stott’s leadership of All Souls left a lasting legacy of commitment to preaching, social engagement and evangelism.101 While his commitment to evangelism was clear from the beginning of his ministry, his developing focus on social action began in 1957 when he started a Social Action Committee.102 For Stott, they were intertwined commitments and social engagement was understood to reinvigorate evangelistic efforts. He defended this position even 94 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 217. 95 These were held in Keele in 1967 and Nottingham in 1977, see Alister Chapman 2012 Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 101. 96 Paul Welsby A History of the Church of England, 1945–1980 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 220. 97 Mary Endersbee, Hidden Miracles at All Souls (London: Lakeland Publishers, 1977), p. 8. 98 He was undeniably a leader in the wider church, serving as chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council from 1967 to 1984, as President of the British Scripture Union from 1965 to 1974 and the British Evangelical Alliance from 1973 to 1974. He was an honorary chaplain to the Queen from 1959 to 1991. 99 His involvement in student work took him around the world and from 1995 to 2003 he was president of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. 100 http://www.johnstottmemorial.org/life-passion/his-books/bibliography-of-john-rwstotts-books/ (accessed on 14 June 2016). 101 Chapman, Godly Ambition p. 120. 102 Chapman, Godly Ambition p. 115.

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when prominent evangelicals like Billy Graham and others associated with the Lausanne movement wanted to focus simply on evangelism.103 At a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the church and a building fundraising event, John Stott gave a sermon in which he described his vision for the future of the church. Called the ‘I have a dream sermon’, he describes how he has a vision for a biblical, worshipping, caring, serving and expectant church. Here is an excerpt: I have a dream of a church which is a serving church – which has seen Christ as the Servant and has heard his call to be a servant too, which is delivered from self-interest, turned inside out, and giving itself selflessly to the service of others, whose members obey Christ’s command to live in the world, to permeate secular society, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, whose people share the good news of Jesus simply, naturally and enthusiastically with their friends, which diligently serves its own parish, residents and workers, families and single people, nationals and immigrants, old folk and little children, which is alert to the changing needs of society, sensitive and flexible enough to keep adapting its program[me] to serve more usefully, which has a global vision and is constantly challenging its young people to give their lives in service, and constantly sending its people out to serve. I have a dream of a serving church.104 It is notable how much the church here is seen to be in service to the community and the world. Under Stott’s leadership, the church continued to grow and expand, although Stott himself was disappointed with the growth trajectory in the 1960s.105 St Peter’s became a daughter church of All Souls after pastoral reorganisation and hosted the All Soul’s Family service in the 1960s and 70s. From 1970 Stott turned over the day-to-day running of the church to Michael Baughen, although he remained Rector until 1975.106 In the 1970s the church had grown to the extent that they needed extra space for hospitality and other events. Discovering that the foundations of the church building reached a depth of thirteen feet, they decided to excavate 103 Chapman, Godly Ambition, pp. 137–148. 104 John R.W. Stott, ‘Historical Appendix 2: I Have a Dream of a Living Church’ in The Living Church: The Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor (ivp: Downers Grove, 2007), pp. 166–169. 105 Alister Chapman, ‘Secularisation and the Ministry of John R.W. Stott at All Souls, Langham Place, 1950–1970’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 56.3 (2005), pp. 496–513 (p. 506). 106 Chapman, ‘Secularisation and the Ministry of John R.W. Stott’, p. 499.

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under the church to create a hall in the basement. The people of the church raised over £750,000 in 1975–1976 for this project, mostly by individual church members who sold valuables or worked on Saturdays. The project also received funding from around the world, which demonstrates the global influence of All Souls, mostly mediated via the work of John Stott. A fundraising leaflet explained, ‘This is not a restructuring for ourselves but for the worldwide work of the Kingdom of God, in which All Souls is so vitally involved’.107 The reopening of the church was covered in The Times, the Evening Standard, the Daily Telegraph and the bbc World Service allocated a half hour to cover the Rededication service. Endersbee’s account of the fundraising and building of the church describes how this project served to unite the church around a common vision and goal. She argues that the self-conception of the church is evidenced in these words, written in 1977: ‘The church in Langham Place is, in reality, a family of believing, worshipping Christians … the church, aware of its uniquely strategic position in the heart of London’s shoppers’ golden mile, seeks to minister to the varied parish needs and to the neighbourhood’.108 With the distinctive church building nestled just south of Broadcasting House, the London headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (hereafter ‘bbc’), the church has historically been very closely linked to the bbc, at times even having a chaplain there. From 1951 to 1994 the bbc broadcast a fifteen-minute Daily Service from All Souls and had regular broadcasts from the congregation on the bbc World Service. Although the bbc no longer makes regular broadcasts from the church, there is still an existing connection, not least because a number of people who work for the bbc worship there, either on Sundays or at a midweek service. The church’s childrens programme uses a room in the bbc building on Sunday. The church functions as an informal chaplaincy for the bbc, hosting the annual staff Christmas Carol service and holding funerals and memorial services for prominent bbc staff. One church leader recounted how a high-ranking bbc official spoke of All Souls as the conscience of the bbc. Another church leader spoke about the bbc as the mind of the parish while All Souls functions as the soul. The nature of the relationship of the bbc to the church is complex, but certainly on a practical level they intersect. If one goes on a tour of the bbc building, the church building is mentioned, which means that people tend to drop into the church afterwards. When the new wing of Broadcasting house was built, it was shaped as a curve to form an architectural response to the shape of the nearby rotunda of All Souls. Certainly, this proximity to global broadcasting has emphasised the 107 Endersbee, Hidden Miracles at All Souls, p. 48. 108 Endersbee, Hidden Miracles at All Souls, p. 8.

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church’s sense of being placed in a context that has potential for considerable social engagement. 4.5.2 Contemporary Vision All Souls seems to be a church that is aware of its unique heritage and geographical location and seeks to look outwards into the context of multi-cultural London with its transient population. The vision of the church, quoted by the current Rector, Hugh Palmer, and prominent in the church literature is ‘to be an international community to reach a multicultural society for Christ’. The All Souls Welcome leaflet states that the church aims to: Come together to learn to live Christ across our scattered networks Send out to serve and speak Christ along our different networks Send on to witness and work for Christ in new networks Here we see that the church is conceived as a place for learning and later in the document we see that this learning is rooted in the Bible, which is expressed in the following way: ‘At our heart is a living relationship with God through Christ revealed in the Bible. We’re committed to living that out in our everyday lives’.109 We can also see from the aims that the church understands itself as a gathering of people who relate to various networks. Several more statements in the Welcome leaflet express concisely the self-understanding of the church: ‘Because we’re in the centre of London, the church links in with networks from all over London, the UK and the world’. Furthermore, they observe the changing nature of the human networks in London, and want to do what they can to help people find connection. ‘We’re a big church and we’re international but we’re also a community. Everyone is welcome and every individual counts. We’d like to get to know you and hear your story’. But again, the nature of this engagement with people is characterised by teaching and equipping. ‘However long or short a time you are in London we’d like to help equip you for life – real life’. Several people, in informal conversation or in interviews, spoke about the church having a ‘culture of service’, which perhaps is due to the ongoing legacy of the vision of Stott for the church, as articulated above. There are certainly countless opportunities to volunteer in some capacity with children’s groups during church, midweek toddler and baby groups, events for people in their 20s and 30s and others for those over 40. There are events for students, women, men and sports. It is estimated that there are about 800 people who volunteer 109 All Souls Welcome Leaflet, 2014.

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to ‘make our Sunday services happen’.110 This sense of all pitching in together is not only to support church activities, but is also seen as essential for developing church members. The Welcome leaftlet explains, We’re convinced that for people to really grow learning needs to be put into practice and so we encourage people to get involved in serving. Every member of Church has a part to play and there are always things to be done and new areas to be involved in. There are lots of opportunities to serve on Sundays and during the week. For some you’ll need experience and training; for others just willingness and enthusiasm. The All Soul’s Church Prayer Diary outlines the church’s conception of mission:111 Evangelism: proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ Discipleship: teaching and building up the church in Christ Compassion: caring for those in need as for Christ Justice: working to transform unjust societies in the name of Christ Creation Care: safeguarding and stewarding God’s earth, Christ’s inheritance As a church … we’re called to participate in that mission locally … We see here quite a complex conception of what it means for the church to look outside of itself, and an awareness of the importance of local engagement. ‘All Souls Local Action Network’ and the Clubhouse (more on both below) are listed as the two main ways that people in the church can get involved in serving the local community. Furthermore, in another move to engage with a local London community, All Souls planted a church in 2013 called ‘Inspire’, taking fifty church members and two clergy to start a new congregation in the Old Street area. The vision of the plant is ‘not so much to be a great church as to see London being a great city. We want to see the good news about Jesus Christ inspiring all aspects of London life …’112 Additionally, within the parish of All Souls there is a Church of England school and a team from the church organise after school clubs and provide weekly assemblies.

110 All Souls Welcome Leaflet, 2014. 111 All Souls Prayer Diary 2014–2015. 112 http://www.inspirelondon.org/Groups/242409/Vision.aspx (accessed 16 June 2016).

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4.5.3 Worship Services The average church attendance for a worship service on a Sunday is about 2,300 people, spread over their three main services at 9.30am, 11.30am and 6.30pm.113 There is also a short communion service with a much smaller number of people at 8.00am on Sundays. The current Rector estimates that they have people from more than sixty-five nationalities who attend, and observations at the main services would certainly confirm that the congregation is culturally diverse and includes a wide range of people. Dunlop attended the main services on several different Sundays in the autumn of 2014. Here is an excerpt from her research journal: I’ve arrived well before the beginning of the 9.30am service, and the seats in the church are almost entirely occupied already. The traditional church interior is brightly lit and at the edges of the sanctuary is a balcony that is gradually filling with people. A senior minister gives an opening welcome and then the congregation stands to sing a hymn, accompanied by a small orchestra at the front of the church. Opening prayers, including the Lord’s prayer, are followed by another song. A lay person from the congregation then came to the front and read out prayers. After this, the Rector gave his own welcome and spoke about various activities of the church. The Bible reading was followed by a song, and then there was a sermon from one of the senior ministers. The thirty-minute sermon about ‘Life through Christ – A Gospel Consequence’ was followed by a final hymn and blessing. Afterwards, people were encouraged to stay for coffee or tea in the hall below the sanctuary. Music is clearly important in this church. On staff they have a Director of Music, a Music Pastor and a Choir Director and assistant organist. The style of music was similar across the three main services and included traditional hymns as well as modern worship songs. The style was reserved and dignified, with the organ and stringed instruments giving an orchestral feel to the music. The goal of music ministry, as stated in a church leaflet, is ‘singing God’s praise in such a way that the “word of Christ may dwell in us richly”’.114 The style and intention 113 Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council of All Souls Church, Langham Place, 2015, p. 2. http://www.allsouls.org/Publisher/File.aspx?id=151269 (accessed 17 June 2016). The report also states that there are 804 people on the New Electoral Role and 1302 people returned annual membership cards. 114 Prayer Diary 2014–2015.

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of the musical sections of the service are quite different from htb, which we described in the previous section as aiming to bring people into an experience of God. At All Souls, the music seems to function as an aid to congregation members thinking more deeply on biblical and theological texts. The sermons form the core of the worship service and it is evident that a lot of thought and preparation goes into crafting these 20–30-minute talks. The sermons are often focused on biblical exposition, drawing out the meaning within the scriptural text and then showing how this relates to the everyday life of those listening. Sometimes the sermons follow a series. For example, in April 2015 there were four sermons about the election, covering politics, the nhs, immigration and the economy. The All Souls website has a resource section called ‘Sermon Centre’ which has more than 4,300 sermons dating back to the 1960s available for download.115 Over 300 of the sermons are by John Stott. This investment in producing and distributing sermons is a legacy of Stott’s commitment to preaching the Bible with excellence, a work carried on by the organisation Langham Preaching, which aims to provide training and mentoring to support the study and teaching of the Bible within churches all over the world.116 The services do not tend to follow the Church of England liturgy closely. Instead, there is an open pattern loosely based on the liturgy which includes opening responsive prayers led by the service leader, the Lord’s prayer said together, Scripture readings followed by the liturgical declaration, ‘This is the Word of the Lord’, with the congregation responding ‘Thanks be to God’. The services close with a blessing. 4.5.4 Fellowship Groups The church leaders are aware that in a large church it can be important to form smaller communities of support. For example, the Welcome leaflet describes the main aims of Fellowship groups as Bible study and to ‘encourage, challenge and support one another to live as Christians in London’. In The Broadsheet, a church member writes, ‘It is easy at a big church like All Souls to melt into the background and simply become a member of the “audience” rather than a member of the church family. Fellowship groups are an opportunity to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, His Word and with fellow believers’.117 A couple who are long standing members of the church said in an interview that Fellowship groups offer pastoral support, because the church is too big 115 http://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx (accessed 17 June 2016). 116 It is part of the Langham Partnership. http://uk.langham.org/what-we-do/langhampreaching/ (accessed 17 June 2016). 117 The Broadsheet, All Souls Church Magazine, September 2014.

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for the Vicar to support everyone.118 In an interview, the Rector said that there are about six hundred people who participate in fellowship groups, meeting in locations across London.119 In a sermon leading up to the election the preacher stated that the church is doing practical things in society with regards to immigration, such as building relationships and friendships across races and groups, through many activities, including fellowship groups.120 This diversity of nationalities, social class and age of fellowship group participants was borne out when Dunlop visited two All Souls Fellowship Groups, one of them on two occasions. Both groups ate a shared meal together, had a Bible study facilitated by one of the group leaders and then prayed together. One of the leaders, when asked whether there were any additional activities of the fellowship groups, said that they really only have Bible studies and the occasional social event. He said that they used to do more social action projects via ‘The Besom’, a Christian charity the links churches to people in the local community who need support, but now they ‘hardly ever do it, but we really ought to again’.121 4.5.5 Christianity Explored At the end of the 1990s, All Souls developed their own evangelism and discipleship course, called ‘Christianity Explored’, published and distributed by the Good Book Company.122 Based on Mark’s Gospel, it uses the story of the life of Jesus to cover the basics of Christianity in seven sessions with an additional day away with three sessions.123 The driving premise for the course is that the ideal way for people to learn about Jesus is through reading the Bible. Rico Tice, one of the developers of the course, explains, ‘We are absolutely unashamed of the Bible. So from week one we say, look, Christianity is Christ, and it’s Christ as he walks off the pages of Mark’s Gospel’.124 There are a variety of tailored editions of the course for children, youth, young adults, and 118 119 120 121

Interview on 5 November 2014 with a couple who volunteer for a ministry. Interview on 22 September 2014. Sermon on 26 April 2014, David Turner, ‘Election Talk: Immigration’. Research Journal, written account of informal conversation held on 11 November 2014 with the leader of a Fellowship Group. For more on The Besom, a social engagement initiative that connects the needs of people in a community with a local church, see http:// www.besom.com/about-us (accessed on 20 August 2017). 122 http://www.ceministries.org/Groups/275613/Home/About_us/Our_History/Our_History .aspx (accessed 22 June 2016). 123 http://christianityexplored.org/Groups/274683/Home/Courses/Christianity_Explored/ Christianity_Explored.aspx?redirected=1 (accessed 18 June 2016). 124 http://www.ceministries.org/Groups/275613/Home/About_us/Our_History/Our_History .aspx (accessed 22 June 2016).

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people using English as a second language. They have also created a companion course, ‘Life Explored’ and a follow-on course, ‘Discipleship Explored’. There is also a prison edition, because Christianity Explored has partnered with Prison Fellowship International to deliver the course in prisons.125 It has now been translated into more than 50 different languages and developed for use in more than 100 countries around the world.126 The Christianity Explored course was delivered on 2500 occasions in the UK in 2014;127 and in 2016 it was estimated that over 10,000 courses are offered annually around the world in churches of many different denominations.128 4.6

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4.6.1 Homeless Ministry The main social engagement ministry of the church is called ‘All Souls Local Action Network’, hereafter ‘aslan’. Its activities are described as ‘demonstrating God’s love to homeless and vulnerable people by building committed relationships and taking gospel opportunities’.129 Begun in 1988 by young people in the church, it is described on the All Souls website as a mission to ‘manifest God’s love to homeless people through actions: by addressing physical, mental and spiritual needs, by giving help and affection without preconditions, by transmitting our joy in Christ and by steadily improving standards of care and support with God’s guidance’.130 The church employs two people to run aslan – a full-time manager and a part-time administrator. There are more than 450 volunteers who are drawn from the church community, other churches and include people from outside the church who are not Christians but want to help. The manager, in an interview, noted that aslan works alongside government funded projects that provide short-term and focused services having clearly defined outcomes. She describes how aslan is different, because ‘[w]e are on 125 All Souls Prayer Diary 2014–2015. 126 http://christianityexplored.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=465842 (accessed 18 June 2016). 127 All Souls Prayer Diary for 2014–2015. 128 http://www.ceministries.org/Groups/275613/Home/About_us/Our_History/Our_History .aspx (accessed 22 June 2016). 129 All Souls Prayer Diary 2014–2015. By ‘gospel opportunities’ they mean that they will share about their Christian faith, given the opportunity. 130 http://www.allsouls.org/Groups/173227/Serving/Serving_the_homeless/Serving_the_ homeless.aspx (accessed 13 June 2016).

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the befriending, loving, family, spiritual side of things. We are very much the Christian end of homeless work’. As mentioned above, training is required for some volunteer positions and often there is an induction session offered for new volunteers joining a specific ministry. In addition, quite a variety of optional training courses were made available to volunteers, either those run by the church or by other groups that the church encouraged volunteers to attend. For example, a three-month study of the aslan newsletters revealed that volunteers had the opportunity to attend food safety courses, training on supporting people who hoard, mental health concerns, issues for rough sleepers, housing justice, health and homelessness, policy implications for affordable housing, biblical counselling, and training in signposting to other services. Indeed, there are a lot of homeless resources and ministries offered by many different groups. An important role of the manager of aslan is to meet with these other groups, or to make sure this networking is delegated and to encourage the aslan volunteers to attend the various training opportunities on offer. Indeed, this training in itself can be quite an important resource for a church to be offering the community. The manager of aslan spoke about how the training can change people’s perspectives on the work they are doing: For example, on a recent homelessness training day the leaders who run the homeless ministry taught about how we need them more than they need us in our results based jobs and in the busyness of our lives, serving the homeless blesses us, it gives us a chance to go slower, it gives us a chance to care without looking for rewards, it gives us a chance to see vulnerability and acknowledge our own vulnerability, and gives us the chance to be kind in a way that this world may never give you the opportunity in any other situation. 4.6.1.1 Tea Run aslan started when the youth group began doing the ‘Tea Run’, going out into the areas around the church every Saturday at 5.00am to take tea, coffee and some food to needy people. They now have a van that they fill with clothes, hot tea and coffee, breakfast and lunch bags and take out onto the streets, engaging with about a hundred people. The manager of aslan said those they meet are about ‘half entrenched people and half people who are new that week. And we just hope that they are able to move off the streets in a few days’. There is a different team for each week of the month, consisting of about fifteen volunteers, one of whom is the leader. This means that a person will serve on the tea run

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about once a month. Here is an excerpt from the researcher’s journal when she observed the Tea Run team: When I arrived at 4.30am at the Clubhouse, no one was talking to one another. People were silently working in the kitchen, loading up the van and sorting out donated clothes into bags. It felt awkward when I broke the silence by saying ‘hello’ and explaining who I was. I spoke to the leader first, then got involved in preparations in the kitchen. A young Singaporean undergraduate student was making a huge thermos of tea. She tasted it and crinkled her nose. She explained that because she doesn’t usually have tea with sugar, it tasted all wrong to her. But since most homeless people seem to prefer tea and coffee with sugar in it, the bulk of what they prepare is sugared. I helped another volunteer wrap up bacon sandwiches in foil and place them into another large heat-retaining canister. As we worked, he explained that he had been up since 3.30am, preparing the food. We loaded all the food, drinks and bags of clothing into the van and set out. I sat in the front with the team leader, a young woman from Scotland, who said she had been doing the Tea Run for seven years now. As she drove she explained that when she moved to London she was struck by the needs of people. She has become very passionate about this ministry and said that it is motivated by her faith in God. We stopped at five sites in central London where two team members distributed clothing out of the side of the van, and several others gave out tea, coffee, bacon sandwiches and lunch bags (containing sandwiches prepared by another team the previous evening) to people. The team leader gave out invitations to the Entertainment Evenings. There were seven people on the team that morning, and three of them were from other churches. One woman explained that she goes to Hillsong Church and likes the worship style there better than All Souls, but when she tried to volunteer at Hillsong, she found that all their social action activities were restricted to people within the church. She resisted this exclusivity and decided to serve with aslan, because she likes the fact that it allows people from all different churches to take part in helping homeless people. At the Clubhouse there is a massive loft which is packed with clothing donated almost entirely from people at All Souls. Another team of volunteers had come in to sort it and then categorise it so that it would be ready and labelled for the Tea Run team to take it out onto the streets in the van. One of the volunteers said that giving out clothes was really an intense experience. People could be quite demanding and argue with others about the clothes that

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they were taking. Dunlop observed that some people said that they desperately needed a coat, and then even after being shown five different coats they would make the volunteers keep rummaging to find exactly what they wanted. So, it seems that people were quite choosy about what they were given. However, it seemed to Dunlop that the volunteers were quite generous with the clothes and gave out quite a lot to the people who were asking for them. Dunlop was surprised by some of the people that the team encountered on the Tea Run. One man came not to get food, he said he had plenty, but because he wanted an invitation to the Entertainment Evening and getting up at 5.00am was the only way to get one. When she asked another man where he was from, he said he didn’t want to say, because he didn’t want to be killed. Others were surprising in different ways. In another excerpt from the research journal, Dunlop recounts: I talked to another lady who said that her circumstances just got out from beneath her. And I said ‘Does that mean you are struggling?’ And she said, ‘Well, [I] guess I’m getting free handouts of food so that’s not going to be good, is it? It shows I’m in a bad way’. Some of the other homeless people looked at her, and because she was well dressed and well spoken, questioned whether she should be getting food. It was sad to see her selfawareness of her situation. She talked about how she is taking ‘meds for depression’. She also talked about her brother who is a chemical engineer and travels around the world finding oil and who has a lot of money. And of course, the obvious question is, why can’t he help you out? But I didn’t raise that because I know that some people have fallen out with their relatives, and don’t want them to know what sort of the situation they are in.131 Overall, there was a sense of camaraderie on the team. People seemed to like each other, get on well, perhaps because this team usually goes out for a cooked breakfast together after unloading the van and cleaning up. Two people had stayed overnight in the Clubhouse so that they could be there early in the morning, indicating significant commitment to this work. 4.6.1.2 Entertainment Evenings A few years after the Tea Run had started, the volunteers realised that this ministry, although reaching large numbers of rough sleepers, was not enabling them to get to know the people they were helping. In response, they started 131 Dunlop Research Journal, Saturday, 22 November 2014.

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giving out about thirty-five invitations to Saturday night socials, called ‘Entertainment Evenings’. This event is a two-course meal served at tables in the Clubhouse. aslan staff and volunteers refer to the people who come to their ministries as ‘guests’. Dunlop observed: The ten volunteers arrived an hour and a half beforehand to set up and cook. A charity donates food items, so packets of crisps and biscuits and things are scattered on the tables, as well as leaflets about All Souls, the Bible, and other short tracts. Before the guests came in the team prayed together and there were notices about their next service opportunity – serving the food at the Christmas Party for homeless people. The guests, almost entirely men, waited outside in a queue until the doors were opened. A volunteer stood at the door and checked that guests had an invitation, greeting most by name. Upon arrival, the thirty guests were served snacks and hot drinks. Then the guests took their seats, and the volunteers served them plates of food and sat with them around the tables. After the pudding course, some guests were invited to go to a Bible study in another room, and about four did, while the others stayed behind to talk and play board games.132 Visiting the Entertainment Evening left the researcher with a sense of hospitality, not only shown to herself, but to others. However, this long-term investment does come at a cost. Dunlop spoke informally with a volunteer who has been leading the Bible studies at the Entertainment Evenings for the last eight years, and she said that she is burnt out. When she faltered, and Dunlop asked if she was okay, she said that she is barely able to hide her depression. Is this kind of more intense engagement with homeless people and vulnerably housed worth the cost, not least in the energy put into it by volunteers? To get a sense of this personal cost, the researcher mixed with the guests and asked them what they think about the Entertainment Evenings. One man, who referred to his table as his ‘team’, said that ‘coming here gives me something to belong to’. A guest sitting at another table, when asked why he comes to the Entertainment Evenings, said ‘It’s good to have community with other people’. Another guest pointed out that most of the time, as a homeless person, he eats cold food while out on the streets. He said, ‘Here we can sit down and eat hot food, like we used to as children’. One person explained that some people do not come because they do not like the religious side of things at the Entertainment Evenings. He said, ‘This is a religious place’. The social event was, in fact, 132 Dunlop Research Journal, Saturday, 8 November 2014.

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overtly Christian, but this was not a negative point for all the guests. One guest remarked, ‘I didn’t believe that young people would give their time to this until I saw it with my own eyes. It is their faith’.133 We will return to a discussion regarding the theological motivations of volunteers in a subsequent chapter. 4.6.1.3 Day Centre On Saturdays, aslan volunteers provide the personnel needed to run Webber Street Day Centre, serving cooked breakfast for about eighty homeless guests. They also provide showers, clothes, mobile phone charging, and copious amounts of tea, coffee and biscuits. Additionally, there are English lessons, a Bible study and a curriculum vitae club available for the guests. During the week the centre is run by London City Mission, (hereafter lcm) and the director of aslan said that they see All Souls as their link church. For example, lcm regularly identifies people at the centre who are interested in learning more about Christianity and sends them to the Christianity Explored course regularly offered at All Souls. Also, in addition to staffing this day centre on Saturdays, the church supports several lcm partners financially. Here is an excerpt from Dunlop’s research journal when visiting the day centre on a Saturday morning: I saw about ten volunteers that morning, sorting out clothes and distributing them, organising turns for showers and shaving, preparing a cooked breakfast and cleaning up, giving out tea, coffee and biscuits, chatting with guests and leading a Bible study. People were sitting around tables having as much teas and coffees and biscuits as they wanted, and it seems like they wanted a lot as it was disappearing quite quickly. And they had had a full cooked breakfast that morning. One man mentioned that in his hostel he gets breakfast there so he didn’t have breakfast at the centre, he came after the breakfast was served at the day centre, because he did not think it was right to have breakfast twice. There were board games laid out, but no one seemed to be playing them. There were Christian books on a bookshelf. People were charging their phones at power points high in the walls with shelves for the phones. People did seem to sit by group. So there was a Romanian table and a Polish table and a few other groups. I spotted some of the same guests that were at the Entertainment Evening two weeks before and also some of the same people to whom we gave out food and clothes on the Tea run that morning.134 133 All quotations in this paragraph were recorded in the researcher’s journal immediately after visiting the Entertainment Evening on 8 November 2014. 134 Dunlop Research Journal, Saturday, 22 November 2014.

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During this visit, Dunlop observed part of the Bible study, which that morning was about forgiveness, based on Mark’s Gospel Chapter 12. The guests were asking questions and appeared very much engaged in the discussion, particularly all the nuances surrounding forgiveness, including forgiving themselves, others, and God’s forgiveness. Dunlop also mixed with some of the guests to listen and find out how they felt about the day centre. One man expressed the opinion that the Eastern European homeless people are getting preferential treatment and said he resented the language support that was being offered to them. He just wanted the day centre to feed people and provide an opportunity to chat with others, and that is all, which is how it used to be, and that is what he was used to. He seemed very frustrated with his situation and was worried that English people like himself would be missing out on services in London as more and more people from other countries try to access the available support. aslan has been staffing a Saturday day centre since 2002, and over time the volunteers have tried to respond to the needs of the people who come. 4.6.1.4 Visiting Scheme In 2004 aslan began a befriending ministry, entailing regular meetings between members of the church and a person who is homeless or vulnerably housed. The aim of this scheme is to ‘help improve confidence, motivation, social networks and mental well-being’ and to act as a ‘safety valve’ in case serious issues surface. If necessary, the volunteers can also point to medical and housing benefits and other sources of support available.135 This heavily relational ministry is key to aslan’s vision, expressed by the manager, ‘aslan is intending to build deeper personal relationships with rough sleepers and vulnerably housed people. And to be consistent and to develop trust with those people over a number of years’.136 There are about twelve people who are visited by members from All Souls, and according to her, some of those relationships have been going on for ten years. She explained that the befriending scheme is very intense and requires a lot of the volunteers, because each person who is visited meets with one or two volunteers, while another is praying simultaneously in another location. Thus, there is capacity for only about twelve people to benefit from this scheme. The manager believes that this kind of long-term engagement with homeless and vulnerably-housed people is rare

135 aslan website http://www.allsouls.org/Groups/180106/Serving/Serving_the_homeless/ What_we_do/What_we_do.aspx (accessed 28 June 2016). 136 Interview on 8 October 2014 with the manager of aslan.

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in this sector. According to the her, the value of the on-going relationship is that it becomes a stabilising influence in a person’s life, who may not have consistent relationships with anyone else. This consistency of interaction can be what enables them to stay in housing rather than returning to the streets.137 4.6.1.5 Winter Shelter aslan also runs a night shelter one night a week from October to May each winter, as part of Westminster Winter Night Shelter, organised by West London Day Centre. Six churches and one synagogue take turns housing fifteen guests each night of the week, giving the guests an evening meal, a place to sleep overnight and breakfast in the morning.138 The aslan website outlines how the timings of the ministry work when the shelter is hosted at the Clubhouse: The shelter opens from 6:30pm and a hot meal is served and shared by guests and volunteers from 7:15pm. For the extroverts there is the chance to chat and play board games. For introverts, there is a chance to read the paper, listen to music, watch a film, or have an early night. Bedding is provided, and lights turned down at 10:30pm. Breakfast is served between 7:00–8:00am. The venue closes by 8:30am.139 There are about 40–50 people in total who pass through the shelter, because once they have housing they move on. Indeed, supporting guests to find housing is a key strategy for this ministry. Each guest is given a keyworker who works to help them liaise with various agencies and together create a support plan for helping the guest into housing.140 The manager of aslan said in an interview, ‘Last year, looking at the winter shelter, we saw twenty-two people rehoused out of the forty-four that came to us, which is absolutely amazing. It’s because we are providing a stable base for people and a loving base for people. People from that can then enter jobs’.141

137 Interview on 8 October 2014 with the manager of aslan. 138 See the Caritas Westminster website, which describes the Westminster Winter Night Shelter. http://rcdow.org.uk/caritas/westminster-winter-night-shelter-201516/ (accessed 28 June 2016). 139 From ‘Winter Shelter’ on the aslan website: http://www.allsouls.org/Groups/180106/ Serving/Serving_the_homeless/What_we_do/What_we_do.aspx (accessed 28 June 2016). 140 From ‘Winter Shelter’ on the aslan website: http://www.allsouls.org/Groups/180106/ Serving/Serving_the_homeless/What_we_do/What_we_do.aspx (accessed 28 June 2016). 141 Interview on 8 October 2014 with the manager of aslan.

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4.6.1.6 Recovery Course At the time of the fieldwork, in response to the needs of the homeless people they were seeking to help, aslan had just added a new ministry, the Recovery Course, which is the eighteen-week programme to support addicts to become free of their addictions developed by htb. A married couple from the usa had recently moved to London to set up and run the course. They report that since then the course has been delivered three times, with about 120 people taking part in the course over that time. The sessions have between twenty-five to thirty people attending on average, and involve a meal together, seminars, workshops and sharing stories.142 The course is openly Christian, as the website states: We provide an environment for you to learn to know the Christian God, who, if you want Him to, is able to transform your life. Even if He is someone you are not ready to get to know yet, come along and discover that there are principles that can really help in your fight to overcome your addictions.143 The course attracts some people from aslan, but primarily people come through All Souls and the church website. They also attract people from other churches, including htb. Additionally, they have also started a Recovery Support group on Saturday afternoons. In 2016 the course was re-launched as ‘FREE!’ with twenty-two attendees, two staff and four volunteers and now a meal is offered, catered by the church chef.144 In conclusion, taking all the ministries together, aslan makes more than 200 interventions each week in the lives of homeless and vulnerably housed people (estimated as being over 10,000 a year). As we have seen above, the relational nature of their work is a central value, and this was borne out not only in conversations with leaders and the literature, but also in informal conversations with volunteers. They see their work as one among the many resources available for homeless people and have developed the ministry to augment some of the government services. This strategy is not only to avoid repeating statutory services on offer, but so that they work to their own strengths and offer something unique to the homeless community. For them, the church’s unique contribution is their willingness to give their time and relational 142 Personal correspondence via email with the Recovery Worker on 29 June 2016. 143 http://www.allsouls.org/Groups/262585/Whats_On/Recovery_Course/Recovery_Course .aspx (accessed 29 June 2016). 144 Personal correspondence from ministry leader, 24 September 2016.

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energy to individual homeless people, by offering hospitality, going to them on the streets, and to visiting them over long periods of time. Volunteers seemed to know the stories of a number of the homeless people and they would discuss among themselves how these people were getting on if they had not seen them for a while. Finding a pattern for sustainable, relationally-focused homeless ministry is not without its tensions. One volunteer raised the issue of how effective it is to build continuity in relationships with people if they only see them once a month. And that was evident in the fieldwork when one homeless lady, who came to get some food from the Tea Run team, said ‘Where is Tom? The guy I met last week?’145 The researcher explained about the monthly rota of volunteers, and noted that the woman seemed disappointed not to see the same person the following week. The manager of aslan explained that this system whereby each volunteer serves once a month is ‘a good way to avoid burnout and to give people a taste’. In a context such as central London, where many people seem to have little spare time, the church in practice believes that volunteering once a month may be the ideal level of service that would enable people to serve over several years. 4.6.2 Community Centre The ‘Clubhouse’ was opened in November 1958 by John Stott, situated on Cleveland Street in a former school building. According to one of Stott’s biographers, it had been the vision of the church for a long time to have a church centre in the east end of the parish to engage with the poorer people living in the tenements there.146 At the opening of the Clubhouse nearly four hundred people attended who normally did not go to church, many of whom were linked to All Souls School nearby. At that time there were already about sixty volunteers helping with the various clubs and activities that were already running.147 After extensive renovations, the former school building, which included a sports hall, was ready to be used by these clubs. Not long after it was established, youth leaders created a worshipping community which came to function as a church for people in the locale, ‘almost a parish within the parish’, according to the Clubhouse website.148

145 Not his real name. Drawn from the researcher’s Research Journal, Saturday, 22 November 2014. 146 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 270. 147 Dudley-Smith, John Stott, p. 271. 148 http://allsoulsclubhouse.org/story/ (accessed 29 June 2016).

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All Souls literature describes the Clubhouse as the base for activities in the week such as, ‘youth clubs, a day centre for the elderly, interaction with the community’ with the aim of ‘engaging and serving among those who live and work in Fitzrovia’.149 The Clubhouse has a staff team that includes a general manager, kids worker, chef/cleaner, caretaker and a few others. One staff member explained that the Clubhouse is in fact, two entities: the Clubhouse church and the Clubhouse community centre. The community centre is a registered charity and employs the staff and runs the weekly activities for the community. The church was registered as a separate place of worship within the parish of All Souls, and, according to this staff member, the people who come to the church would not see themselves as part of All Souls Church. The Vicar of the church is an Assistant Minister of All Souls, and the Clubhouse church does not have its own pcc (‘Parish Church Council, a governance group) but comes under All Soul’s pcc. The Vicar of the Clubhouse church said in an interview, ‘So, in a way, today it would be seen as an upside-down church plant. I suppose the ministries gave rise to the church instead of the church being planted and giving rise to ministries. And it stayed that way, which is very odd in a way. So, the church is one of the ministries that goes on here in the midst of all the others’.150 The researcher attended the Clubhouse Church that meets on the first floor of the Clubhouse building at 11.00am on Sundays. The service was informal and Anglican in style, with about fifty people of a variety of ages. Some people were from the local area, but a number had travelled into the city centre to attend. The Vicar explained that as families have moved out of the area they have wanted to maintain their links with the church, so they travel back to attend. The ministries that happen mid-week in the Clubhouse are for people who live in the local area, most often who do not attend the church. The children’s worker runs after schools clubs three days a week and sees about sixty to seventy children in attendance. She also organises mother and baby/toddler groups three times a week, and sees about sixty children over the course of a week. There is also youth work for the local area, facilitated by two youth workers, who oversee youth clubs four nights of the week. They also host small groups for Bible studies and meet with youth one-to-one for mentoring and support. One of the youth leaders said, ‘In terms of the breakdown of the kids in the area, we have about 300 young people aged 11 to 18 according to the last census, of which we know about 150 of them who were on our books. So that’s about half. A lot of the young people we know are from some form of disadvantaged 149 All Souls Prayer Diary 2014–2015. 150 Interview on 3 December 2014 with a senior church leader.

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background’.151 They receive funding from the local council and work in partnership with the Spear Course and Youth in Action. The Clubhouse also has several activities for elderly people. They run ‘Club Care’ which entails a volunteer visiting an older person in the community, who may be isolated and housebound. They also support older people by doing small repairs in their homes and they run weekly trips to large supermarkets in the Clubhouse van. The Clubhouse also hosts a lunch on Wednesdays for elderly people. Here is an excerpt from the Dunlop’s fieldwork journal when she visited the lunch club: There was tea and coffee on arrival, as much as people wanted. One lady said this was important to her, because after travelling on two buses to get there, she was ready for a cup of tea. For some, the very effort to leave their homes was significant. In a corner on a table there was food – bags of dried pasta, rice, tins of beans etc – and plastic bags for people to take away food, if they wished. Another lady said, ‘I had a look at that food and didn’t fancy any of it – just pasta and rice!’ A volunteer told me that the food came from Harvest festival donations. At noon the people were invited to come to ‘church’ by a staff member, and about half of them moved into another part of the centre and took part in a short, Anglican service of prayer and Bible reading. Then everyone came together to sit at tables, and after a short prayer, volunteers served out the three-course meal. I sat at three different tables to chat to different groups of people. I learned that they have to pay £4.50 for lunch and now the lunches happen only on Wednesdays, whereas previously they were every week day. They said that the arrangement had changed due to funding cuts and problems getting volunteers. They liked coming because they got a good meal, it saved them shopping and cooking (one person said that some of the people there do not cook for themselves). Several guests said that it was good because it gave them a reason to leave their flat and gave them somewhere to go. They also said that it provided a way to be connected to others. Some lived within walking distance, others had travelled some distance to get there. Some had been coming to Clubhouse events for many years, others had been coming only for a year. Some came because a friend invited them, others because someone in the city council had told them about it. They all said that the volunteers were really lovely and that they liked coming. One of the ladies that I sat next to had brought a plastic box, and she put half of her portion into it. She explained, ‘That 151 Interview on 12 November 2014 with a ministry leader.

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will do me for lunch, dear’. The guests also said that with the government cutting funding to local programmes in recent years, that there are fewer lunch clubs in the area. Those that do happen are often run by churches. But one lady said that this lunch club was unique for having a Church service – most of the others just have a prayer before the meal. I asked whether the Christian part put people off, but she said it did not, because no one feels they have to go to that bit (which I observed was true). I was told that they used to do more day trips to the beach and things, but these do not happen anymore because of a lack of funds. This lunch club attracted about thirty people, many of whom seemed to know each other. The Clubhouse functions as an outpost for All Souls in the local community. The relationship between All Souls and the Clubhouse has changed over the years as leadership and priorities have shifted. At times the Clubhouse has been closely linked to the work of the church, and at other times they have seemed to operate almost as completely separate entities. The Vicar of the Clubhouse church explained that yet again the Clubhouse is in a place of responding to change, this time due to changes in society. The demographic is changing hugely and so the more marginalised and vulnerable groups are less and less in this area as it continues to be gentrified. The redevelopment of the area is purposeful and it is driving out certain segments of the population so that others can come in. So, that population change is happening, which is an unusual one, it is increasing, so there will be fewer and fewer elderly in this area as time goes on, but the numbers of children passing through is probably fairly static. But the pressure on families in this area means that there are not hundreds of them living in this area. The largest population living around here would literally be the people who work here and the students who stay here during term.152 Thus, local demographic shifts will certainly bring changes to the work of the Clubhouse. Furthermore, the Vicar of the Clubhouse Church was working closely with All Souls and aslan to try to bring All Souls, the Clubhouse ministries and the Clubhouse church together under a unified vision.

152 Interview on 3 December 2014 with a senior church leader.

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4.6.3 Engaging with Central London The Clubhouse appears to be in a phase of reintegrating with the vision of All Souls to engage with the local community, and this may mean big changes for the future shape of the ministries. A vision of what this might look like can be seen in the ministries that the church is currently investing in, which are explored in the following sections. 4.6.3.1 Student Ministry A student ministry held on Friday evenings is called, ‘The Living Room’ and one of the volunteers writes in the church magazine: Every Friday we think of creative ways of reaching out to young people in London who have yet to receive Jesus as their saviour and King. Creating a space where un-churched people feel welcome, build friendships with our Christian volunteers and hear the gospel is the heartbeat of Friday night. So we have been setting up a gigantic living room space in All Souls Church with sofas, colourful led lights, open mic set, coffee bar, table tennis, etc.153 The leader of this ministry explains that it is called the ‘Living Room’ because students often do not have a living room – their accommodation is simply a bedroom. If they are renting a shared flat, the landlords often rent out the living room as another bedroom rather than give the students that extra living space. He talked about how many students have to commute into the university, which means they do not have any community around them. The ‘Living Room’ was designed by him to be a place of community and a centre for people to build relationships. He spoke about his belief that God knew what was going to happen in this area and strategically placed All Souls there, near the theatres and the shopping district in the universities with a call to build community with people in this kind of context.154 Dunlop observed when she visited: The main sanctuary of All Souls is set up like a living room, sofas, giant bean bags, and cafe style tables and chairs. Music is playing and the lights are soft. About twenty youngish people, the volunteers, have gathered to pray before the session. The doors open and students enter. When people saw others that they knew, they greeted each other with a hug. The volunteers immediately offered them a drink, food and a place to sit. 153 The Broadsheet September 2014. 154 Notes from an informal conversation, 21 November 2014, Research Journal.

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As I looked around the room, I saw a large group of ethnically diverse young people. I talked with a student from Japan, a young woman who is only here for a term, and she said that almost every meal in the week she eats by herself in her student accommodation. This meal on Friday nights is the only meal that she eats with other people and she said it is wonderful and it is where she has made her friends. I spoke with some of the volunteers, who explained that not only do they take half a day off from work in order to cook the food, they also try to find ways to support the students in practical ways, if needed. Another volunteer explained that about 90 percent of the students who come on a Friday night are not believers. She loves the engagement with them and said that many students do not even know who Jesus is. After the meal, an All Souls apprentice gave a short talk, supported by stories and video clips, encouraging students not to miss out on ‘what life is all about’. After the talk, people stayed sitting round their table, and I overheard them talking about what had been said, with volunteers explaining more about Jesus Christ.155 About fifty students were there, which volunteers explained was a low turnout. They said they had a couple of hundred the previous week, at international food night. The next would be a Christmas party, and they expected large numbers for that. The leader of this ministry explained it takes about thirty to forty volunteers to run this ministry on a Friday night. About twenty people do the cooking, serving, stewarding and chatting with students. Another twelve to twenty people come every Friday before the meal to give free English Lessons. He said that the goal of the English lessons is to offer something helpful to people, and then to build genuine friendships that will hopefully lead to coming upstairs to have dinner and then staying around to hear the gospel talk. The fifty or so students who come for lessons are divided into three different levels and they sit around tables in the hall below the church. Many of the volunteers who teach are qualified English as a second language teachers, and one of them will have prepared the lessons in advance. The church magazine reports: The English lessons run by Christian volunteers from All Souls have attracted many non-Christian language students into our community as well and we pray that the relationships develop here would draw student to explore Christianity further. One Imperial College student writes, ‘The personal welcome I received that night drew me into a wonderful God-centred family, and it has been a privilege to serve and learn as 155 21 November 2014, Research Journal.

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part of a community which is defined by the desire to love God and one another’.156 The Living Room is just one of several ministries to students that is run by All Souls. The Senior Minister for students said that they also have Bible studies on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. When asked about how many students are involved in all of the All Souls student ministries, he explained: ‘I think about 150 Christians and about 50–70 non-Christians and then there are 60–80 leaders on top of that. Because, you are actually impacting the leaders, often they are in their first job, so my focus is often on teaching them. So there are probably about 250 to 300 people under the age of 30 that we reach. It is quite an exciting ministry’.157 He was keen to point out that the various student ministries are more than just Bible studies, they have meals and the goal is to build community. He said: I feel very keenly the loneliness of London. It is just as true for the home students as it is for the international students. I initially saw it most clearly through the international students’ eyes, but I now see it through the home students. For many students, undergraduates or postgraduates, there is a deep sense of loneliness upon arriving in a new place to start a course. So my heart is to disciple and to teach the Bible, but it is also to enable the students to see that they are part of a family.158 The student ministry also organises many social events and an annual weekend away. 4.6.3.2 Anti-Trafficking All Souls Anti-Trafficking (hereafter ‘asat’) is a ministry that has been started in the last few years in response to research that was conducted by an All Souls apprentice regarding the demographics of the parish. Discovering that there were around forty brothels in the local area, the church formed a small group of people to think and pray about what the church could do in response. They met with the head of the police anti-trafficking department for the local area, and he suggested that it would be helpful if they could clear out the advertising

156 The Broadsheet September 2014. 157 Interview on 3 December 2014 with a senior church leader. 158 Interview on 3 December 2014 with a senior church leader.

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cards for prostitutes that are stuck onto phone boxes.159 One of the ministry leaders said in an interview: We advertised within the church that we needed people to clear out the phone boxes, and we ended up with about 100 people who turned up at 8 o’clock on the first Saturday morning. And the police were surprised. It was great. I mean, there were too many people, we didn’t know what we were doing. But the police were very organised, actually, and they briefed us, they split us into different teams, and we cleared all the cards out of the phone boxes. The police organised it and we provided the volunteers. It was great. They saw that we were serious about wanting to be involved.160 She went on to describe how this led to a partnership between the police and the church. The police use the information gathered from the phone boxes to locate the addresses of brothels, usually operating out of flats or massage parlours. They go in, check for trafficking and do a risk assessment. If it is deemed safe, a team of women from the church, called ‘Tamar’ make a visit. They then return every other week, bringing cake and building up relationships with the women. She said: It appears that they liked chatting to us. If they didn’t want us there they wouldn’t open the door for us. The other day when they were visiting one flat, the girls didn’t want the team to go. I’m guessing that that is a good sign.161 Tamar is a small team within asat, and consists of about fourteen volunteers, some of whom visit the brothels, some bake the cakes, and others pray while the visits are taking place. Talking about what she wants to see happen for the prostitutes as a result of this ministry, the leader said: We would obviously love them to come to know of God’s love for them. And then if they want to exit, then there is somebody there to support them. And that there is somebody out there who cares about them. That’s one of the things they have said to us. You know, something even as

159 Interview on 21 October 2014 with the Chair of asat. 160 Interview on 12 November 2014 with the leader of Tamar. 161 Interview on 12 November 2014 with a ministry leader.

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simple as making cake. When we first started, and we went to an address, they were just amazed that somebody had made cake for them.162 The leader of asat emphasised that they are just learning how to do this ministry, so she did not want to be seen as putting herself forward as an expert on social engagement among prostitutes. She recounted that they have learned a lot from partnership with European Communities Against Trafficking (ecat),163 as well as other organisations such as Rahab and Stop the Traffic.164 She also spoke about how the team that volunteers is convinced that Jesus loves these women and they want to do everything they can to show this love through building relationships with them, and being there for them when or if they want to get out. 4.6.3.3 Jellybeans and Jellybabies A church member saw a need to support mothers and carers of small children in the area and about ten years ago started Jellybeans. She explained in an interview, ‘So, I think for me it was about seeing a need in the community, something that we had the resources to do something about and to help people, and wanting to win opportunities to make friends and explain the gospel’.165 She is now the coordinator of this group, which meets in the hall of St Paul’s Church, Robert Adam Street, one of the buildings in the parish. She described how when she first started thinking about beginning a mums and toddler group, some people dismissed this idea because they thought there were not many families with small children in central London. But when she found out that a nearby church’s toddler group had a waiting list of seventy names, she knew that there was a need. She said: We started with one day a week. After six months that was full, so we started a second one. After a year we had a waiting list of sixty. So, we started a third morning. We have consistently had a waiting list. About 162 Interview on 12 November 2014 with a ministry leader. 163 European Communities Against Trafficking was a project to funded by the European Commission from 2012–2014 to develop a multi-agency framework to work together to prevent human trafficking and care for victims https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/euprojects/european-communities-against-trafficking_en (accessed 2 July, 2018). 164 Rahab was founded in 2009 to care for women affected by prostitution and human trafficking for sexual exploitation: www.rahabuk.com (accessed 2 July 2018); ‘Stop the Traffick’ is a London-based charity that aims to mobilise people to become activists against human trafficking: www.stopthetraffik.org (accessed 2 July 2018). 165 Interview on 5 November 2014 with Coordinator of Jellybeans and Jellybabies.

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three or four years ago we started Jellybabies, which is for children under one year old … So, the baby group is great for getting the children when they are little and the mums are often quite lonely and desperate at that stage.166 They have about seventy-five toddlers attending Jellybeans each week, and about twenty babies at Jellybabies. The coordinator said that she has about 150 people on her email list who attend sessions regularly or are on the waiting list, a majority of whom do not attend the church. When Dunlop went to Jellybeans she observed a room full of women, children and toys. The session started with free play and a craft. This was followed by a snack and then a volunteer read a Bible story and then they sang some songs. Dunlop had informal conversations with several women and recorded her reflections in her journal: A French mother of three was there with her youngest child and said she lives locally. She attended with her older children and now she comes with her nine-month-old. She said that the group has been the only means for her to make friends in this urban setting, since she moved there five years ago. She also said that it has meant a lot to her to have others to talk to who are going through similar things as they become new mothers and learn to care for their children in central London. Another woman, a nanny, said that it is good to come to a place where nannies and mothers mix, which isn’t often the case. She said, ‘It feels inclusive here’. She says that ‘If I am going somewhere regularly, then I like to know that people like me and are interested in me. If I didn’t come one week, the people here would ask after me’.167 The coordinator explained that because it is a ‘wealthy area’, the government has been unwilling to fund a local children’s centre. The church sees itself as stepping into this gap to support the need. 4.6.3.4 Sole Sports The Rector of All Souls, when asked about social engagement activities of the church, mentioned ‘Sole Sports’. ‘We have quite a big sports ministry that serves people who live in the area. That is not really need based but that is more pleasure based, I guess … The idea is, not just that you enjoy yourself, but that you can bring your friends and they can enjoy themselves. How do 166 Interview on 5 November 2014 with a ministry leader. 167 21 October 2014, ‘Jellybeans’ Research Journal.

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you handle big city life? And particularly because living in the big city can be a big pressure, and so where do you go to break the cycle between work and all the other bits? That’s about being holistic’.168 Indeed, through Sole Sports the church offers a huge range of sporting activities: women’s netball, men’s football, Pilates, running, table tennis, badminton, basketball, touch rugby, ultimate Frisbee, tennis, climbing, and athletics.169 Between 150 and 200 people are involved in Sole Sports each week. The leader of Sole Sports explained in an interview why organising sports is good for the local community: ‘Increasingly there are limited opportunities for sport within central London. We are often getting requests to set up new sports, so we are constantly trying to meet the demand via the church for sport’. But more than meeting a felt need, the hope is to help people build friendships, and to invite people into the church community. The leader explains: I think there is a big, big place for sport in church. And too often churches do Sunday, but there is not much for people to do to meet up outside of church. And a starting point is to build communities through sport within the church family and then to use it as outreach. And I don’t know of any other thing that does it better than sport. I really struggle to see what is better. And the thing about it is, people need community, people need friendships … Relationships are built through sport. And we pray for opportunities to do that, but we do it naturally and we never want the people who come to Sole Sports to feel manipulated to come to church.170 Sole Sports is another example of social engagement that is not aimed at supporting poorer people, but those who have a need for connection with others. Here we see that engaging with society can entail meeting a variety of needs in response to a community. 4.6.3.5 Workplace The Workplace ministry is an example of the legacy of John Stott’s theology of ‘whole life discipleship’ still functioning as a driving force within the church. A senior minister, reflecting upon the social engagement activities of the church, said:

168 Interview on 22 September 2014 with a senior church leader. 169 Sole Sports Term Card 2014–2015. 170 Interview on 16 October 2014 with a ministry leader.

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So, within a very broad view of social engagement, we want to reflect a commitment to apply our faith in the workplace in our various ministry areas. So one of the ways we do that is through the workplace ministry, which is intended to equip Christians in the workplace, to encourage them to keep going in the Christian life. That is certainly part of it, but it is also about how to integrate your faith into your work. So that when you go into the workplace, what does it mean to live as a Christian in the midst of a law firm or a visual effects company or the fashion industry or the bbc? So, in terms of that sort of social engagement, it is about how do I influence my workplace for the kingdom values, because that is who I am, I am living out the kingdom. I will shape my workplace in a way that reflects those kingdom values. So, that again is a thread that runs through our workplace ministry and informs both our preaching and our Bible engagement as widely as possible.171 This assertion is borne out in the empirical research. Dunlop observed that both within sermons and Bible studies at Fellowship groups, people were invited to reflect upon how the biblical passage being addressed could be applied to the listeners’ engagement with work during the week. Furthermore, according to the All Souls website Sermon Centre, ‘workplace’ is the most frequent tag for the hundreds of sermons available online, with 534 sermons tagged in relation to this theme.172 The church has a full-time minister who is responsible for workplace ministry, and oversees a service on Thursdays at lunchtime for people working in the local area and a Tuesday morning breakfast Bible study. At the time of the research, she was just starting ‘Ergon’, which is a ten-month course exploring what it means for a person to apply their faith in the workplace, assisted by a mentor. She explained that the workplace ministry is not just for people who attend All Souls, but for all people who are working in Central London. She said: I think workplace ministry in general, it’s the heritage that we’ve inherited from John Stott about double listening and whole life discipleship, we do offer something fairly unique … One of the things we try to do at

171 Interview on 25 September 2015 with a senior church leader. 172 The other topics with a large number of tags are ‘God the Son’ and ‘Sin’. http://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx (accessed 17 June 2016).

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All Souls is that if we can offer something which is unique, we don’t want to restrict it to [the] All Souls family.173 So, for example, Workplace ministry extends beyond supporting church members to organising day conferences for Christian professional groups, to helping people from any church to reflect upon how ‘the Bible impacts their professions’.174 About half of the people who attended were from within the church, the other half from outside the church. One staff member explained the difference that this way of thinking about work has had on his professional practice: I was a lawyer and I worked in that profession for ten years and I never understood what the purpose of my job was. On Sunday I was someone who did Christian stuff and the other six days of the week I was someone who made lots of money, I thought that was my goal. I did it in a nice way, but I never realised that that was about redeeming situations. That I could go into that space and by living as a Christian there was a sense in which – there is the principle of antithesis – God made the world in a certain way and unfortunately, the consequence of sin is corruption. And so my way as a Christian is to try to correct that, to try to show how the world could be, we should act with integrity, we should act with honesty, we should treat people with respect and in a broad sense, that is ministry, because that is where we are ultimately getting to … We believe in the priesthood of all believers, everything we do should be working toward redeeming the world that we are in.175 All Souls places a priority on workplace ministry; and they make a strong case for why this should be considered an element of the social engagement activities of the church. The Rector said, ‘The working life is the most substantial part of many people’s lives … above all it’s important to be engaging with why God has given us this kind of work to do’.176

173 174 175 176

Interview on 5 November 2014 with a ministry leader. Interview on 5 November 2014 with a ministry leader. Interview on 3 December 2014 with a ministry leader. In a video promoting Ergon on the Workplace page of the All Souls Website: http://www .allsouls.org/Groups/137830/Networks/Workplace/Workplace.aspx (accessed 4 July 2016).

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All Souls Church, Langham Place: Summary and Emerging Themes

As we have seen, All Souls Church, Langham Place is still influenced by their well-known former Rector, John Stott. He was mentioned in nearly every interview. The influence of a compelling leader is not a unique attribute for a megachurch, and, importantly, the legacy of ministries and activities that engage with society have continued since Stott’s resignation as Rector and later death. However, the church is very different from the flashy, slick presence of the stereotypical American-style megachurch. Indeed, the church leadership resisted the term ‘megachurch’ so much that the researcher resorted to referring to the project as a ‘study of large churches’. The Rector was typically English in his self-deprecating manner, and agreed to take part in the project on the proviso that it was understood that he did not think that being big somehow makes his church better than smaller churches. Both he and other church leaders spoke about how being a small church can help it to be imbedded in and responsive to the local community. Overall, it seems that at the time of the opening of the Clubhouse, the church had a commitment to evangelism and to social action together. Over time, community work was relegated to the Clubhouse and the main church focused on evangelism and preaching the Bible. In the last twenty years this has gradually changed, with the main church wanting to recover a greater integration between sharing the gospel and expressing it concretely through social engagement activities. This appears to be regarded by many as a positive development, but it does mean that the relationship between the main church and the Clubhouse are in the process of being re-imagined. As with htb, there are emerging themes that are worth noting at this stage. First, the theme of ‘discipleship’ focused around the person of Jesus Christ is clearly present. There is an approach to the Christian life that places the individual believer as a learner, being equipped through Bible study, listening to sermons and training courses in order to serve Christ faithfully in the world. From this discipleship focus flows the twin means of following Christ, namely evangelism and service. Both of these outworkings of the Christian life are facilitated through an emphasis on relationality: getting to know people, treating people with dignity and respect, befriending them and ultimately serving them through gospel proclamation and meeting their immediate physical and emotional needs. It is in these acts of service that compassion is shown, both as a response of obedience to Christ and as an expression of God’s own love for the world. This translation of discipleship to volunteering is extremely obvious through the numbers involved each week, with approximately 1000 people involved on a regular basis (this number is achieved by adding up the numbers

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noted above and subtracting for duplication of personnel). This relationship between a focus on discipleship and service is an important one to observe. Second, the significance of the parish and city as contexts for ministry also come through these descriptions. This church may be situated in a multicultural and global city, but it also stands in relationship to its particular locale, its own parish boundary. It is here that the global and the local intersect. This can be seen through its commitment to working in partnership with others, whether that is through the use of its building by the bbc, or through its collaboration with organisations such as the West London Day Centre, receiving statutory funding for specific youth work projects or working with the police to support anti-trafficking initiatives. Once again, the theme of relationality is prominent as it seeks to address loneliness and facilitate connectivity, providing resources for human flourishing in a global city with all of its challenges for new-comers or marginalised people. Its seeks to support the whole of life, whether via helping members to live out their faith at work, often seen as a form of public theology, or by encouraging sport and recreation, or by inspiring people to engage with London life culturally. It is here that the concept of living out the values of the kingdom of God emerges as an important theme. 4.8 Conclusion In this chapter, we have provided full descriptions of two Church of England megachurches and their social engagement activities. It can be seen that these two different churches are rooted in the same evangelical tradition, which is why they have so much in common. There is a commitment to evangelism and social engagement, with a reverence for the role that the Bible has in the Christian life. However, they also represent two different strands of evangelical Anglicanism: one that has resisted the influence of the Charismatic Renewal movement and one that has embraced several versions of it, including the influence of the Vineyard movement associated with John Wimber in particular. In some respects, this latter influence has moved htb towards Pentecostalism, while its Anglican heritage pulls it back into the tradition of English parish life in the context of London. Both churches offer fascinating examples of how established churches are navigating their role in the dynamic context in which they are both situated and from which they seek to be faithful in their mission and ministry.

Chapter 5

African Diaspora Pentecostalism 5.1 Introduction There are three African Pentecostal megachurches that agreed to participate in this study. They are Kingsway International Christian Centre, Jesus House for All Nations and New Wine Church. Of these three churches, the first two are very well known and there are numerous references to them in the academic literature and in the popular media, with different perceptions expressed about their life and work. The third church is less well known and may be confused with a charismatic church network of the same name. They should not be confused because they are very different and unrelated entities. In this chapter, the central aim to is to describe the three churches and then to discuss the kinds of social engagement ministries that were carried out by them either in a regular way on a day by day basis or on a periodic or annual basis according to the opportunities of season, usually associated with a holiday season of some kind, e.g. Christmas and the summer. These churches are very different in many ways, yet they also demonstrate common traits in their social engagement as well as their narratives which frame their activities and explain what they do and why they do them. As noted in the Introduction, most of this material was gathered and written up during the research period of 2013–2016,1 it was further edited and supplemented in 2018, which is why there are references to websites from the summer of the same year. 5.2

Description of Kingsway International Christian Centre

5.2.1 Location, Context and History Kingsway International Christian Centre (kicc) was founded in London on 6 September 1992 by Matthew Ashimolowo, who remains the Senior Pastor and leader of the church. Pastor Matthew, as he is referred to by churchgoers, was born in Nigeria in 1952 and migrated to the UK in the 1980s. The church is both 1 Intensive fieldwork was conducted by Bremner at the following times: kicc, June–September, 2014; New Wine, February–April, 2015; Jesus House, July–September, 2015. Most empiricallygathered material was obtained during these periods. Apart from the Senior Pastors of these churches, all names are pseudonyms in order protect the privacy of participants.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_006

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Black-led and Black-majority, although not exclusively Nigerian. The church is independent of other denominational structures, and has itself planted churches not only in the UK (and Republic of Ireland), but in a number of African countries, including many in Nigeria itself. kicc can be seen as probably the largest of many Pentecostal churches that were founded in the 1990s by members of the African diaspora, in particular Nigerians and Ghanaians, and which changed the face of Black-majority churches in the UK. The growth of African-led Pentecostal churches in the last two decades has indeed been so great that it can be argued that the fasted growing churches in the UK are Black-majority churches.2 Despite the UK census of 2011 identifying an increase in those reporting to follow no religion, Christianity is rising amongst British residents born in other countries, including those born in African nations.3 In the cosmopolitan megacity of London in particular, African-led churches are significant in number. The importance of African-led churches is reflected in the fact that of the megachurches in the capital that we identified as part of this study. Six are Nigerian (or British-Nigerian) led: Kingsway International Christian Centre, Jesus House for All Nations, New Wine London, Glory House, Winner’s Chapel, and Victorious Pentecostal Assembly. Christianity in the UK has certainly changed, as Adedibu writes: ‘[t]he Christian landscape in Britain now has a definitive imprint of African and Caribbean Christianity and is best described using the metaphor of Joseph’s “coat of many colours”’.4 kicc has been at the forefront of this recent rise in Nigerian-led and Blackmajority Pentecostal megachurches in London. Burgess observes that whereas the first wave of Pentecostal Nigerian churches were branches of churches back home, including the Foursquare Gospel Church in 1985 and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (rccg) in 1988, in the 1990s Nigerians in the UK, mainly in London, started to break away and found their own churches. Matthew Ashimolowo, who had been with the Foursquare Gospel Church, was one

2 Richard Burgess, ‘African Pentecostal Spirituality and Civic Engagement’, Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education 30.3 (2009), pp. 255–273. 3 Office for National Statistics, Full Story: What does the Census tell us about religion in 2011?, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_310454.pdf, 2013 (accessed: 22 February, 2016). The number of White British identifying as Christian fell by 5.8 million between 2001 and 2011, whereas the number of British residents not born in the UK identifying as Christian doubled from 843,000 to 1.6 million during the same period. Much of this can be attributed to the rise in migrants from the EU accession countries. However, Christianity also rose among those identifying as African on the census, more than doubling from 330,000 to 691,000. 4 Babtunde Adedibu, ‘Origin, Mission, Globalisation and the Mission Encounter of Britain’s Black Majority Churches’, Studies in World Christianity 19.1 (2013), pp. 93–113 (p. 94).

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of the first to do so, founding kicc in 1992.5 Since then, Pastor Ashimolowo has cemented his place on the stage of rich and influential superstar mega-pastors with global reach, but particularly with a significant presence in Nigeria, as well as the UK African Pentecostal scene. kicc’s headquarters and primary church building were, until fairly recently, housed in an elegant old cinema hall in Walthamstow, north-east London, a diverse borough of the city. In 2012 however, the church purchased ten acres of land (complete with a number of buildings) near Chatham in Kent and in 2014 they moved their headquarters to this new site, which they have called ‘Prayer City’. Indeed, the history of kicc has been overshadowed by a concern with location. The first church space, back in the early nineties, was a rented hall in a boys’ school in North London, before the church moved around a year later to a dedicated building at Darnley Road in Hackney (which is now a kicc branch church that hosts their French-speaking service). With a growing congregation that already placed kicc within the category of a megachurch, and with extra services being held in a number of sites in the Hackney area, the church moved their headquarters to an industrial area of East London, at Waterden Road. This more spacious site was home to kicc for a number of years until around 2007 when the church had a compulsory purchase order placed upon it as the land was to be developed as part of the London 2012 Olympic Park. It was at this time that the church moved into the old cinema hall in Walthamstow, a much smaller building which meant that, at one point, the church was hosting up to six services on a Sunday to try to accommodate worshippers. This was only thought to be a temporary measure: aside from the much smaller auditorium, the space lacked the ante rooms, offices, and function spaces that a church of this size requires for both effective administration and organisation, but also to host ministry meetings and events (including Sunday school and youth services). Finding a site to accommodate the size of this church (and its vision for future growth) proved difficult. After a number of set-backs, including the rejection of planning permission for another site, the church eventually found its current home at Buckmore Park near Chatham in Kent, a 24-acre space with numerous buildings surrounded by parkland (which had previously housed a centre for the Maidstone Scout group). kicc was able to negotiate and pay a lower price (partly due to the site being sold by receivers and having been on the market for a length of time), and paid for the site outright, without a ­mortgage. kicc and those who worship there believe that 5 Hugh James Osgood, ‘African Neo-Pentecostal Churches and British Evangelicalism 1985– 2005: Balancing Principles and Practicalities’, (PhD Thesis, The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2006), p. 112.

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finding the Buckmore Park site (and being able to buy it at a good price) was a blessing from God. The move to Kent then, some 35 miles from Walthamstow, and around 15 miles from London’s orbital motorway (M25), is an interesting one on a number of levels. Firstly, Prayer City physically resembles an exurban (or periurban) American-style megachurch more than any of the other megachurches in this project. Whereas the other megachurches being studied are housed in urban areas, in historical church buildings (Holy Trinity Brompton and All Souls Langham Place), old cinema or bingo halls in mixed urban and residential areas (New Wine Woolwich and kicc Walthamstow), or industrial areas (Jesus House for All Nations, Brent Cross, London), kicc’s site in Chatham differs very much. It has spacious manicured grounds with grassed areas (and even a lake), a corporate style office building, numerous other buildings used for such activities as Sunday school and youth groups (and even one which will become a guest house), in addition to the main hall itself. This exurban location is significant. Whereas kicc in Walthamstow is on a very busy typical London suburban high street, with numerous buses connecting it to other parts of the city and to mass transit stations, Prayer City is not even located within the small town of Chatham but outside of it, right next to the M2 motorway and a dual carriageway (trunk road), and off a slip road far from any viable public transport options. Indeed, even to walk as a pedestrian in this area is rather precarious (and actually it is illegal to walk on the motorway). Instead, and again like the large American megachurch model, Prayer City has a large car park and can only be accessed by motorised vehicles: by car, by private taxi, or by the coaches and minibuses that the church provides to transport its worshippers down from London.6 Whereas in Walthamstow worshippers can (and do) drop into the church for ministry, to pray, or for a service, ‘popping in’ is not an option at Prayer City; a visit requires more planning and more time. The Chatham site is thus eerily quiet between Monday and Saturday, with only 6 The coaches and minibuses that kicc provides to shuttle people from London to Prayer City on Sundays (and other days when there is a service or event, such as the International Gathering of Champions conference in August), is provided free of charge to the churchgoer, and is a key way that the church enables Prayer City to be a viable alternative location to London. At the time of carrying out ethnographic observations at kicc, it was running minibuses (driven by volunteer stewards from the transport ministry) and hiring double-decker buses from a local coach hire firm, complete with driver. Pick-up points were in Stratford in east London, the O2 centre in south-east London, Grays alongside the Thames estuary on the London / Essex borders, and the Land of Wonders (its Walthamstow site) itself. Some churchgoers we met when using the free shuttle service explained that they would not have been able to come to Prayer City in Kent if it were not for the transport provided by the church.

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headquarters staff on site and the occasional visitor, more often than not there on business rather than spiritual activity. Therefore, whereas kicc Walthamstow is placed at the heart of a specific community, Prayer City acts as a remote location for London worshippers to visit once a week. Sunday services are busy at the Chatham site, but it can be seen that worshippers travel directly to Buckmore Park, straight off the motorway, and then after service return directly up the M2 motorway back to the capital. Although some of the people were keen to connect with their Kent neighbours, and there were anecdotes of a handful of local people starting to worship at the church, numbers from that population were, as yet, insignificant. 5.2.2 Local and Global kicc does need to be understood as a multi-site church. The church site in Walthamstow, now called ‘The Land of Wonders’, acts concurrently with Prayer City. Although the Chatham site houses their administrative headquarters and is far larger in size, congregations can be seen to move between the two, with Hoe Street (Walthamstow) hosting the Wednesday evening prayer service in addition to the Kingsway Bible Institute classes (baptismal, membership and stewardship classes) on the same day. On Sundays, two morning services are held at ‘The Land of Wonders’ (8.00am and 9.30am), with two services also being held at Prayer City (11.00am and 6.00pm), with Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo travelling between the sites to preach at both (at least one service in each site). The congregation is then expected to come together for special events at Prayer City, including specific one-off events (such as for women or single people), Easter, Christmas and New Year services, and kicc’s annual conference, the International Gathering of Champions (igoc) which runs over five days every August. Prayer City and The Land of Wonders are two sites of the same church. In addition to the headquarters in Kent and their Walthamstow hub, kicc has a number of ‘chapels’ and ‘branches’. Chapels are congregations with less than 100 people, which then become branches once more than 100 people regularly to worship there. At the time of writing, there were seven chapels across the greater London area, with a further two located in Basildon (Essex) and Bedford, and eight branches (two in London, including kicc’s French-­ speaking church located at their old Darnley Road site, and six in other UK cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Luton, Manchester, and Oxford).7 7 In 2009, kicc also purchased an ex-cinema hall in Crystal Palace, London Borough of Bromley. The church attempted to gain planning permission to change the use of the building to that of religious worship, and until the time of writing the church had only used it for what

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Chapels meet only on Sundays. According to one chapel minister with whom Bremner spoke, chapels grew in number after kicc’s move from Waterden Road (the Olympics site) to Hoe Street in Walthamstow. It was explained to her by one kicc minister (and branch leader) that because the Hoe Street site was so much smaller, the opening of chapels eased the pressure on numbers attending, and helped to maintain worshippers as kicc churchgoers at a time when they might have arrived at a Walthamstow service only to find it was already packed out, or found that it was too far for them to travel. We suggest that chapels, particularly the seven in the greater London area, need to be thought of as satellite branches of the main two hubs of kicc. Those who worship at chapels are expected to attend special services at Prayer City. They would also be expected to join a Caring Heart Fellowship group, kicc’s name for its small groups (often called cell groups), alongside other worshippers that perhaps might attend a different chapel or hub church. To an extent the same can be said of kicc’s two London branches, one at Wembley and the French-speaking branch at Hackney. kicc can thus be seen not only as a hub church but also as a growing global denomination.8 As mentioned above, in addition to its UK branches outside of London, it has planted four UK ‘network churches’ (as kicc calls them) in addition to 27 international branches. These network churches all follow the same vision as kicc (‘Grow Up, Grow Big, Grow Together’),9 and refer to Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo as the ‘Global President’.10 However, they can be seen as

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it reports to be non-religious events (including a Breaking Educational Barriers conference). kicc’s purchase of the Crystal Palace building is controversial in the local neighbourhood, with a protest group set up to try to bring the building back to recreational, non-religious, use. (See: http://cinema4crystalpalace.org.uk/ [accessed 7 July, 2016]). Reports from April 2016 suggest that kicc had lost its appeal to change the planning permission and enable the building to be used for the purpose of worship. See ‘News from Crystal Palace’ (http://www.newsfromcrystalpalace.co.uk/church-lose-appeal-over-cinema-building-plans-would-harm-town-centres-vitality-says-inspector/ [accessed 7 July, 2016]). Mark J. Cartledge and Andrew Davies, ‘A Megachurch in a Megacity: A Study of Cyberspace Representation’, PentecoStudies 13.1 (2014), pp. 58–79 (pp. 67–68). The full vision is: ‘Grow Up in knowledge, conviction, perspective, skill and character in the Word of God. Grow Big by fulfilling the Great Commission, using every medium available (TV, radio, newspapers etc.) to evangelise the World. Grow Together in unity and family spirit’. These network churches are as follows: Vinechurch in West Thamesmead, London; The Courage Centre in Milton Keynes; Kingdom Central at Rowley Regis in the West Midlands; and kicc The Lighthouse in Enfield, Middlesex. See https://www.kicc.org.uk/ branches/ (accessed 10 July, 2016). kicc also lists a fifth ‘network church’, kicc The Open Door in London, but the address actually refers to the contested building that Kingsway

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more independent than the branch churches, with their own names and websites (which differ in template to that of kicc). kicc’s international branches are mainly located in sub-Saharan Africa, with two additional branches in the Republic of Ireland. Its African churches are in numerous countries: one in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one in Malawi, one in Namibia, one in Togo, four in South Africa, four in Ghana, and thirteen in Nigeria. kicc also hosts an annual event, the ‘International Gathering of Champions’ (or igoc), which the church calls its ‘annual empowerment conference’.11 Although previously held at the ExCel arena in London, since Kingsway acquired its Chatham site they have relocated igoc to Prayer City. A central part of the church’s calendar, the conference lasts a whole week and consists of a full programme of speakers, with guest gospel artists, a pop-up canteen (serving mainly Nigerian and Jamaican cuisine), and an exhibition tent hosting a number of businesses selling Christian books and media, and other stalls aimed at the African diaspora. Some interviewees take a week off work to be at the conference, checking into local hotels. There are two reasons why igoc is worth noting. Firstly, it can be seen as connecting the church headquarters with its satellite branches and chapels, for the aim is that worshippers from across its networks of churches, both here in the UK and abroad, attend if they are able. Certainly, we were told that pastors leading kicc churches abroad nearly all attend, even if not so many of its worshippers overseas are able to do so. The event is therefore key in disseminating the church’s message throughout its network. Secondly, through attracting high-profile guest speakers from different African countries and the usa, the igoc enables kicc to maintain its position on the circuit of highly privileged and influential African diaspora and Black-majority Pentecostal churches and pastors. Being able to attract well-known pastors such as Crefo Dollar and Mensa Otabil who both have a global reach of influence amongst neo-Pentecostals thus helps to cement Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo’s reputation as an elite pastor. 5.2.3 Congregational Numbers This outline of kicc’s geographical history and scope gives a contextual background to understand the church’s current situation and how it compares to

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has purchased in Crystal Palace, as referred to above, and which has had its planning permission to change the use of the building to include religious worship refused. However, this branch’s website does lists a midweek service in a community centre, and a branch of kicc’s Caring Heart Fellowship (cell group), although not a Sunday service: http://www .kicctheopendoor.org.uk/services-events/ (accessed 10 July, 2016). igoc on twitter: https://twitter.com/igoclive (accessed 01 July, 2016).

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other megachurches in London. In particular, the fact that the church has two main sites, in addition to members of their chapels (and sometimes branches) in the London area taking part in their Caring Heart Fellowships, means that there is some difficulty in delineating the scope of the church and the numbers of people that regularly worship there. It has been reported that worshippers at kicc number around 12,000,12 a number which would have identified it as the largest Protestant church in Western Europe. It is still most certainly a megachurch, but it is clear that the numbers are not quite at those levels at the present time. How churches count their worshippers always differs, and certainly some may inflate figures if they deem a larger number of attendees to be a key sign of success. According to one ministry leader with whom Bremner spoke, numbers of worshippers at kicc Waterden Road (the Olympic site) were around 8,000 to 8,500 at the time before the move. This is still a significant number, however, and the relocation to Walthamstow, which could only take around 4,000 people across all the Sunday services combined, did mean that kicc suffered from a natural attrition of members and worshippers at this time, although some did move to smaller satellite branches and chapels as mentioned earlier. Controversy surrounding the charity commission enquiry in 2005 (and potentially later in 2012) was also mentioned by interviewees as a reason why the church had lost members over the last ten years. At the time of the research, it was difficult to get a handle on numbers worshipping at kicc, but we have been told that, in 2015 at least, kicc had 5000–6000 regular worshippers across all its churches (including branches and chapels) within the M25 boundary and Prayer City combined. Looking at the reduction in numbers of small groups (Caring Heart Fellowships, hereafter chfs) also reflects both the attrition of people attending kicc and the problems they faced in finding a suitable home for their headquarters. Interview data tells of a significant reduction in chfs after the move from the larger Waterden Road site to the Walthamstow site, from around 400 to 115 groups (across Greater London) in 2015. This was partly due to the lack of new small group leaders emerging through the ranks of kicc, but it was also due to the general attrition of church attendees for the reasons stated above. 5.2.4 Leadership and Organisation Along with many other churches of this size, kicc has a structured training programme to involve people in the life of the church, which they call the Kingsway Bible Institute (kbi). Once a worshipper has chosen to make kicc 12

Adedibu, ‘Origin, Mission, Globalisation and the Mission Encounter of Britain’s Black Majority Churches’, p. 100.

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their home church, they are invited to join the kbi ‘Members’ training course, a mid-week course which is held once a week at Walthamstow, for ten weeks. Following on from the Members course, people are asked to complete the ‘Stewards’ training course if they would like to be involved in volunteering (or being a ‘steward’ as they are called at kicc) in a ministry. However, prior to the Members course, if a worshipper is a new Christian, or has ‘given their life to Christ’ (becoming a born-again Christian) at kicc, then they are asked to go through the ‘Baptismal’ course, which inducts them into kicc’s beliefs about what it means to become a Christian, before they are baptised in the church. Once a member has completed the Stewards training course they are invited to an interview at which church leaders talk to the person about their ­desires for being involved in ministry.13 The church conducts these interviews in concentrated time periods, after each course has been completed, usually two or three times a year. From interviewing stewards at kicc, however, it often seems that the church sends a new steward to a particular ministry on the basis of qualities that those interviewing might identify during the interview, and, of course, on the needs and the requests of the different ministries. Indeed, quite a number of people interviewed at kicc became involved in ministries that they were not initially enthusiastic about. However, later on, once the church and volunteers become more familiar with each other, volunteers can request a transfer to another ministry (or request to join an additional one), and the church can also ask volunteers directly to be involved in another ministry on the basis of observed personal attributes or known expertise. This is certainly the case for the prison ministry, where stewards are recruited after already serving on other ministries, in part due to the sensitive nature of the ministry which calls for particular personal attributes. At other times, more informal connections mean that volunteers discover new ministries that interest them and transfer into them. Through church and ministry leaders getting to know stewards who have been volunteering in ministries, people with leadership potential are approached to take part in the church’s ‘Leadership 101’ course. This is an introductory level twelve-week course that aims to fashion recruits into appropriate kicc ministry and small group leaders. Leaders can then develop through a further two courses, ‘Leadership 201’ and ‘Leadership 301’, although all three courses were suspended for a number of years due to a lack of space, before the move to Kent. In 2015, the church started running this programme again, with around 300 new potential leaders. 13

Alternatively, course participants can join an intensive programme delivered over two Saturdays, with the stewardship interview at the end.

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Leading one of kicc’s small groups, the Caring Heart Fellowships, is a key role for many who finish the Leadership 101 programme. Indeed, it is a prerequisite to have undertaken this course before becoming a small group leader. The church also has a number of ‘zonal leaders’ that oversee a group of chf leaders. Through structures such as this, the church attempts to keep its message and vision as uniform as possible through the different levels and groups that worship and gather throughout the week. There are a number of different church leaders (some called ‘Pastor’ and some not) who work under Pastor Ashimolowo and who have their own portfolio. Pastor Matthew’s wife, Yemisi Ashimolowo, also holds a pastoral title, and is listed as the ‘Resident Pastor’ of kicc’s headquarters and oversees the ‘Winning Women’ ministry. In addition, the church has a Senior Management Team of seven, some of whom hold positions of Pastor and some of whom hold nonpastoral roles. It is predominantly the pastors within this team that are likely to get to know members of the congregation, rather than Pastor Ashimolowo himself. Pastor Dipo Oluyomi, Pastor Ade d’Almeida, and Pastor Esther Dunmoye, for example, were mentioned by name as pastors who had worked more closely with ministry leaders. Pastor Ashimolowo does lead the Sunday service when he is in London, and, following the move to Kent, he decided to continue leading one service in Walthamstow before travelling down to Prayer City to deliver a sermon at the main Sunday service. But his role is not in the day-to-day pastoring or mentoring of individual churchgoers, not surprising considering the size of the church and its network. Instead, it can certainly be seen that Pastor Ashimolowo is highly honoured, as both founder and senior pastor. It is definitively his church and his church network, despite the wellrespected team of pastors working with him. Pastor Ashimolowo is frequently referred to in paternal idioms such as ‘Father’ (it is very common to refer to an elder man in Yoruba as ‘Baba’ = ‘Father’) and in all aspects there is a certain level of deference to him as being something of a ‘wise elder’ figure. For example, interviewees frequently referred to lifestyle messages heard from the pulpit when Pastor Ashimolowo speaks as being practical tools for life: from an exhortation that churchgoers should try to save at least three months’ household income for emergencies, to advice that worshippers should get on the property ladder. 5.2.5 Denomination and Worship For someone unfamiliar with Pentecostal megachurches, to walk into a service at Prayer City, kicc’s spacious headquarters in Kent, could mean being quite overwhelmed by the size and design. Upon entering the main building glamorous ushers greet each person attending the worship service, directing them

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down to the main auditorium. Traditional Nigerian forms of greeting, of a semi-curtesy from the woman or a bow from the man, are commonly observed between churchgoers, particularly from those with a lower age or status to those considered to be of higher status or observable age. It is also usual to hear people referred to as ‘Sir’ / ‘Ma’ (and sometimes ‘Mummy’) or ‘my brother’ / ‘my sister’, which could be seen as either or both a Christian term of address, or a sub-Saharan African one. The main auditorium does not let in any natural light, instead, against a black back-drop, high quality images and words are projected onto a series of bespoke screens behind the pulpit, ever-changing throughout the service to support the worship, skit, or sermon. The sound and vision are ‘hi-tech’ and the graphic design glitzy and bold. The church uses full use of new media technologies, live-streaming its Sunday services on kicc TV and its website, making announcements through a very professional pre-recorded video created earlier in the week by the media team, and sometimes encouraging the use of tweeting, using specific hashtags, at special events.14 Indeed, even though the church frequently reminds the congregation not to record services or take photographs with their smartphones, it is not uncommon to see a young woman taking a ‘selfie’ with her friends. The congregation of kicc is indeed very smartly, and sometimes flamboyantly, dressed. Beautiful traditional Nigerian attire can be commonly seen, and now and then one can spot children and parents who are wearing matching outfits. One of the junior pastors at the church confirmed that churchgoers take their church outfits very seriously, and indeed was very proud to show off the ladies’ ‘powder room’: four walls of marble tiles and mirrors where kicc’s female worshippers go to touch up their make-up and ensure they are looking at their best. However, at the mid-week services in Walthamstow, the congregation is often dressed more casually or arrives wearing business clothes, straight from work. The choir at the midweek service also wear their own choice of clothing, in contrast to the Sunday service where the choir wears very smart matching outfits. It might be tempting to suggest that there is a level of conspicuous consumption in kicc culture, but it would be a mistake to think that this is a constant. Certainly, the marriages of Matthew and Yemisi Ashimolowo’s sons Tomi and Tobi, both in 2014, were extravagant and lavish events, complete with multiple anco (matching bespoke outfits in Nigerian pidgin language), 14 In kicc it was observed that church volunteers with American accents were often used to do the voice-overs for the weekly announcement videos, perhaps to further suggest the church’s globalised identity.

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as is usually found in southern Nigerian weddings. Nigerian pop-culture and celebrity websites and blogs were busy with news of the marriages soon after the events, reminding us that even though kicc was founded in the UK, its Nigerian transnational connections and influence is strong. Weddings are very important cultural events in Nigeria and countless print and social media are dedicated to showing photographs of the latest weddings of the elite, both in the country and the diaspora. In reality, therefore, the aesthetic sensibilities of kicc’s congregation could be reflective of Nigerian culture generally, rather than symbolising any particular reference to prosperity gospel theology, as one might easily presume. On one memorable Sunday at kicc, for example, Bremner witnessed a churchgoer attempt to park his Hummer, the gas-guzzling super-car of conspicuous consumption par excellence in sub-Saharan Africa, right in front of the front doors of the church, only to be instructed in a nononsense way by an usher that he needed to return to the car park. The vast majority of the congregation of kicc then, are from Nigeria or are of Nigerian heritage. There are some people who are not Nigerian, of course, and included in those interviewed from the church was a Zambian, a Ghanaian, and a French / Guadeloupean woman. But at the same time, six out of seven of the leadership team are of Nigerian-heritage, as were the majority of people that Bremner met. Of course, all are welcome to the church, but the Nigerian connections, we would suggest, are more readily referred to in the worship service than the other two Nigerian-led megachurches that form part of this study. Pastor Ashimolowo, who is an engaging and often humorous speaker, would include anecdotes of his upbringing in Nigeria fairly often in comparison to Pastor Olawore or Pastor Irukwu (at New Wine and Jesus House respectively). And indeed, at one service that was observed, the Nigerian comedian Seyi Law had flown in from Lagos to entertain the congregation, with a lot of Nigerian-specific jokes. The crowd loved his performance, and when he asked worshippers to yell out if they remembered a particular Nigerian pidgin playground song from their youth there was a very loud response! kicc is a clearly a Pentecostal church. Beliefs in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, particularly speaking in tongues and prophecy, are strong. Pastor Ashimolowo himself is seen as a prophet, and refers to his prophecies in service. Speaking in tongues, led by the worship leader or preacher, are common in church services, even if more vigorous and corporeal manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as being slain in the Spirit, are rare. It is strongly born-again and future-focused: pastors and those giving testimonies talk openly about their life before conversion, but as the individual is considered to be a new person on becoming bornagain, a ‘child of Christ’, these stories serve only to explain the difference in how the new future-oriented life of the believer differs to that which came before.

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It is often described as a church which follows the prosperity gospel, but while it is far from ascetic in its practice, the pursuit of riches is not necessarily its main message. Suffice to say, here is a church that seeks to encourage its adherents to aspire to reach their potential, a potential that they consider has already been designated by God (and one that is, therefore, glorious). The realisation of this potential may be financial, but it can also relate to education, to careers, to family relationships, and to character. Education and hard work are very strongly encouraged, as is fiscal responsibility. Both youth and adults are expected to overcome potential structural inequalities that might otherwise hinder their social mobility, such as institutional and attitudinal racism. So, although Pastor Ashimolowo’s significant riches would certainly be seen as a blessing from God, the message from the pulpit is at the same time one of moving on up and attempting to control one’s own future through this-worldly means, such as studying and working hard, keeping as healthy as possible, and forging good relations with family, friends, fellow Christians and neighbours. 5.3

Social Engagement

The system of recruiting volunteers, or stewards as they are called in kicc, is structured and has a relatively top-down approach. As identified earlier, the church has a multi-tiered system of group classes consisting of Baptismal, Members, and Workers classes. In terms of setting up new ministry, it seems that influential members within the inner circle of kicc, pastors, but also other trusted members, can use their own initiative in founding a new ministry, although they seek the blessing of the church before proceeding fully. For example, the ministry leader in charge of the prison ministry, herself a pastor, founded that ministry after being involved in the htb prison ministry. A htb contact she knew from volunteer work helped to facilitate kicc starting its own services in Pentonville prison.15 Another elite member of kicc started a fundraising initiative for a palliative care home she worked for, to provide specialist health equipment. It was only later that the church knew about this initiative and embraced the fundraising outreach under the kicc wing. There also seems to be an opportunity for others to suggest ministry activities, with

15

It should be noted that kicc does not seem to engage in ecumenical outreach activities with other churches on a regular basis, although, as acknowledged elsewhere, it is certainly connected to other Black-majority churches in terms of Pastor Ashimolowo being a sought-after guest speaker.

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one steward putting forward a proposal for the church to team up with a clothing bank for asylum seekers and refugees. 5.3.1 Educational Initiatives One of kicc’s most innovative social transformation ministries, therefore, relates to this desire to encourage its adherents (and others) to reach their potential. Breaking Educational Barriers (beb) has been an annual event, aimed at Black high school-age children living in inner city London, which seeks to encourage these children to consider higher education at top universities. The initiative was started by Merton College at Oxford University approaching the church, asking them how they might be able to reach out to Black and Minority Ethnic (bame) youth. One of the pastoral team then approached Rebecca, who has a background in Further Education, and they liaised with Oxford to create the beb activities.16 The beb ministry consisted of a small team within kicc, of around eight people, led by Rebecca, who specialised in careers and employability in a Further Education College, alongside one of kicc’s pastors. The team members were predominantly those with a background in education. In 2014, when the ministry leader was interviewed, the team included a university lecturer, a secondary school teacher, and a Further Education lecturer, amongst others. beb has consisted of three main activities: seminars, workshops, and visits to Oxford University. The seminars, which explained how to obtain a place at a top university, were held in London for parents and their children, with speakers from Oxford and Harvard Universities, and students from less-advantaged backgrounds who had gained entrance into Russell Group universities.17 The workshops were for smaller groups of young people who were considering applying to elite universities such as Oxford or Cambridge, with representatives from Oxford advising them about completing their entrance applications and writing their personal statements. Perhaps the most innovative activity of beb has been trips for small numbers of high school-age children (around 15 pupils from age 11 upwards) to Oxford University. The children were taken on a tour, given lunch, and had a chance to speak at length to academic members of staff. 16

17

According to the ministry leader, those who approached kicc from Oxford University were finding that bame youth were unrepresented at Oxford for many reasons, including simply not enough people applying from that demographic, and those that did apply predominantly applying to the most highly competitive subjects, such as medicine. According to sources within the church the first of these seminars, which was held in Hackney in North London, was attended by approximately 500 people, and the second, which was at Crystal Palace in South London, approximately 1,200. Most attendees were not from the church. kicc had advertised on local radio and in local newspapers.

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At one event the ministry leader recalled that a Vice-Principal had spent two hours with the students, talking to them openly about what kind of student they are looking for, about the application process, and reiterating that bame pupils are very welcome to apply. In all these activities it seems that kicc has successfully reached out to those from outside the church community, and indeed we were told that it was predominantly young people who were not kicc churchgoers that had attended the university visits.18 Due to the cooperation with the universities, and the fact that these ministry activities specifically reached out to people outside of church, kicc chose not to incorporate Christian elements into beb, so there was no prayer or evangelism, for example. This impact has been explained in terms of a number of ‘success stories’, of children and young people who have been through the beb activities and have either gained a place at Oxford or Cambridge, or those who have expressed an interest in applying. We met one young woman who had just been accepted by Cambridge University to study Modern Foreign Languages, after being on the beb programme. Rebecca (the ministry leader) also told us of one younger boy whose involvement in beb had changed his ideas of what was possible in the future. He was a Black boy brought up by a single mother in Hackney, and, although he was an excellent footballer considering a sporting career, he became inspired to work hard to get a place at Oxford to study law.19 Rebecca was passionate about this ministry, about the potential to break down barriers for bame children and youth. As she said, ‘telling a seven-year-old that “we’re interested in your mind not your colour, and not your accent”, that is so powerful’. Although statistical feedback from beb was not available, it seems that some students were certainly inspired to raise their aspirations, which is at the heart of kicc’s philosophy. However, at the time of research at kicc in 2014 and since that date, this ministry seems not to be operating (although indications from the ministry leader were that the church would still like to host beb activities in the future). Rebecca did talk about wanting to modify future beb activities, to reduce the emphasis on elite universities and instead talk about higher education more generally, and also to incorporate information on other post-sixteen career and employment options, such as vocational training and apprenticeships. She took a pragmatic approach, and saw kicc’s oft-cited 18

19

It was explained that the church had a certain number of spaces for different age groups. Spaces were offered to those from outside kicc first (whose contact details had been gathered from the seminars), and then if spaces were available, children or young people who attended kicc were then invited. Tabitha explained that the family were not Christian.

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maxim ‘be the best you can be’ as referring to each individual rather than an assertion that only those who have achieved the pinnacle of success in terms of education, finances, or business, should be lauded. She explained how the team had looked back and thought: This is a bit Oxbridge-centric … If you’re telling people that you’re not aspiring to Oxford or Cambridge are we saying you’re not achieving, you’re a failure?’ So we thought ‘let’s hold on here, what are we telling people?’ So, you know, we’ve held back, we’ve offered alternative workshops, we’ve spoken to parents. We said it’s about identifying the strengths of your child. The same team that administered the beb programme also organised a ‘university bootcamp’ for young people who have gained entry into university. Usually held in the summer before the students start their first term in September, the bootcamp is open to both kicc churchgoers and others. Although it was previously offered in Hackney in 2014, the church moved the bootcamp activities to Prayer City. Sessions cover issues that the church thinks are important for these young people as they embark on a new phase in their life, one with more freedom and independence, away from family and house church. The ministry leader of the bootcamp explained how they encourage the young people to think of such questions as ‘what are your values?’ and ‘what do you believe in?’. They deliver a number of workshops on topics such as ‘drugs and alcohol misuse’ (led by a medical doctor), nutrition, budgeting and renting in the private sector, among others. We were told that the aim is not to preach but to support the students, and older students and kicc’s youth drama department are involved in workshop delivery alongside some with more expert knowledge. Despite the church wanting to involve non-Christians, it did run a Christian-based workshop, on ‘mental and spiritual welfare’, but at the same time it offered a parallel workshop on ‘personal development’, for those who did not want to go to the Christian-based session. As Rebecca expressed, ‘it’s never bashing anyone over the head with a Bible: that doesn’t work’. 5.3.2 Careers Counselling The Careers Counselling department is small, with around five stewards involved on a regular basis. This was predominantly because this department required a particular skill-set such as someone who worked in Human Resources or the Job Centre,20 in addition to highly-skilled professionals that 20

The ‘Job Centre’ refers to town centre offices run by the UK Government that are there to help people gain employment and administer out-of-work benefits.

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reflected professions that many aspired to, such as medical doctors or dentists. As the leader of this ministry explained to me, the skills required were not as commonly-held as those required for ministries such as the choir or ushering, and so they only had a few stewards. The Careers Counselling department is open to all, but the team leader explains that those who have benefitted the most from its activities are young people interested in options after compulsory schooling has finished, and those who are unemployed, or have been made redundant, or looking for a career change. It runs ‘surgeries’, which are one-to-one sessions for people seeking advice about gaining or changing employment, and also offers group workshops on topics such as writing a curriculum vitae, interview skills, and dealing with redundancy. They also offer profession-specific workshops on such careers as starting a business, or medicine and the allied health professions. Not only do young people who are interested in such careers attend, but the ministry leader explained that they also get people coming along who have gained qualifications in another country, especially African countries, who want to find out how they might be able to transfer their qualifications and experience to the UK job market. The team leader produces a manual for all ministry stewards so the advice given is consistent. There seems to be a strong element here of the Careers Counselling being a practical source of overcoming structural barriers in society that might make it more difficult for bame people in the UK to achieve social mobility. Rebecca explained how the church acknowledged barriers to disadvantaged groups (particularly for Black people, but also the disabled, youth and other groups), but she also expressed that: [t]here are barriers to everything, but the church is about overcoming. [But] how do you overcome these barriers? So, don’t make the barriers an excuse. And our Pastor’s very strict on that. You can’t say because you’re Black you are going to be unemployed, on the dole; he’ll kick their behinds! 5.3.3 Homeless Ministries The church’s other social transformation ministries are often well-established but small, especially in comparison to the size of the church. An example would be the befriending ministry at a homeless hostel in North London, in which church members offer tea, biscuits and an opportunity to chat. This is a monthly event in which around six or seven volunteers spend time in the hostel on Saturday mornings. According to interviews with kicc stewards, in the past kicc used to have a street-level ministry in which people were preaching

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to rough sleepers. However, a growing awareness that the preaching was not the best approach led to a change in how the church ministered to the homeless. The residential hostel that the stewards visit is run by a Christian charity, partly funded by the local Council, and aimed at taking people off the streets and offering stability and support before they find more permanent accommodation. Therefore, although it is inevitably a transient population, residents do spend quite some time at the hostel, months rather than weeks, and so the volunteers from the befriending ministry do often get to know some of the residents. Although some volunteers are not able to attend it every month there is a handful that do come regularly. Bremner observed this ministry a number of times and it was clear that there were residents there who had got to know the volunteers and vice versa. It was a relaxed and welcoming approach to befriending, although it was clearly linked to an evangelistic agenda, or supporting those who had already been converted. Indeed, the ministry activities were actually part of a larger Evangelism department. Christian tracts were placed on each of the circular tables in the dining area, and prayers were offered to residents, on a one-to-one basis. The volunteer team were aware that their attempts at evangelism were not always welcome by residents. However, most of the conversations were not strictly evangelistic in nature and the emphasis on a month-by-month basis was on being a friendly face for the residents and letting them know that they were worthy of other people’s care and attention. At times, connections were made between volunteer and resident that went outside of the walls of the hostel, although this was not so common.21 As one interviewee put it, ‘[t]he main thing is that we can put a smile on their face’. Another small but established ministry is the monthly Cooking for the Homeless ministry. This is not a soup kitchen for street sleepers, but instead, once a month, a small team from the ‘Winning Women’s Ministry’ take over the kitchen at the same homeless hostel that the Befriending team visits, and cooks a two-course meal for the residents and staff on shift, usually serving between twenty to thirty people in total. The cooking team consists of around eight women (and it is always women due to the nature of being part of the Women’s Ministry), although not the same group each month as there is a rota – more women want to be part of the ministry than there is space each month. 21

Stewards talked about residents taking up their offer to accompany them to church, for example. The volunteers were keen to stress that they did not just encourage residents to come to kicc, but any church which they were attracted to or that was convenient for them. Their approach to evangelism was to bring people into the ‘Kingdom of God’, not just to kicc.

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Each team is led by a designated ‘Chef’ for the day, someone who has experience in catering and cooking, and this person decides on the menu for that month’s cooking session. They are assisted by an ‘Assistant Chef’ and a ‘Coordinator’ and then a group of helping hands. Team members are also trained in food hygiene. One balmy London summer’s day, Bremner joined the team in the kitchen, helping to cook what was a varied and nutritious meal including lemon braised chicken, summer salads, fresh tomato pasta sauce, new potatoes, and peach and pear crumble for dessert. The food took many hours to cook, and was made from scratch and was high quality, not mass-produced or institutional. We had been told in interview and on the day that once the food was ready the women who had cooked it would sit down in the dining area and share the meal with the hostel residents. When Bremner was there, however, most hostel residents came down from their rooms with plastic food storage containers, which they filled with the freshly-cooked meal before returning to their rooms. Once the volunteers sat down and ate they were talking to each other, rather than residents (simply because residents were not there). 5.3.4 Christmas Hampers kicc runs a Christmas hamper appeal each December, in which church members donate money and the church provides a hamper of non-perishable and fresh food for members of the local community. During the Christmas of 2013, kicc colleagues approached organisations working with vulnerable people, such as Age UK (for people with alzheimer’s and dementia) and organisations working with young people, to seek referrals for people who would benefit from a Christmas hamper. That year was the first year the church gave out ‘full hampers’, including perishable fresh food as well as tinned items. They gave out around 750 hampers, and also hosted an event for people to collect them from their headquarters at Prayer City. Katherine, who oversaw the hamper project, said that she was surprised so many people from the community came to the Chatham site, more than she had been expecting. According to the 2016 campaign, kicc is aiming at distributing 1000 hampers, at a cost of £25 each.22 5.3.5 Prison Ministry kicc’s prison ministry is overseen by the leader of the Evangelism ministry. Unsurprisingly, the ministry has more thorough procedures and vetting for those members who want to be involved. New ministry volunteers are 22 See https://www.kicc.org.uk/product/kicc-donation-christmas-hamper-2/ (accessed 9 July 2016).

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hand-picked from those already serving in other ministries. As it was explained to Bremner, to be a volunteer in the prison ministry, ‘you have to be somebody who is very submissive and can take instructions and orders … You can’t just go off and do your own thing, no, you have to be able to work as a team and take instructions’. The team always pre-prepares for a trip to a prison by holding a telephone conference call for prayers in advance. Between ten and sixteen people attend from kicc at each visit (around ten core prison ministry volunteers and a few others that are invited for the day), and at the time of interviewing the ministry leader in June 2014, the church was engaged in four visits that year, two to Pentonville prison in North London and two to High Down prison in Surrey.23 The ministry visits consist of a service conducted in the prison chapel, under the category of ‘free church’ (i.e. not Roman Catholic or Church of England).24 The leader of the ministry described their vision in the following manner. It is: … an outreach to prisoners who are normally not considered … I mean, they are shut away and as I say there is a stigma and people don’t really want to reach out to them, people don’t want to relate to them, so it was an avenue and an outreach to reach those types of people. If the vision is to ‘reach out’ and ‘relate’ to prisoners, to ease or transform the stigma they might feel, the route to doing this for kicc is essentially evangelism but also by making the service ‘relevant’ to the prisoners. The ministry format on the ground consists primarily of a Pentecostal Christian service, with the aim of both ministering to those already converted but also winning the souls of those who are not yet converted. ‘Gains’ in terms of converts might be small for many reasons: the relative infrequency with which the ministry holds services in prisons, the small size of the group that volunteers, but also because the prisoners’ time is regulated and does not allow for too much chatting between volunteers and prisoners. Although conversion through a personal ‘friendship’ approach to evangelism is seen as an effective tool to realising their vision, opportunities to do so are rare and, instead, the team hopes to impact the prisoners through the proclamation of their message. 23 24

At the time of research, the prison ministry was also looking to conduct Christian services in Holloway prison, and potentially immigration centres. In addition to services, the prison ministry at kicc has also organised Black History Month celebrations in the prisons in which they operate, which were explained to Bremner as having been inclusive of all faiths. One interviewee, Katherine, explained that they tried to ‘celebrate everybody … their potential and their future’.

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Conversion is, of course, seen as the most effective form of transformation, and testimonies are given as evidence of this life changing decision. The reality, however, is that the impact is difficult to assess, even though the prison ministry volunteers continued to believe that they were ‘sowing a seed’ to bring someone to Christ or encouraging the prisoners through their words. As Katherine explained, You do get responses in terms of when you go … if you see the same people they may tell you ‘oh, I enjoyed the service, you really ministered to me, encouraging me to do x, y and z’ you know, and you see the impact in that way. But because you don’t always tend to see the same people all the time, they leave, they move on, it’s very difficult. But we believe that there is an impact. And I believe the message is tailored to give an impact, because it’s not all spiritual based, it’s about them and making the best out of their life. As with most ministry leaders we spoke to, Katherine was clear that they would like to do more. In terms of the prison ministry, she was hoping to start a letterwriting campaign to enable more long-lasting connections between stewards and prisoners, and she had an idea to bring more (Christian) books into prison so that the prisoners had more to read. One volunteer in the prison ministry, Mary, was particularly committed to this outreach, and in her own time she was also corresponding by letter to prisoners on death row in the usa and Caribbean nations. She also had future hopes for the development of the prison ministry, in particular the establishment of a halfway house for prisoners who had just been released having been converted while incarcerated. The ministry would help them to navigate their way through the first few months of life outside, including support in applying for jobs, and attaching them to a church. It was difficult to ascertain whether this might be a ministry seriously considered by the church, but as a person seemingly well-trusted by the church leaders, Mary was in a good position to recommend this development. 5.3.6 Care Home Ministry A care home ministry visits a number of care homes in London and Kent at Christmas time, singing carols to the residents and bringing them small presents, gift-wrapped for the festive period.25 In addition, the team expanded 25

At the time of interviewing the ministry leader, the team was visiting three care homes in the Chatham area, near their Prayer City headquarters, four in South London (in Merton, Sutton and two in Crystal Palace), and one in Walthamstow near their Hoe street branch.

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their activities to one care home, offering a weekly befriending service, playing dominoes or scrabble with residents, and having a cup of tea and a chat. At the time of interviewing their leader in 2014, another care home was also requesting that they attend more regularly. Once a month, on a Sunday, a group from this ministry team returns to the care home where they visit for befriending on a Friday, and engage the residents (if they wish) in Sunday prayers and worship. On Mother’s Day they give gifts to the female residents, to both those with children and those without (because ‘even those ladies without children are still mothers in society’), and at the time of interviewing the ministry leader, they were planning on going back on Father’s Day to give gifts to the men. 5.3.7 Other Activities A team of people lead by the person overseeing the care home ministry also raised money to purchase specialist equipment for a local hospice to deal with superbugs. This was achieved by singing Christmas carols at a supermarket. This is a small ministry that seems to have been started independently by a trusted member of kicc, and who works at the hospice herself. She was a woman very committed to charitable work, raising money and volunteering for health projects in a number of African countries as well. Although small, it is worth mentioning these activities as it could be that other smaller initiatives are being carried out by members without the church pastoral team knowing about them. Another team visits churchgoers (and their families) in hospital and offers prayer. Once a year kicc members embark on a ten kilometer charity sponsored walk called the ‘Champion’s Walk’. This initiative has been operating since 2004, and has raised money for charities such as World Vision UK, The Sickle Cell Foundation, Diabetes UK and others. Although not direct social engagement, it is worthy of note as it supports the idea of the church looking outside of itself. In addition, after the research period with kicc had come to an end, we found that the church had since started its own food bank, called ‘Noah’s Ark’. Opened in 2015, the church uses space in one of their many smaller buildings on the Prayer City site to offer food and clothing to people suffering from financial hardship. In communication with one of the pastors, it transpired that the church was setting this up initially for kicc church families. He acknowledged that with such a big church as kicc there would always be a number of families in need, but reports are that this has now been opened up to residents in the Chatham and Medway areas near Prayer City, operating on a monthly basis. Indeed, the church did express that their aim was to reach out to the community through this new ministry, including delivering food parcels, as they acknowledged that the location of Prayer City hampered the ability of

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recipients to drop by easily to collect parcels. Churchgoers can donate food or, as with many of kicc’s ministries, they can donate online towards a fund for this purpose. In a typical Pentecostal form, the Scripture verse that features prominently on the online donation page is from Proverbs 19.17: ‘He who has pity on the poor lends to The Lord, and that which he has given He will repay to him’.26 In 2016 kicc also opened a private faith-based Higher Education establishment, called King’s University, in Odun state, Nigeria, with the motto ‘Raising Champions, Transforming Minds’.27 The church advertised that there were 120 scholarships available, 40 from the ‘Matthew Ashimolowo Scholarship Scheme’ and 80 from the ‘kicc Scholarship Scheme’, which it seems is partly funded by the church (making a donation directly to the running of the University is an option on kicc’s website). Although not a social engagement ministry in kicc’s UK locality, it is worth mentioning the opening of the University for its potential benefit to others, and because it shows that the transnational links between kicc in London/Kent and Nigeria are far from waning. A review of the kicc website’s Community Initiative shows that many of these initiatives have continued up to 2018 and have been extended. The list of community activities includes many of those noted above: educational work, raising money through a 10 kilometre walk, legal and careers counselling, outreach to widows in Nigeria, impacting 17,000 people, Christmas hampers, Christmas outreaches to people living in homeless hostels, befriending them and supporting them, Christmas gifts given to care home residents, fundraising for care home medical equipment, prison ministry at Pentonville and a food bank service called Noah’s Ark. Thus, it can be seen that the desire to engage in social ministry has been developed and extended by kicc over the course of the last few years.28 5.4

Kingsway International Christian Centre: Summary and Emerging Themes

It became clear throughout the course of this research that what was meant by ‘social engagement’ was variable. To kicc, ministries which could be seen as purely offering spiritual support in the form of prayer were also considered to 26 See https://www.kicc.org.uk/product/kicc-donation-food-bank/ (accessed 8 July, 2016). 27 The university was built under the name of King’s Ministries Trust, http://www.kingsun iversity.edu.ng/ (accessed 8 July, 2016). 28 https://www.kicc.org.uk/church/community-initiatives (accessed 7 June 2018).

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be social engagement activities. For example, their hospital outreach, in which ministry stewards visit sick church members (or their families) in hospital to offer prayer. Another example would be kicc’s ‘Hopeline’, which is an service provided for people to call in and talk about things that are concerning them and ask for prayer. The Hopeline is a large ministry at kicc with around 45 volunteers, and although not a 24-hour service, it operates over many hours. What we think is interesting here is that if something particularly serious is uncovered then the call would be diverted to a Pastor who would have a duty potentially to involve the authorities. Although the vision of the ministry is ‘to be the first port of call for anyone that wants to be listened to’, this is in essence a spiritual support service: telephone operators pray over the phone with the caller, or if they are a kicc churchgoer, may refer them to (spiritual) counselling with a member of that church team. This is not to deny that the Hopeline and the hospital visit ministry may both be very valuable to Christians, but they may be less accessible to other people from different backgrounds. Many interviewees from kicc were keen to express that the church did not want to be inward-looking, rather it wanted to be a ‘church without walls’ and engaged with people from wider society. As Rebecca explained when she was asked what she thought the role of church should be, she said that it was about: … reaching out to the community and that’s what we did when Jesus was here on the streets. It’s not all about Christians living together and us living nice and cosy and shutting out the world – we’re not a cult. It’s really about reaching out – Jesus reached out to people. And he met them at their point of need. And he spoke to them, you know, if somebody was hungry, he fed them. It would be debatable whether some of its stated social engagement ministries, such as Hopeline or the Hospital ministry, could be seen as really reaching out and meeting the community ‘at their point of need’ like the beb or Cooking for the Homeless obviously do. Thus, it would seem that there are differences of emphasis in these varied social engagement activities, which is perhaps what one might expect from a church that is so large and contains many different attitudes towards this kind of work in relation to the mission of the church. The vision of kicc is to offer a place of hospitality for those who are hurting and frustrated, offering them hope through a proclamation of the gospel.29 It aims to grow to 25,000 people, empower people to discover and use their gifts in the service of God, especially in the service of evangelism, thus 29

https://www.kicc.org.uk/church/kicc-vision (accessed 7 June 2018).

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building a body, sending people on long term and short term mission, as well as to broadcast the gospel worldwide via electronic means, especially via radio and TV. The desire is to open a kicc bank to empower people economically to promote the kingdom of God. Thus, we see a church committed to empowering its people and equipping them to prosper in all things. In addition to these comments, the emerging themes that are worth noting at this juncture include the following. First, while there is clearly a prosperity gospel being preached in the church, the narrative of self-betterment is, perhaps, a more accurate designation. For this group of people, they see themselves as historically and structurally disadvantaged (through colonialism and racism, as well as lack of access to education and resources). Now they have the opportunity to engage in social uplift and so it is not surprising that their primary focus is upon their own members in order to restructure life for both current and future generations. The focus on education is a central symbol of this desire for self-betterment and the link with Oxford University is a particular sign of socio-economic aspiration. With this focus comes another theme, which is empowerment. The whole of the Christian life is driven by the need for power and empowered agency in order to overcome difficulties and challenges, achieving one’s own goals for personal and familial flourishing. Second, the outward looking social engagement activities appear rather smaller in scale, compared to the internal activities of the church. The structures facilitate the cultivation and management of stewards or volunteers and this is an impressive way to manage the selection and training of these stewards and the identification of potential new leaders. However, given the size of the church, it is interesting to note the relatively low numbers of volunteers a­ ctually engaging in outward facing social ministries (although this may be changing). This may be a result of busy lives or it may be a result of the self-betterment narrative of the church or it may be a result of the multisite complexity of the church. With so much travelling to do in a given week, these members are in fact ‘time poor’, even if they are rich materially and socially. Thus, the ability to give time to these other activities is limited as a consequence. Where there is outward focused ministry, in homeless work, or prison ministry, then there is clearly some collaboration with other agencies. However, collaboration with organisations outside its own church network does not appear to be a strong dimension of kicc’s orientation. Instead, outward focused work is primarily instigated for evangelistic purposes, with the integration of ‘saving souls’ and serving the needs of individuals. Individual transformation is understood to be the basis of other communal and social transformations.

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Description of Jesus House for All Nations

5.5.1 History and Location Jesus House for All the Nations, or simply ‘Jesus House’ as it is more commonly known, is part of the Nigerian-based global Redeemed Christian Church of God (rccg) network of churches. Indeed, it is the largest and most influential of hundreds of rccg churches in the UK. The rccg started in 1952 in Lagos, Nigeria, as a house fellowship called ‘The Glory of God Fellowship’ by Pastor Josiah Akindayomi, after he left the Aladura Cherabim and Seraphim denomination. Later that year, in an apparent visitation from God, the name of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was given to Akindayomi and the fellowship became a church.30 rccg grew more significantly, however, after Akindayomi’s successor, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, who had been a Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos, took over as leader. Akindayomi believed that he had received a message from God about a spiritual successor, and after Adeboye joined the church in 1973, Akindayomi identified him as his successor. Adeboye took over the leadership of the church in 1981, following the death of the founder. The rccg now has more than 2000 parishes globally, with the number of actual churches far greater.31 Pastor Adeboye is now the General Overseer, the term rccg gives to its leader, and is affectionately known throughout the rccg world as ‘Daddy GO’. In the UK, the rccg is known to be the largest Nigerian denomination by far. Hunt and Lightly, in 2001, explain that the rccg founded its first branch in the UK in 1985, and then grew to around 50 churches by the time they published their research.32 As a member of the rccg as well as a scholar of Pentecostalism, Babatunde Adedibu, regards these figures as inaccurate. Burgess identified more than 250 congregations in 2008,33 while in 2012, Adedibu’s estimate, based on internally gathered statistics, was that the denomination had 80,200 members with around 600 parishes.34 Since this time the rccg’s 30 31 32 33 34

Stephen Hunt, A History of the Charismatic Movement in Britain and the United States of America: The Pentecostal Transformation of Christianity (Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009) Book 2, p. 692. Cf. the rccg website: http://rccg.org/who-we-are/history/ (accessed 10 July 2016). See Stephen Hunt and Nicola Lightly, ‘The British Black Pentecostal “Revival”: Identity and Belief in the “New” Nigerian Churches’, Ethnic and Racial Studies 24.1 (2001), pp. 104–124. Richard Burgess, ‘Freedom from the Past and Faith for the Future: Nigerian Pentecostal Theology in Global Perspective’, PentecoStudies 7.2 (2008), pp. 29–63. Babatunde Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours: The Origin, Growth, Distinctiveness and Contributions of Black Majority Churches to British Christianity (Gloucester: Wisdom Summit, 2012), p. 71.

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growth in the UK has continued with pace with rccg UK suggesting in 2012 that it had more than 700 ‘parishes’, some 30 years after its first UK church plant.35 It has churches across the country, and not only in the larger cities with greater Nigerian populations. Adedibu, perhaps unsurprising as an insider to the denomination, regards the rccg as the most successful of all of the newer African-led Pentecostal churches in the UK.36 There appears to be a rational strategy to saturate urban spaces in particular with the ideal location offering a parish setting within a fifteen-minute car journey, and it has been regarded as a re-colonisation of sorts.37 Certainly, Jesus House can be seen as rccg’s bellwether church in the UK. The church was founded in February 1992 with a congregation of 33, when it first gathered at the Warner Brothers cinema in Leicester Square, London. Jesus House had a number of different locations after this, in Holborn, Fulham, Kensington, North Acton, and Finchley, before moving into their present location on Brent Terrace in Brent Cross (in north-west London) in 2004.38 Pastor Agu Irukwu, the present Senior Pastor of Jesus House, assumed the position only two months after Jesus House started.39 A law graduate of the University of Warwick in the UK, Pastor Irukwu worked as an investment banker before moving into full-time ministry. It has been documented that Irukwu’s motivation to migrate to the UK was predominantly one of mission, rather than education.40 Jesus House’s current home in Brent Cross is a large former office block and converted warehouse, overlooking the vast intersection between the beginning of the M1 motorway and the north circular, a large trunk road that cuts through north London from east to west. It is further sandwiched between railway lines and the Brent Cross Shopping Park (a small collection of chain shops), at the entrance to an unkempt street of waste disposal depots, metal scrapyards and other semi-industrial warehouses. It is an area busy with traffic, but less so 35 See the rccg UK website: http://www.rccguk.church/our-history/ (accessed 11 July 2016). 36 Adedibu, Coat of Many Colours, p. 72. 37 Simon Coleman and Katrin Maier, ‘Redeeming the City: Creating and Transversing “London-Lagos”’, Religion 43.3 (2013), pp. 353–364 (pp. 356–357). 38 Jesus House Annual Review 2014. Available online: http://jesushouse.org.uk/annual-report-2014-forging-ahead (accessed 11 July 2016). 39 Burgess et al. have identified that Jesus House was started by Tony Rapu, pastor of Apapa Parish in Lagos. See Richard Burgess, Kim Knibbe and Anna Quaas, ‘Nigerian-Initiated Pentecostal Churches as a Social Force in Europe: The Case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’, PentecoStudies 9.1 (2010), pp. 97–121. However, as Pastor Irukwu became Senior Pastor so shortly after the foundation of the church, its history has become synonymous with him. 40 Burgess et al., ‘Nigerian-Initiated Pentecostal Churches as a Social Force in Europe’, p. 108.

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pedestrians: even the shopping park is one that people drive to rather than walk to. The church is not located within a residential area, although not too far from the Clitterhouse housing estate. The church is thus a destination in itself, rather than somewhere that members of the public might come to know by walking past, or deciding to visit because they are in the area. That said, there is a public bus service which stops close to the church and connects to the underground mass transit system, and, unlike kicc, this is still within the city and so those living in north west London or close to the underground line could find a way to get there fairly easily. In addition to this, the church puts on a regular and frequent shuttle bus service from the nearest underground station on Sundays and before (and after) the midweek evening service on a Wednesday. In addition, although not embedded in a residential neighbourhood, the church’s social engagement activities are very much centred around the London Borough of Barnet in which they are located, from the community centre and food bank that they run in the Grahame Park estate, to the summer football academy held in a school nearby in the Clitterhouse area. Indeed, the church even has an aim that, through their ‘Adopt a Street’ ministry, every street in the Borough of Barnet will be being regularly prayed for by a churchgoer. 5.5.2 Congregational Numbers As we saw with kicc and we shall see with New Wine, counting congregational numbers is not as simple as one would imagine, and reported numbers fluctuate. Whereas Burgess, using the church’s Annual Report of 2009, identified a regular congregation of 2,500 in a 2014 publication, Olofinjana suggested that the congregation of Jesus House numbered around 4,000, and church members Bremner spoke to in 2015 guessed around 4,000 over the three services on Sunday.41 The figure is perhaps somewhere in the middle: Jesus House’s own Annual Review of 2014 writes of a congregation numbering ‘3000+’.42 However, it should be noted that, despite being such a large church, its own Annual Review of 2014 does note that they had a rather small number of guests, 248, with 76 of those choosing to become members of the church. This suggests that the church growth has plateaued to some extent. The congregation is 41

42

Burgess, ‘African Pentecostal Spirituality and Civic Engagement’, pp. 255–273; Israel Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain: Towards Prosperity or Consumerism?’, in Afe Adogame (ed.), The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), pp. 233–253. Jesus House Annual Review 2014. Available online: http://jesushouse.org.uk/annualreport-2014-forging-ahead (accessed 11 July 2016).

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overwhelmingly Nigerian, with studies identifying that 90% of the congregation identify themselves with this nationality.43 5.5.3 Spheres of Influence It could be argued that Jesus House has long been seen as the ‘go-to’ Black Majority Church when public figures in the UK seek to make connections, gain influence, or seek counsel with the UK’s African Pentecostal population. David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the UK, made a key speech at the rccg ‘Festival of Life’ in 2015, which is a large conference held in London, aiming to bring together rccg pastors and churchgoers from across the UK (and beyond).44 Pastor Irukwu has succeeded in being able to make connections with other notable public figures.45 In September 2008, Tearfund celebrated its fortieth birthday at Jesus House, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu as guest speaker. In May 2012, the London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, attended a service, and in November of the same year Jesus House, in conjunction with ‘Faith in Britain’, hosted a reception for the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams.46 In November of 2007 Prince Charles, heir to the British Head of State, held a special thanksgiving service at Jesus House, also attended by the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, the local Borough Mayor, and MPs representing nearby constituencies. Interestingly, Prince Charles thanked African Pentecostalism for bringing ‘new life into the Christian Church in the United Kingdom thereby completing the cycle started by missionaries from Britain so many years ago’.47 Maier and Coleman observe that London Boroughs have in the past targeted African-led churches as part of a ‘social cohesion’ policy in order to promote 43 44 45

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Hunt and Lightly 2001, ‘The British Black Pentecostal “Revival”’, p. 112. The Festival of Life started as the ‘Holy Ghost Festival of Life’ in 1996. See Jesus House Annual Review 2014. Available online: http://jesushouse.org.uk/annual-report-2014-forgingahead (accessed 11 July 2016). Indeed, Pastor Irukwu was voted as the most ‘inspirational Black person in the UK’ in 2011, in a poll carried out by the Metro newspaper, in conjunction with London City Hall and the then London Mayor, Boris Johnson. This was a poll in which readers were asked to vote online, and hence one can expect the rccg churchgoers and perhaps other Pentecostals from the African diaspora in particular, would have been mobilised to vote. But, considering other iconic figures such as Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu were other options, the votes for Pastor Irukwu (54%) at least shows that he has become a public figure beyond that of the church among many circles in the UK. See: http://www.eauk .org/current-affairs/news/pastor-wins-london-mayor-award.cfm (accessed 11 July 2016). Jesus House Annual Review 2014. Daniel Blake, ‘Prince Charles Marks 59th Birthday with Tribute to Black Churches’, Christianity Today (15 November 2007), http://www.christiantoday.com/article/prince.charles .marks.59th.birthday.with.tribute.to.black.churches/14567.htm (accessed 22 June 2016).

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integration and collaboration.48 This approach has been welcomed by churches like Jesus House as an opportunity to engage in evangelism, but also to express a desire for social aspirations and influence at the elite levels of British society.49 5.5.4 Inter-Church Relations These megachurches do not operate as islands, and they are not necessarily always in competition with each other for members. It is not unusual for their leaders to be seen preaching in each other’s churches. For example, Pastor Ashimolowo was a guest speaker at New Wine Church’s ‘Maximise Life’ summer conference of 2014, and joined them again for the 2016 conference, entitled ‘Multiply’. Pastor Irukwu has been identified as having been a member of the Board of Trustees of kicc.50 Jesus House, however, also has good ecumenical connections with Holy Trinity, Brompton, with Nicky Gumbel being indirectly responsible for introducing Pastor Irukwu to Prince Charles.51 As can be expected with Jesus House being the largest rccg church in the UK, there are strong connections between Jesus House and other large churches. In addition to this, as will be outlined further in the descriptions of Jesus House’s social engagement activities below, the church has strong ecumenical links with other churches in the Borough of Barnet in which it is located. 5.5.5 Denomination and Worship Jesus House, as part of the rccg denomination, attempts to make its worship services as relevant as possible to all worshippers and does not use Yoruba, for example, in its worship songs, even though the majority of worshippers from Nigeria would probably be able to speak this language or Igbo. All communication is in English (apart from the French-speaking community it also serves). There are two main services on a Sunday, at 9.00am and at 11.30am, with the expectation that each service last two hours. The main service area is typical of such a large Pentecostal church and looks like an auditorium, with a stage at one end and rows of seats and a balcony area at the back, under which can be seen cameras and a technical area. The stage has a very large and elevated screen upon which images, including moving images and the song words are projected. Video clips are also projected and used regularly for weekly 48 49 50 51

Katrin Maier and Simon Coleman, ‘Who Will Tend the Vine? Pentecostalism, Parenting and the Role of the State in “London-Lagos”’, Journal of Religion in Europe 4.3 (2011), pp. 450–470 (p. 459). Coleman and Maier, ‘Redeeming the City’, p. 360. Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, p. 52. Burgess et al., ‘Nigerian-Initiated Pentecostal Churches as a Social Force in Europe’, p. 116.

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announcements (called ‘7 News’). On the stage there is a band or a choir leading the sung worship, which is contemporary music with an African flavour, bright and easy to sing. The congregation sings with enthusiasm accompanied by bodily movement. Typically, the service may include a number of songs, with perhaps an extended time of praise at the beginning and then one or two other musical items later at various points in the service. There may be a time for prayer, after the praise time, with someone leading this and inviting the congregation to participate in their own way. Announcements, as noted above, are pre-prepared and shown via the big screen, and this would be fairly typical in the high-tech world of contemporary Pentecostalism. This is followed by the offertory, which would be introduced by one of the pastors encouraging the congregation to give generously in the light of their experience of God’s generosity towards them. As this occurs, the screen shows a number of different ways to give to the church, including electronic means. The preacher is always introduced and given honour, and the sermon is usually interactive with a Nigerian style of discourse. The pastors and preachers are dressed smartly in suits and dress shirts but do not wear ties, at least not routinely. The congregation is dressed smartly and some are in traditional ­Nigerian dress, while others are in contemporary smart casual dress. There is usually a closing song and final announcements and a dismissal. As with the other two Black-majority and Nigerian-led churches that have been studied as part of this project, Jesus House can certainly be seen as a Pentecostal church, as the usual beliefs in the gifts of the Holy Spirit are present and practised regularly according to members, although not always in evidence among the congregation. 5.6

Social Engagement

The church has a number of ways of recruiting volunteers for its social engagement ministries. Church members can sign up to the central database of volunteers, expressing their interests and general availability, and through this database ministry leaders can call on people and ask if they would like to be involved with a specific ministry or event. In advance of annual events that require many volunteers, such as ‘A Call to Serve (acts)’ in August (when volunteers go out into nearby neighbourhoods and help vulnerable people with tasks around the home or garden), or the Christmas Hamper Appeal, the church holds recruitment drives after services for people to sign-up. They also have a welfare department that seeks to meet the needs of church members suffering from financial difficulties and social problems.

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5.6.1 The Novo Centre The church has opened a community centre in the Grahame Park council housing estate in the Colindale area of Barnet, a somewhat disadvantaged estate. At the time of conducting research there, some areas were going through a process of regeneration. Contemporary and rather deluxe-looking apartment buildings with spacious new pedestrianised areas now, incongruously, rub-up against the 1970s-built social housing flats of Grahame Park, which have certainly seen better days. This older section is home to a concourse of shops and services, although some are boarded up. Jesus House has turned one of these shop units into the Novo Centre, complete with a full-time paid staff member to run it. One of the leaders was very positive about the role that the centre plays. She said, ‘I see the Novo Centre as a lighthouse in that area, where people just come to find a sense of direction’. The centre is not large but has a small reception area and back room that are open to the public. The church uses the centre predominantly for youth activities and their food bank, which is discussed separately below.52 They have a small row of computers that members of the public use, which are aimed at those who do not have the Internet at home, in particular job seekers and children doing homework.53 They also offer to print important documents for free, such as curriculum vitae or application forms, which would be very helpful for someone trying to survive on Jobseekers Allowance benefit payments. The staff at the centre liaise with the Police and the youth from the estate to identify what kind of activities the young people need or would enjoy. At the time of doing the research, the church was focusing on ages 10–15, although they have included children who are younger and young people older than 15 years of age. One recent initiative the centre has started is called ‘The Big Picture’, a threeday event over the summer school holidays in which Jesus House takes children from the estate out each day, to give them new experiences. For example, they took boys, accompanied by male mentors, to a car factory, and they took girls with female mentors to a fashion show. On each trip the children received hands-on experience. On the final day, they all came together for a big day out at a theme park, just for fun. Teresa, the Novo Centre Manager explained that 52

53

The Novo Centre Manager explained that in the past the church had run some activities for adults, such as an initiative called ‘Ignite’ in which local mothers were treated to pampering sessions and photography of their families, but in general the centre’s activities (excluding the food bank) focus on youth. Indeed, when Bremner visited the Novo Centre, while observing the foodbank, school children dropped in straight from school, still in their uniforms, and were using all of the available computers.

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the aim of The Big Picture was to inspire the young people to think ‘big’ and see life just beyond their immediate environment. She had spent some time talking to young people prior to the inception of the initiative and found that they rarely had a chance to leave the estate if only for a day. Working with children in the area is an important means of social engagement and a priority for the church through the work of the centre.54 5.6.2 Food Bank The food bank started in 2006 by Jesus House who operated it on their own until 2012 when it joined forces with The Trussell Trust, and it became known as Colindale food bank.55 It has a dedicated full-time member of staff who is paid by Jesus House, and who is supported on distribution days by volunteers, not only from Jesus House but also others, who find out about the volunteering opportunities through The Trussell Trust.56 In 2015, the food bank had eight regular volunteers in total, although some more would help out when the church did a donation drive, in which volunteers would stand outside a large supermarket from around 8.00am to 6.00pm for about three days, encouraging members of the public to donate foodstuffs.57 In general, donations would come from supermarkets and church members and others in the community. The food bank is open twice a week. Clients are referred to the food bank from a number of different agencies and organisations. These include the Job Centre, a women’s refuge, and a housing association, in addition to the local ‘one-stop-shop’ in Grahame Park, a cross-agency initiative to support those struggling in the community. However, people in urgent need without a referral are still helped. Jesus House tries to make the space as welcoming as possible. There is a small area in the corner with toys for children to play with, and people are always greeted when they come in and offered a cup of tea. Volunteers and the Project Coordinator provide food (and toiletries) to recipients from a small storage unit at the Novo Centre, although the church also operates an off-site 54 See http://jesushouse.org.uk/novo-centre (accessed 7 June, 2018). 55 See http://jesushouse.org.uk/story/colindale-foodbank-drive (accessed 7 June, 2018). 56 When Bremner visited the food bank on a distribution day, one volunteer was a Roman Catholic, and another was a young Jewish man. 57 The Project Coordinator identified that more volunteers would be helpful, so that they could have dedicated people on certain tasks, such as praying, bagging food, and talking to clients. However, it was identified that sometimes it is tricky to find volunteers who can work mid-week as much of Jesus House is working or studying. The food bank experiences an upsurge in potential volunteers when university students are back home, but in term time most people are unable to help at that time of the week.

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warehouse where most donations are received, and some volunteers work there. Recipients receive a certain number of items depending on the size of their household unit, and the volunteers take time to find out about their likes and dislikes and whether there are particular essentials that they really need. The church is aware that many people are embarrassed to use food banks, especially when they step through the door for the first time. The Jesus House volunteers aim to give the clients some choice in what they can receive, as well as treating them with dignity and in a non-judgmental manner. As with The Trussell Trust, Jesus House’s ultimate aim for the food bank is for it to serve less people as they become more food secure. However, with the knowledge that the food bank is still needed, they aim to give people who they serve more than just food. The Project Coordinator at the Novo Centre explained that they help to signpost people to other agencies that might be able to help with multiple needs. In addition, they offer a service of prayer, if this is something that the recipient wants. Of course, the food bank is open to all, including people of all religions persuasions and those who eschew all religious labels. It is significant that Jesus House funds a full-time role for this position. This meant that the Project Coordinator, a calm and welcoming young woman, was able to have the time to go beyond the capabilities of a volunteer. This role enabled her to spend longer time with clients, and to keep in touch with them over the telephone as well as in person, sometimes following up and calling them with information about other agencies that could support them as well. 5.6.3 Christmas Activities Jesus House provides a number of ministries over the Christmas period. In the past, the church used to host homeless people in the church building, but this ministry only lasted about two years. The main auditorium of the church is very expansive, it is flat and without fixed chairs or pews so it can be used for many purposes. Although this ministry had ceased operating by the time of the research, the church had offered its worship space for homeless people to sleep, offering them food and warm drinks, and conversation. The church reluctantly stopped the ministry because of an undisclosed incident a few years previously. Jesus House provides a ‘Christmas Lunch On Jesus’ service in partnership with other churches in the area. Basically, a Christmas hamper is available for those struggling with food poverty and the number of hampers made available is considerable, approximately 2000–3000 each year. These hampers contain enough food for a five-six person family, as well as some Christmas gifts and

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Christian literature (donated by the Bible Society). Through their partnerships with other churches, what they call a franchise, the service is extended throughout the Barnet borough and even beyond to other parts of the country. Approximately 70% of the volunteers come from Jesus House and 30% from other churches who partner with it. Volunteers recruited from different churches come and pack the hampers and then distribute them to the various collection sites. All of the volunteers are trained each year, and there is always something new to explain to maintain their interest. They are also trained in conversational skills while distributing hampers to clients. They are encouraged to share their faith where possible but to be sensitive to the clients and respect their wishes if they do not want to discuss matters of faith. They are encouraged to be observant of the needs of people and sensitive to their circumstances. Clients are now also encouraged to come and collect the hampers themselves if this is possible for them to do so, in which case they are met by staff and volunteers, their details are checked and they have an opportunity for a conversation about the Christian faith. Partner churches come and collect their own hampers once they are ready and make their own distribution arrangements. What is interesting about this service is that Jesus House not only works with other churches to provide a service to the community, but it works with referral agencies in the welfare sector, for example the Job Centre, so that they are able to follow up referrals and work with new clients. Any person can qualify irrespective of their background and faith commitment provided they can demonstrate they are receiving some form of benefit. Jesus House will also work with other kinds of organisation that are not Christian in ethos provided that these organisations respect the Christian values of Jesus House. As one interviewee stated, ‘it’s building community. So, it’s not just all about being a church. It’s coming together in essence, you know. Each one of us coming together to make a difference in the lives of the people in the community’. This community involvement is also seen in the financing of the hampers, which cost £70,000 in 2014. Santander, hsbc and Price Waterhouse Cooper sponsored the service and this included ‘matched funding’ strategies, whereby the church would have a special fundraising event and whatever amount of money was raised would be matched by them (with a cap). The supermarket, Tesco, also supports the service and allows the church to fundraise in their carpark. It is also possible for individuals to sponsor a hamper for a family, so the donor would pay the subsidised cost (normally around 50% of the market value) and the family would be notified. This is made easy to do via the website, through which people can register and pay. It is understood that this is simply a way for individuals ‘to be a blessing’ to others.

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As part of the Christmas activities, Jesus House also provides what it calls ‘Spreading Christmas cheer’. This activity runs for the last full working week leading up to Christmas day. In partnership with 32 other churches, volunteers are positioned outside the London underground stations and provide hot drinks of coffee and tea, as well as mince pies. Jesus House meets commuters outside the Barnet stations and serves them, and also provides an opportunity to chat and support them at this time of year.58 5.6.4 Christians against Poverty During the time of interviewing members in 2015, the church operated a debt support project run under the auspices of ‘Christians Against Poverty’ (cap).59 This is a professionally run service that started in 1996 and assists people in financial difficulty and allows the agency to take control of their financial situation in order to negotiate with creditors on behalf of clients and resolve outstanding issues. Emergency payment plans are put in place in the short term and then the person is coached in the good management of money, so that healthy patterns of spending can be learned. cap is also an evangelical Christian group that integrates the advice services that it offers with a clear communication of the Christian message. Partner churches are expected to use the services they provide through their counsellors as an opportunity to communicate their faith in a sensitive manner. This organisation currently partners with 624 church-based centres around the country. Jesus House now works with the other churches in the ‘Barnet South cap Centre’, to offer free counselling and support. This is just another way in which the church is building important networks of social engagement.60 5.6.5 Football Academy The Football Academy is a summer activity aimed at taking the local children off the streets, and possibly the temptation to get involved in local crime, and helping them to develop their fitness, health and specifically their football skills. Principally, it is open to any child living in the Barnet borough area, although children from outside the borough are also accepted. Boy and girls are accepted, although the majority of children are boys, with the upper age for admission being 15 years. The charge in 2015 was £50 per week, so £100 for both weeks. If the family is receiving welfare benefits then the child can attend without any charge. 58 See http://jesushouse.org.uk/spreading-christmas-cheer (accessed 7 June, 2018). 59 See https://capuk.org (accessed 7 June, 2018). 60 See http://jesushouse.org.uk/news/barnet-south-cap-centre (accessed 7 June, 2018).

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It is an explicitly Christian event and includes a prayer before the academy begins for the day. The children are also provided with a context in which they might hear about the Christian message. It is hoped that this environment provides a non-threatening context in which to discuss matters of faith. The intention is to support children by helping them to understand how the Christian faith provides resources in dealing with issues and life challenges. They also seek to encourage specific values, such as respect and appreciation for team mates, as well as an attitude of encouragement. These aspects are seen as important in the world of sport, which can be seen as extremely competitive and unkind. Awards are given each day for the person who is deemed to be the most encouraging of others. The coaches working with the children are qualified by the Football Association and are, therefore, competent to train them at a high level. They are Christians and are motivated to do this work because of their faith commitment. The children are also introduced to a professional premier league footballer who is a Christian. He is able to answer questions about his faith and the challenges of playing sport at a high level. In this case, he was understood to provide an accessible role model who was available to the children and could address their concerns. He was also able to explain the lifestyle of a footballer in relation to things like alcohol consumption and the lifespan of a career in professional football. 5.6.6 Prayer Walking While prayer may not be considered a social engagement activity, it is something that Christians do on behalf of the wider community and society. Prayer activities can demonstrate a commitment to local communities and this commitment can be expressed in very concrete ways. For example, Jesus House operates a practice called ‘Prayers on the Streets’, which it is hoped will be ­extended to partner churches. It is serviced by a website through which a member of the congregation can ‘adopt a street’. The person chooses a particular street near where they live or to which they are attracted for some reason. More than one person can adopt the same street. People are expected to walk the street, notice what is going on and share prayer requests via the website. Everyone who has adopted that street is then informed about the prayer need. There is also a webpage where people can upload testimonies from their experience of prayer for a particular street and the perceived effects of prayer. This is an interesting and important practice because it symbolises the commitment of the church to its physical location and the integration of spiritual practices with care for the people who live in the neighbourhood.

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5.6.7 Volunteering: a Call to Serve Individuals are encouraged to serve in a variety of ways as part of their Christian discipleship. There are regular opportunities to see what areas of ministry are open to members. Interviewees noted that it can be difficult to recruit volunteers for specific kinds of activities and services. While a singles dating event might attract a lot of interest, serving the homeless is somewhat less popular. In the past, it is acknowledged that there have been problems with obtaining a sufficient number of volunteers for community engagement activities. So, a new centralised system was put in place to try and resource the activities that the church wished to pursue. Now the various projects are able to use volunteers from a central pool. Once names are submitted, members can be allocated to specific roles by the pastors. However, if someone has a special interest in a particular area of service then they can request this area, the pastors listen to these requests and place people in the most appropriate ministries, given the needs and person’s skill set. Of course, the volunteer pool is dynamic because people’s lives are in flux and their circumstances change from time to time, which means that their availability also changes. It is the case that people volunteer for a season and then do something else. There is also an openness to receive volunteers from other churches and other faith communities, with volunteers coming from Jewish and Roman Catholic backgrounds. The current number of volunteers available for all aspects of church life and ministry stands at 500 people in 2018.61 Following the completion of the fieldwork for this project, the social engagement of the church has continued to grow and change. All of these ­activities can be found at the church’s website under the tab for community action.62 Some activities are inward facing, such as welfare support (Angel), women’s groups (Esthers) and men’s groups (Mandate and Princes), children’s (Kidz First), youth (Raised up), work with the elderly (Abigail’s Court), singles, married couples (Tight Knots), couples seeking children, lone parents (Oasis) and health care support. It is likely that people on the fringe of the church access these services as well. However, there are clearly outward facing activities under community activities or Corporate Social Responsibility (crs). There is also an engagement in training their own members for engaging the world of work (marketplace ministry), prison ministry as well as civic awareness and politics (Salt). This suggests that the social engagement side of the church has developed considerably over the course of the last few years. 61 62

http://jesushouse.org.uk/our-people (accessed 7 June 2018). http://jesushouse.org.uk (accessed 7 June 2018).

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Jesus House for All Nations: Summary and Emerging Themes

At Jesus House there is clearly an integration of social engagement activities with the mission of the church. It remains the flagship church of the rccg, but it has also made significant inroads into the prevailing British culture. As part of this adaptation is the way in which its self-narrative has included social and community concerns as a central component. For example, this development is demonstrated in the core values statement of the church, which is worth noting.63 The vision is to develop a multicultural church which is ‘passionate about social justice and committed to the spiritual transformation of society through the preaching of the complete message of Christ’. It hopes to grow to 25,000 members, committed to prayer and intercession, becoming more like Christ in their lives, using their talents for the benefit of others, ‘radical about social justice with a heart for the poor, the underprivileged and the marginalised’. It a church that works in partnership with other churches and groups to advance the kingdom of God. The biblical text that informs this vision is from Matthew’s Gospel 22.37–40: to love God with one’s heart, soul and mind, and one’s neighbour as oneself. The strap line is ‘loving God, impacting lives, transforming communities’. In terms of emerging themes for analysis, three points are worthy of note. First, social engagement appears to have developed into community development with the establishment of a non-church centre located in a local housing estate. This resource serves the local non-church community and provides a means of collaborating with other church and non-church agencies in order to build greater capacity in the wider community. It also provides a ‘signposting’ service, suggesting an embeddedness in the network of service providers in the locale. There is still the idea of raising aspirations, especially targeted towards young people, but it is focused on those external to church life, rather than internal to it. This commitment to the local area is also seen in the practice of adopting a street for prayer and pastoral care. Second, there is still a challenge, despite the numbers attending this church, to attract and sustain volunteer numbers for these kinds of social engagement activities. A centralised structure has assisted in the process of both attracting and funnelling members towards volunteering opportunities and thus building greater capacity to engage in social activities. The idea of collaborating with other churches, other pools of volunteers and even other religious traditions is something to be noted, suggesting a looser approach to ideological management. Third and finally, ­evangelism is still a central motivating theme and it intertwines all activities, 63

http://jesushouse.org.uk/our-core-values (accessed 7 June 2018).

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seen especially in things like the Football Academy. There is a conscious attempt to be culturally sensitive to clients and this is evident in the training that volunteers receive, nevertheless the spiritual needs of individuals are clearly regarded as just as important as their material needs. 5.8

Description of New Wine Church

5.8.1 Location, Context and History New Wine Church (hereafter referred to as New Wine) was founded in 1993 by the late Dr Tayo Adeyemi, a British-Nigerian medical doctor. Born in Leeds, UK, to Nigerian parents, Dr Adeyemi (as he is affectionately referred to by the congregation) was raised and educated in Nigeria, completing a medical degree from the University of Ibadan. He returned to the UK as a young man to continue his medical training, specialising in neurosurgery. Dr Adeyemi had already been involved in founding a successful student fellowship in Nigeria, the ‘Family of Christ Called Unto Service’ (foccus) group. Upon moving to London, Dr Adeyemi, with a handful of friends, started a home fellowship in Hackney, called the Upper Room Fellowship. Despite a desire to continue his work as a neurosurgeon, Adeyemi felt that God had communicated with him to start a full church, and thus New Wine Church was founded in the summer of 1993 (on 25 July), with around 25 members in a small venue in South London (West Greenwich House).64 In 2001 the church moved to its current location in Woolwich, which is in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south east London. Its new home is an old cinema hall built in 1937, named ‘Gateway House’. The building is grade ii listed (a preservation order) and was built in a striking art deco style typical of more grand public architecture of the period. In the 1980s the building became the Coronet cinema, but it closed in 1999. It then sat empty for more than a year before it became home to New Wine, which redecorated and updated the building to accommodate its new purpose, although maintaining many of the elegant period features. Moving to this building gave space for New Wine to grow into a megachurch, as it seats many more people with two auditoria. The church also has a rather grand foyer, with a small bookshop area, and a large multi-purpose reception or meeting room.65 64 65

http://www.drtayofoundation.org/biography (accessed 16 June 2016). When running out of additional space, the church installed floor-to-ceiling space dividers in the function room which creates multiple smaller units to accommodate different groups at the same time.

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Located in a central location in a busy London suburb, Gateway House overlooks a roundabout next to the Thames river, adjacent to the Woolwich Ferry (a public ferry that crosses the river to the regenerated Docklands area). It is also located at one end of Woolwich high street, part of a bustling local shopping area, and next to a social housing estate. Nearby is a light rail (dlr) ­station, with train links, connecting Woolwich to central London. Its location is important because it is visible to the public who walk or drive past. By comparison with kicc and Jesus House, New Wine can be seen as more embedded in the community that it tries to serve in a large part because of where it is situated. Coincidentally, the church was proud when it discovered that the street on which Gateway House stands, John Wilson Street, was named after Rev. Dr John Wilson, a Baptist minister who served in Woolwich for 61 years (1877–1938) and who was known for being passionate about serving the working class, which was then a very poor area of London with slum housing.66 Indeed, New Wine’s food ministry, which includes a small food bank but also the weekly Saturday Church (a breakfast club for homeless people and others in need) has been named after this Baptist minister and is called the ‘John Wilson Pantry’. Despite having a large main auditorium, which at the time of research was never filled, the church is limited in space in other ways, notably lacking rooms for ministries and other groups to meet, and, significantly for this research, for the church to grow its social engagement activities. However, a few years ago the church purchased The Mitre pub, an unused and somewhat derelict pub which is directly adjacent to Gateway House, with a view to expansion. At the time of the research in 2015, the church had carried out basic re-decoration of the interior first floor rooms of the pub, creating smaller meeting rooms that could be used by ministry groups and the children’s ministries. Access can be made through side doors of each building across a small courtyard, and it is easy to see how the church could connect Gateway House to The Mitre pub building. From the outside, however, this additional building still resembles a boarded-up pub, although it is clear that plans have been made to renovate the pub completely and expand the meeting places significantly.67 66

67

See Israel Olofinjana, Serving Woolwich, (22 May 2014) on the Evangelical Alliance website: http://www.eauk.org/current-affairs/news/serving-woolwich.cfm (accessed 26 June 2016). Olofinjana is Minister of the Woolwich Central Baptist church, which Rev. Dr John Wilson pastored. Woolwich is still not an affluent area, but there has been some recent regeneration, and the accommodation for those in social housing today would be a vast improvement on the condition of the Woolwich slums at the time of Rev. Wilson. For example, Richmond Church Fitters’ website clearly shows an architect’s model for the updated New Wine building, incorporating The Mitre site (potentially rebuilding on

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Significant change occurred at New Wine in 2013, after the death of its founder and Senior Pastor, Dr Adeyemi, who died at the age of 48. Although he had been suffering from illness, his death at this relatively young age, and when still very much at the helm of the church, meant that a successor had not been nurtured specifically for the position. Naturally, this was a difficult time for the church coming to terms with the death of someone who, by so many accounts, was a much-loved and respected leader. Pastor Michael Olawore, who had worked with Dr Adeyemi since the foundation of the church, took over as Senior Pastor, supported by a Board of Ministers, which at the time of writing numbered seven. The death of Dr Adeyemi in 2013 caused some attrition in numbers at the church. By many accounts, he was a charismatic and engaging pastor. Many New Wine churchgoers Bremner met, and who had worshipped at the church from Pastor Adeyemi’s time, explained that it was his ‘frank’ and ‘practical’ manner of ‘teaching’ that had attracted many people to make New Wine their home church, or that had influenced their choice of church in the first place (as well as through TV and radio ministries).68 As the identity of New Wine as a church was inextricably linked with that of Dr Adeyemi, this change in membership was probably to be expected. The interviewees with whom Bremner spoke were keen to express how they also appreciated Pastor Olawore’s preaching. They supported him as he found his feet in leadership, but did observe that some members who had been coming specifically to hear Pastor Adeyemi, and his particular method of delivery, moved to other churches following the change in leadership. Therefore, New Wine could now be considered different from kicc in that it can no longer be seen as such a Pastor-centric church, although with Pastor Adeyemi at the helm it certainly could have been described as such, and the church certainly continues to remember him with special services, through his books and other media, and the Tayo Adeyemi Foundation.69 The interviewees

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the land): http://www.churchdesign.co.uk/work/new-wine-church-woolwich/ (accessed 26 June 2016). Pictures of the renovation, restoration and decoration of Gateway House itself are also visible on the website. New Wine broadcasts every weekday evening on Inspiration Network International Europe in the UK (and online), and on Sundays on Dove Television in Nigeria. The church also broadcasts on Premier Radio (UK), Citi FM (Ghana), and Wantok Radio Light (Papua New Guinea). For example, on 1 July 2016 the church held a special service called ‘New Wine Remembers’, specifically about Dr Adeyemi and his teachings, and the church’s online shop has a dedicated section to ‘Dr Tayo Resources’. It would seem that the remembrance service is an annual event. The Tayo Adeyemi Foundation has been set up with the aim of ‘[e]mpowering the poor, the vulnerable and less privileged for the purpose of alleviating

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were proud that the church had continued after Dr Adeyemi’s death, and although some had left, other members had joined. One church member, Joan, who had certainly been attracted to New Wine because of Dr Adeyemi, was still somewhat dismayed that the church lost people after his untimely death. She explained, ‘I think it’s sad because you shouldn’t be in the church [just] because of the pastor’, which was a feeling echoed by other interviewees. While another member, Jane, explained that she thought New Wine had a very committed group of stewards, or ministry volunteers, more so than other churches she had been to, and, in her experience, it was partly through the loyalty of these stewards that the church was able to maintain continuity during this time of change. As Ian, a volunteer with the Saturday Club ministry and street evangelism team expressed, ‘Everybody still works together, loves each other’. 5.8.2 Congregational Numbers As identified in the previous section on kicc, it is difficult to report on the numbers attending any one church. New Wine is no different. Media reports in 2013 wrote of ‘up to 5,000’ worshippers.70 However, in a chapter published in 2014, Olofinjana suggested that New Wine had a congregation of around 3,000.71 The lower figure suggested in 2014 may well be due to the attrition of numbers following the death of Pastor Adeyemi, but information gleaned through informal conversations Bremner had when spending time at New Wine in late 2014 and early 2015 suggests that their current congregation is smaller still, likely to be in the range of 2,000 people. In terms of income, it is also the smallest of the three bmcs that formed part of the study, with its public accounts for 2014 showing an income of £2.2 million in contrast to kicc’s £7.8 million over a similar period.72 It can, therefore, still be seen as a megachurch, although it is on the threshold of this category.

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poverty and promoting human dignity’; http://www.drtayofoundation.org/foundation (accessed 27 June 2016). With its headquarters at Gateway House, the Foundation’s 2014 accounts showed an income of just over £86,000, and supported charitable donations to Cancer Research UK and the building of a health clinic in Burundi, amongst other smaller donations, and the foundation of a scholarship programme for two to three students a year (see the Foundation’s annual accounts for the year ending 31 December 2014. Available online: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends64/0001156764_ AC_20141231_E_C.pdf [accessed 27 June 2016]). Marcia Dixon, ‘Christian Leaders Pay Tribute To Dr Tayo Adeyemi’, The Voice (14 July 2013), available online: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/christian-leaders-pay-tribute-dr -tayo-adeyemi (accessed 22 June 2016). Olofinjana, ‘Nigerian Pentecostals in Britain’, pp. 233–254. Public accounts available from the Charity Commission: http://forms.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities/ (accessed 27 June 2016).

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Despite the contraction just noted, the church has recently been through a period of church planting. In 2015 it opened two smaller branches in Gravesend and Dartford, both in the neighbouring county of Kent. Both branches operate a service on a Friday evening and one on a Sunday morning. They are yet to secure their own buildings there, but instead rent spaces in local high schools. The need to open these two branches in these areas, Dartford being some 12 miles and Gravesend some 17 miles south east of Woolwich, is perhaps unsurprising. A number of people Bremner interviewed had, in the last few years, started to move out of Woolwich and its surrounding areas (such as Charlton and Bexleyheath) to satellite towns and new housing estates in the Thames estuary areas of Kent and Essex. Gravesend and Dartford, both located between Woolwich and kicc’s new headquarters in Chatham, can be seen to be in good positions to accommodate those who may find catching the train or driving into Woolwich inconvenient. Of course, the new locations could potentially attract new worshippers from these different areas. New Wine’s recent expansion also includes a branch in Manchester, in northern England, again renting space at a local high school and holding a service on a Sunday. New Wine is also growing internationally, opening a branch in Johannesburg, South Africa in January 2016. The church also has an office in Lagos, Nigeria.73 This is not a church, but it could be a potential future site for church planting. In addition, an early member of the founding group of New Wine London started a New Wine Church in Minneapolis, usa, back in the 1990s, after migrating to the country for work. This American church still maintains links with New Wine, London, using their logo and listed as an international branch on their website, although the extent to which New Wine, London oversees the Minneapolis branch is unclear.74 5.8.3 Leadership and Organisation As mentioned previously, Pastor Olawore is supported by a team of seven ministers. Each of these ministers oversee a portfolio of ministries. Below this level 73 74

New Wine Nigeria website: http://www.newwineng.com/ (accessed 28 June 2016). New Wine Church, Minneapolis’ website: http://www.nwcmpls.com/ (accessed 28 June 2016). In addition to Johannesburg and Minneapolis church plants, there also seems to be evidence that New Wine is planning branches in places as diverse as Accra in Ghana, Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, Nairobi in Kenya, Chennai in India, Sydney in Australia, and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (see New Wine’s website: http://www.newwine.co.uk/ church/events/new-wine-church-johannesburg [accessed 28 June 2016]). Little more is known about these sites, although Chennai is likely to refer to a chapel within New Wine’s international mission ‘Shalom Nagar’, a residential complex in the Chennai area for sufferers of leprosy, which is outlined in the section on ministries in this chapter.

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is a team of leaders who together have responsibility for around 30 different ministries. At the time of writing, some of the present ministers are also listed as leaders of ministries on the New Wine’s website, but the majority of ministry leaders are volunteers. In the church’s trustee report for 2014 it stated that it had 16 full time employees working for the church, supported by around 500 volunteers (from the church congregation).75 It may indeed be the case that the number of employees has increased in light of the new branches opening. In terms of volunteers, it is interesting to note the difference here in the numbers of volunteers stated in the latest reports to the Charity Commission. Whereas New Wine lists 500 volunteers, kicc lists 1000 and Jesus House has 650. In terms of how this relates to reported income and the size of each church, New Wine, therefore, has a relatively high number of volunteers, supporting the assertion noted earlier that there is a strong group of committed stewards at New Wine.76 New Wine can be seen as maintaining commitment and connections to the church through its cell groups. These are small groups overseen by a group leader, and a number of ‘cluster leaders’ oversee around four cell groups, being a conduit of communication between the church and cell groups. Whereas kicc’s version of small groups, the Caring Heart Fellowships, had been through a few years of contraction, and Jesus House does not have small groups, in New Wine most people interviewed were part of a cell group and had experienced mutual support and strengthened fellowship with other churchgoers. 5.8.4 Denomination and Worship The interior of Gateway House is elegant and quite sumptuous: on first entering the building one is presented with sweeping staircases leading to the first floor where, if a service is starting, ushers greet people and direct them to the worship area. The plush cinema-style seating of the main auditorium rises steeply from the stage, which has a luxurious draped background, with different colours projected upon it throughout the service.

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New Wine International, Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 December 2014; available online: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends52/0001085052_ AC_20141231_E_C.pdf (accessed 27 June 2016). See also Kingsway International Christian Centre Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2015; available online: http://apps.charitycommission.gov .uk/Accounts/Ends14/0001102114_AC_20150331_E_C.pdf (accessed 27 June 2016), and Jesus House Trustees Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2014 available online: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/ Ends14/0001088614_AC_20141231_E_C.pdf (accessed 27 June 2016).

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Hanging from the staircase in the lobby is a large sign announcing, ‘where you are valued not numbered’, suggesting that there is an emphasis on fellowship and counteracting experiences of anonymity frequently experienced in megachurches. And indeed, as a smaller megachurch one experiences a more intimate feeling than in kicc or Jesus House, for example. In the service Pastor Olawore sometimes moves off stage, pacing around close to the first few rows of seats as he preaches. After the service it is not uncommon to see him talking with members of the congregation. The screens are not so central but are placed at the sides of the auditorium, so although new media technologies are used, with a full band, it does not appear quite so slick and polished as some other megachurches. Worship services are held on Sundays at 9.00am and 11.00am. When visiting a service at New Wine it is rare to see more visible manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as healing practices or people being ‘slain in the Spirit’. It is clear that, as a Pentecostal church, there is a belief in the Holy Spirit as being able to dwell in and empower believers. One interviewee Bremner spoke to, Isaac, had been directed to New Wine precisely because it was thought to be a church that embraced the physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Isaac, from Guyana, had been attending a local Methodist church, even training as a ‘local preacher’. While worshipping there one Sunday he began to find himself ‘falling this way and falling that way’, an experience that became more and more pronounced, with him feeling ‘drunk’, crying, rocking and shaking, hiccupping and making unfamiliar sounds. At one service when Isaac was preaching he remembered feeling very strange, saying ‘I’m getting these electric shocks, heavy electric shocks. So, I couldn’t preach anymore … and I collapsed’. Isaac’s family, who were visiting from Canada, told him that he was experiencing manifestations associated with the ‘Toronto Blessing’. Although Isaac was settled in the Methodist church, people advised him to go to New Wine because ‘they know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit’, and, according to Isaac, by their own accounts the Methodist church were baffled by what they were seeing.77 Indeed, speaking in tongues is one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit which could be observed in a service (although on a quiet level and most usually on the prompting of prayer led by the preacher). The practice of prayer for healing, through the laying of hands, was often visible towards the end of a service.

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Now settled in New Wine church, Isaac still preaches now and then at the Methodist church, but sees New Wine as more spiritually fulfilling, a place where his frequent speaking in tongues are welcomed.

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5.8.5 Recruitment and Organisation As identified earlier, New Wine has around 30 ministry leaders, the majority being volunteers who do not have a staff role in the church, and, according to their own reports, around 500 churchgoers volunteer with the church in some capacity over the year. In terms of recruitment, volunteers are encouraged to first attend ‘Members’ Classes’, which induct new worshippers into the vision and the aims of the church. This was described to Bremner by interviewees as a welcoming series of sessions offered over a few weeks which culminated in a dinner and a ceremony of certificate presentation to mark the person’s joining the church as a member. Part of the content of these members’ classes includes talks from different ministry leaders outlining what activities they do. There is an attempt to encourage new members to sign up as volunteers with their ministry, with ministry leaders talking to the group in person in an attempt to recruit them. After hearing these short presentations from ministry leaders, these new members are offered a chance to sign up to those ones that they find attractive. In some cases, such as the Counselling department, a potential new volunteer would have an interview so that the church was able to ensure they recruited members with the right attributes or skills for the role. It was also explained to Bremner that some people attend church and volunteer with particular ministries who have yet to go through the members’ classes. It would seem that the formal requirements before volunteering are a little more open in New Wine than in kicc. In addition, once a volunteer is known to the church for some time they can be ‘cherry-picked’ and asked directly if they would like to join a ministry team or have a different role within an existing ministry on the basis of observable personal qualities or known expertise. So, for example, one interviewee was about to pull out of the ‘facilities management’ team (which helps crowd management in busy periods amongst other things), because of health issues which meant she would not be able to stand so long. However, the team recognised that her professional background in health and safety meant that she had a lot to offer the team in other ways, and she remains part of the ministry in an advisory capacity. New Wine organises two ‘Workers’ Meetings’ each year, usually in June and December. These are called meetings but they could be better described as celebrations of thanks to those who volunteer. As well as a more intimate service, with worship and prayers, at the December meeting Bremner attended, the church also gave gifts to each person to say thank you for their service in the church.78 The workers’ meetings can be seen as an indication of the importance of the stewards to the life of the church, and a way that the church can 78

The gift was a voucher for a high street department store chain to the value of £25–£30.

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be seen to foster a sense of belonging and ownership amongst its volunteers. As part of the volunteering programme, people have opportunity to learning transferable skills such as speaking and leading, as well as developing networking skills that might lead to future employment. The tight social structure of the church does not appear to impede the desire to serve.79 5.9

Social Engagement

5.9.1 The John Wilson Pantry The ‘John Wilson Pantry’ ministry at New Wine operates three main activities: the ‘Saturday Church’ (a breakfast club for homeless people or others in need), the Christmas Hamper appeal, which is discussed later, and the church’s small food bank. The food bank runs on an ad-hoc basis. Churchgoers bring in donations of non-perishable food which is distributed to members of the community if they come in to the church and request it. Most of the recipients tend to be those who get to know about it through the Saturday Church, who are offered non-perishable food from the pantry after receiving a cooked breakfast, or who later visit New Wine during the week and ask for some food. It is a small service, but perhaps because it does not require a referral or a voucher, it could be seen as particularly useful for those people living in food poverty, once they get to know about it. The more significant activity run by the John Wilson Pantry is the Saturday Church. Although the church certainly seems to have a positive reputation for their Christmas Hamper appeal, which also reaches more people than the Saturday Church, the Saturday Church operates every week and thus offers more opportunity for the church to make meaningful connections with recipients (in addition to a special Christmas dinner for Saturday Church recipients in the week before Christmas). This ability to make connections with people was important to the majority of the ministry volunteers: having a relational approach to ministry was seen as a key to potentially transforming the lives of those people they reached out to, through ‘friendship evangelism’ and kindness. This approach also relates to a theological position in which all people are seen as equal ‘under God’, a position stated many times by interviewees and especially those volunteering in the Saturday Church ministry. Theological

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Malcolm Torry, Managing Religion: The Management of Christian Religious and FaithBased Organizations Volume 1: Internal Relationships (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), p. 89.

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motivations are discussed later in Chapter 6 but it is worth highlighting the point here for it is central to the way the Saturday Church operates. The Saturday Church started as the Breakfast Club, a fortnightly Saturday morning ministry in which the church opens its doors to people to come and enjoy a cooked breakfast. Volunteers from the church would not only cook and serve these English ‘fry-ups’ (with unlimited tea or coffee, and toast), but they also paid for the ingredients. However, in 2014, as the portfolio leader that oversees the ministry explained to us, Pastor Olawore had come to believe that ‘sausages’ were not enough, and that the beneficiaries needed ‘salvation’ too. So, following his lead, the Breakfast Club expanded its remit to include a more concerted effort to evangelise and was renamed the Saturday Church. In its more recent form, this ministry now includes a short sermon by the leader of the evangelism and outreach team (who is also a lay preacher), a moment of prayer, and a brief praise and worship session, often led by Ian, who is a talented musician and plays the guitar. At the time of conducting the research, the ministry fed approximately 30 people each Saturday. Most of those who came along were homeless, either living on the streets or ‘sofa-surfing’, although it included others who were living on low incomes, including some on benefits (and those who had received benefit sanctions). The church also acknowledged that a few recipients were probably not in dire financial need but were lonely and liked coming along for the company. From observations of the ministry, which Bremner visited three times, some of the clients were suffering from substance abuse and addiction, others had been recently released from prison, and quite a few had experienced relationship and family breakdown. The vast majority of people attending the ministry were male, white British. The volunteers operate on a rota basis as only few volunteers can commit to working in the ministry on a weekly basis due to work, study or family commitments, so most volunteers worked one Saturday in three. Some of the volunteers had a background in working with homeless people, those with addictions, or benefits, and were able to signpost clients to services. Even if they could not help refer clients to agencies, the volunteers Bremner observed were at least a friendly face, and someone who treated the clients with respect. The development from the Breakfast Club to the Saturday Church inevitably changed the nature of the event. Not all those who attended the Breakfast Club for their sausages were happy with this more dedicated effort to proclaim the Christian message. However, their own records and experience suggest that, although they lost some regular clients due to the more zealous evangelism, the overall trend shows a growth in people coming on Saturday mornings. There is a growing acceptance, and even some enjoyment and appreciation, of

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the more overt Christianity offered with their fry-up. Certainly, the move to a weekly church must have helped with this increase in numbers. Bremner was told that before the ministry became weekly, clients, who did not often lead structured lives so that they were aware of what date in the month the club was, would forget when it was operating. Once it was scheduled every Saturday the church found people came more consistently. Indeed, the change in frequency from twice a month to every week was also part of a more dedicated effort to connect with people, not just in terms of evangelism but also building relationships more generally. Furthermore, the more intimate praise and worship could also be seen as an attempt to connect with clients. There is no stage, and so when Ian plays his acoustic guitar he is simply perched on a stool beside the clients, reducing potential barriers between clients and volunteers. At one Saturday Church Bremner attended, one elderly homeless man later asked to play Ian’s guitar, and entertained the whole group with a rock and roll number! Ian himself explained how he tried to create ‘a sense of belonging’ among the group through allowing his guitar to be used by clients and choosing simple and easy to understand worship songs. Ian expressed that: I want them to feel free. You know I don’t want them to look at us like ‘oh, he’s on stage you can’t reach him. You can’t reach there’, you know. I want them to feel at home so that from there we’ll be able to work together … to sing with me like that. Now, some of them, they didn’t believe in themselves before, you understand? … Some of these people they came into that situation which they are [in] now … because they didn’t believe in themselves … they never thought anybody cared about them. While it is clear that evangelism is the central item on the menu at the Saturday Church, stories of guests who do convert are few. However, volunteers have also talked about observing behavioural changes in some clients since the transition to a more evangelism-driven ministry. Ian himself talked about how a handful of clients now turn up early and help to set up the tables and chairs alongside the church volunteers. James also spoke about how he had found that the language used by those coming for the breakfast had changed, with less swearing and aggressive talk. Leonard was particularly pleased that he could now hear clients use the phrase, ‘God bless you’ to each other and to his fellow stewards when saying thank you or good bye. These behavioural changes were attributed to having being engendered since the changes in the ministry, as an impact of it. Of course, whether or not these changes were due to being involved in this ministry is difficult to say. What is interesting,

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however, is not only how these interactions show a breaking-down of the barriers between those serving and those being served, but that there is an ‘ownership’ of the Saturday Church by those attending. It should be noted that the volunteers saw these behavioural changes as evidence of the impact of the ministry. They were aware that not all those who have enough confidence to step through the gates of the church for a hot meal are going to be converted, and they took pride in feeling that maybe some smaller positive changes were also possible.80 As with most ministries, where quantitative methods of understanding impact were not feasible or possible, snippets of verbal feedback from clients of the Saturday Club gave the volunteers encouragement that their efforts were not in vain. James explained to Bremner, for example, how ‘sometimes people after breakfast would come and say oh look, after you prayed with me or after you talked with me about something this is what happened and then you know, it’s really encouraging to hear their stories’. As with many ministries in which impact was difficult to ascertain, encouraging words and observations of modest change were understood as ‘sowing a seed’ towards conversion and more lasting and significant transformations. The aim of the Saturday Church ministry, however, could also be seen as being about much more than the individual. When Ian talked about the vision for the Saturday Church ministry he directly linked it to not only the transformation of individuals but also the subsequent transformation of society. He said that the idea was not just that recipients ‘eat and continue [on their] old way, no. The main aim, it’s to clean up, and be useful to the society you know’. Suffice to say here, by ‘clean up’ Ian means to transform, to rid oneself of bad habits, and here we see here a key theological basis behind New Wine’s social engagement ministries, that of transforming the individual as a route to societal change. Future visions of the church can be seen to include the opportunities for the homeless people they meet to ‘clean up’ in a more literal sense too. There 80

There were stories of people who had come to a service at New Wine, but it seems few people made the transition from coming to the Saturday Church to attending on a Sunday. However, it is clear that the more consistent and frequent relationships that might be built through the Saturday Church, between volunteer and client, is part of an effort to make the transition to attending a service more possible. In one interview, Melissa told an anecdote about one particular client who had come to a Sunday service. She said that, ‘what stands out for me [is that] sometimes on Sunday you’ll see someone that came to church and they kind of feel like they don’t fit in, but then they’ll see you because they know you from breakfast and they get really excited – “Oh, I’m happy to see you” – because they know us. They can come and sit with us’.

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were a number of volunteers who explained that a future vision of the ministry is to install showers where clients could drop-in to have a wash, potentially in the space created by the full renovation of The Mitre pub that the church has acquired. In general, space seems to be the main reason why the Saturday Church has not expanded further. The breakfasts are served either in the main function area in the church building or in a portacabin placed in a small yard beside the main building. Although the function area in the church building is larger, the pressure on space from other ministries means that the portacabin is often used, which could not take many more people. One suspects that this is why the church does not actively advertise the ministry: most recipients hear about the Saturday Church from others. The volunteers are not short of ideas for the future, for example, one volunteer had an idea of creating breakfast vouchers that church members could give to homeless people they saw on the street, to let them know about the Saturday Church. The team is well organised, so one can expect that with greater space the ministry would indeed expand to support more people. 5.9.2 Christmas Activities Christmas is a key time for New Wine’s ministries that reach out to the community. In addition to the special Christmas lunch put on for beneficiaries of the Saturday Church, as mentioned above, the church also has a Christmas lights switch-on event, and runs a Christmas hamper appeal. The church Christmas lights ‘switch-on’ during one evening in November is New Wine’s attempt to bring the life of the church outside its walls. Held directly outside the church, and overlooking the busy main road and roundabout, a small stage is erected so that members of the public can see the choir who, dressed in more traditional robes, sing Christmas carols. Cups of tea, along with the traditional British sweet festive snack of mince pies, are served to the public by church volunteers. Local dignitaries, such as the local Mayor and Member of Parliament, are invited to make a short speech, alongside Pastor Olawore, before the many Christmas lights that festoon the front of the church are ceremoniously turned on, with much clapping and cheering! It is a simple ceremony but one that seems to be enjoyed by those who gather: the public sang along to the carols, and the more ethnically mixed crowd suggested that many participating in the event were unlikely to be New Wine churchgoers. Indeed, one of the management team explained that whereas many cities and towns have municipal Christmas lights switch-on events, in Woolwich they did not, and so the church saw their event as filling a gap. The church also comes together for a much larger Christmas activity, the Christmas hamper appeal, in which approximately 1,500 hampers are given to

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low income households, purchased through donations from churchgoers, at the cost of around £25 per hamper.81 This is a highly organised campaign, with the drive for donations starting early in the year, to try to meet the church’s target.82 In November the church holds a hamper voucher registration week, whereby local people are invited to bring proof of low income and register to receive a voucher (by email) for a hamper at Christmas.83 Some volunteers take annual leave from their workplace to come and help out in registration week. Then the packing of the hampers is scheduled the day before the distribution, which is always a few days before Christmas, and on the afternoon following the December worker’s meeting of the same morning. This means that many committed church members are on site that day to help out. The hamper packing takes many hands, more than only those involved in the John Wilson Pantry food bank or the Saturday Church. On the day that Bremner visited there were many ‘packers’, at least 70 people, including older children. The packing afternoon has a real celebratory atmosphere: volunteers find their space along the ‘packing line’ amongst a lot of up-beat chat, the person leading the afternoon keeps people enthusiastic, encouraging them to work hard to beat the target in a quicker time than previous years. Then the DJ in the corner starts spinning tunes with good beats and rhythms, quite loudly! Volunteers happily expressed how much they enjoyed this day and the fellowship with other churchgoers. The distribution day has become an opportunity for the church to open its doors to the community. Voucher holders start queueing outside the church early in the morning and by 8.00am the church is buzzing with activity. The day is not simply about the simple transfer of hampers from the church to each individual. Instead, recipients are first led into the lower auditorium of the church, where they wait for their ticket number to be announced so that they may receive their hamper. They are kept occupied by the church choir singing carols, a humorous ‘Master of Ceremonies’, and short speeches by church leaders. These speeches often explained to those listening that the church wanted to show them that they were valued and cared for, and that in offering the gift 81

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Churchgoers are encouraged to give what they can rather than being made to feel obliged to donate the money for a full hamper when they were struggling financially. The volunteers Brember spoke with talked about how sometimes two friends would get together to donate the money for a hamper. The donations drive was so successful in 2014 that by the time the church was distributing the hampers at Christmas they had already had a significant surplus to put towards the 2015 hamper appeal. The church puts advertisements in the local press, the Greenwich Times, to spread the news about how members of the local community can register.

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of the hamper the church as a whole was wanting to show them what Christianity and church was all about. It was concerned with sharing the love of God and offering the gift of Jesus Christ. The recipients were then led to the function room of the church in small groups to receive their hampers, which were handed to them in a ceremonial way by one of a number of dignitaries: the local Member of Parliament, the local Mayor and Pastor Olawore. There was clapping, an opportunity for a photograph and then, once outside, the church volunteers were on hand to help the recipients carry their hampers, pack them into wheelie cases and say goodbye. The hamper appeal has its challenges. A number of interviewees spoke about how some potential recipients could be impatient or not quite understand that this was a gift of charity. Amanda explained how one recipient was very rude to her when she had to leave her shift volunteering at the registration event because she had a prior appointment. On this occasion, it transpired that the recipient thought that the hampers were a Government initiative, and that Amanda was a Government worker.84 Joan also talked about people trying to trick the registration system by signing up multiple times or having a number of people from the same household register for a hamper, something also observed by Bremner when visiting the registration event. Talking with volunteers on the hamper registration day, they acknowledged that they had faced challenges in the past with people managing to get multiple hampers and then trying to sell the contents down the pub or to their neighbours.85 In this instance, the team leader of the registration week took the opportunity to explain to potential recipients that the aim of giving out hampers was to encourage people to get together to share a meal as a family on Christmas day. They were also trying to show the love of Jesus through their own altruism, so the church was open about the theological motivations behind its giving. 5.9.3 Community Outreach New Wine’s ‘Community Outreach’ ministry is, simply put, street evangelism. Members of the ministry go out onto the streets of Woolwich one Saturday a month, particularly the busy high street and the transport interchange areas, and engage members of the public in conversation about Christianity, offering 84

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When Amanda explained to this person that the hampers were all donated by churchgoers and that all the people working on registering, packing and distributing the hampers were doing so voluntarily, the person changed their attitude quite considerably, and was in awe that the church was able to do this. In 2014 the church introduced a number of new measures to improve the registration process, including asking for photo ID (in an attempt, one can presume, to hinder fraudulent registrations).

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tracts, and sometimes leading people into what is called the ‘sinner’s prayer’. Once again, the team tries, in the short space of time they have, to offer a relational approach when talking to people, engaging in conversation rather than preaching. It is telling that the team is called ‘Community Outreach’, however, instead of being called ‘Street Evangelism’. It reflects the centrality of the church’s theology that real lasting social change is not possible unless people come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. There is another layer to the outreach though, that has a potentially material basis alongside the spiritual one. By walking around the busy streets of their predominantly working-class neighbourhood, the church volunteers were also able to tell people not only about the church generally but also about the Saturday Church and, later in the year, the Christmas lights switch-on and the Christmas Hamper Appeal. Of course, this is also part of ‘sowing the seed’, opening up non-Christians to the world of Christianity, with the hope that eventually they would respond positively to the message. As Isaac once explained, the Christian message of salvation is itself ‘a big gift, a big present!’. As with all of New Wine’s community events, even less obviously evangelistic ones such as the Christmas lights switch-on, it should be remembered that at the heart of their vision is a wish for people to come to faith in Christ. As identified, the church’s location does mean that it is more visible and accessible in comparison to kicc and Jesus House, with people walking past regularly or seeing it from many of the buses that pass by. Events such as the Christmas lights switch-on, and the street evangelism, can be seen as somewhat integrated with the social engagement activities that happen inside the walls of the church, such as the Saturday Church or the Christmas hamper campaign. Not only can the evangelists in the Community Outreach signpost people to the Saturday Church or Christmas hamper campaign as noted above, but there is an opportunity to see people more than once, and to support them materially. For example, a young man at New Wine called Matthew spoke to Bremner about how he happened to see a middle-aged woman at the Christmas lights switch-on that he had seen the week before at the Christmas hamper registration. The woman, who had suffered from drug dependency and was a heavy smoker, had explained to Matthew during the registration process how she had experienced some unfamiliar sensations. Matthew had previously talked to her about the changes she could make by embracing Christianity, and during the Christmas lights switch-on evening she came to tell him that she had been converted and had already stopped smoking cigarettes. Bremner heard this testimony when the street evangelism group was de-briefing after their Saturday morning session on the streets of Woolwich, and Matthew were delighted to hear this story, attributing this unusual sensation as the manifestation of

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the Holy Spirit in her body. The ministries were thus linked together in trying to support people’s material needs as well as their spiritual ones. Once again, it could be said that this is a matter of both sausages and salvation. 5.9.4 Prison and Immigration Ministry New Wine sends small teams out to the Dover Immigration Centre, which they have been visiting for more than ten years. They also visit Belmarsh prison, which is located in the Thamesmead area, not far from the church. The team goes to Dover once a month, and Belmarsh more regularly, because it is closer.86 As they are part of the Prison Outreach Network (pon), some stewards have visited other prisons such as Pentonville prison in north London. Around six or seven volunteers might go at any given time to Belmarsh, but it seems that for the detention centres, numbers were limited to five, to be able to fit into one car. The team also used to visit Brook House and Tinsley House, two immigration detention centres near Gatwick airport, but at the time of the research in 2015 the church’s activity in these two immigration centres had been temporarily suspended for bureaucratic reasons, although the church was very hopeful that they would return.87 As with kicc, the prison ministry consists mainly of holding a service rather than offering material support. At Dover and Belmarsh, the authorities gave the church members around an hour to an hour and a half to conduct a short service and pray for inmates.88 The overall vision of the prison and immigration centre ministry at New Wine was explained by Kenneth as being about: … touching lives really, just making a difference in somebody’s life … If they can come out of prison a different person than the person who went in there, a person who is calmer, who knows that there is somebody who loves them, even if maybe their own family may not show that love, that 86

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Dover immigration detention centre requested that New Wine attend twice a month. According to Benjamin, they had no other Christian chaplain. However, although Benjamin wished to go twice, he paid for the petrol himself and found going twice was too much in terms of time and money. According to church sources the detention centres needed to carry out UK Disclosure and Barring (dbs) checks. However, ministry volunteers looked at these bureaucratic setbacks through spiritual lenses. When the vetting procedure was finished for the immigration detention centres at Gatwick, they would have authorisation to visit any prison in the country, they said. Hence Isaac explained that ‘God has cut us back so we can be more bountiful’. As Isaac, who had been involved in prison ministries with New Wine for around ten years, explained to Bremner, ‘[we] preach when we go there; we actually take the service, so we give the message, we administer the worship and singing, just little and everything really’.

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there is somebody there who loves them, they can be a part of a church family, who will show that love to them. And I think that is a huge thing to just touch somebody’s life and make a difference in their life, a difference for Christ as well. To achieve this vision of transformed, rehabilitated, Christian ex-inmates, the aim was to create more long-lasting relationships with them when incarcerated; however, this was rarely possible. As with kicc, in general, the volunteers usually had just a few minutes in which they could talk one-to-one with the inmates, especially in Tinsley House, which was a smaller unit. In those moments the church volunteers would listen to the detainees, hear their prayer requests and pray with them. Isaac explained that the prayer requests were usually for distant family, and for release from the immigration detention centre and for ‘papers’, being granted the status to remain in the UK. However, interestingly, Isaac also explained that the church volunteers tell the inmates that: … it is not about us praying for your stay here, it is about praying for where God wants you to be. If this [UK] is where he wants you to be, fine. But if he wants you to go back home or go somewhere else, and that is where he wants you to be established, then fine. So we are not going to pray for you to stay back here but we are just going to ask God for his will to be done in your life. The volunteers that Bremner interviewed, and who were involved in this ministry, also talked enthusiastically about the Holy Spirit working through them when visiting the immigration detention centres. These accounts included anecdotes of ‘immigration miracles’; for example, the overturning of removal (deportation) notices while the team was actively praying for this outcome. As evidenced from kicc, the lack of time to forge relationships with detainees meant that it was difficult to have any idea of whether their ministry work had had an impact. Although there were testimonies of at least two men who had been released from Dover immigration centre and made their way to New Wine to become worshippers, and who had thanked the church for their work, in general it was difficult to measure impact.89 As John, a volunteer who had been involved in the ministry for many years, explained: 89

One particular detainee, a Nigerian who had become a worshipper at New Wine, told Isaac that he had found the prison ministry visits very supportive. Paraphrasing this young man, Isaac explained that he told them: ‘There were times I felt like giving up, but when you guys came and you prayed with us I knew that God was really here’.

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At the end of our discussions I think they [the detainees] have been grateful and they have always said, ‘thank you’. But it’s just that for such a thing to make the maximum impact it needs to be followed-up … Because if they are now left alone and there is no close follow-up then it’s like … the other negative thoughts are going to begin to come back again. But we do keep praying for them. It’s just that there is usually no way of knowing what happened. Despite this situation, but perhaps because of these limitations, there were visions for the future. Isaac had suggested to the church that they build a hostel for prisoners that have just been released, a place where they could stay if they had nowhere to go, and where they could be supported by the church in a holistic way to help them find their feet. It is not possible to say whether the church has seriously considered Isaac’s idea. As already noted, space is a ­limited resource at New Wine. However, as a megachurch, there may be the potential for growth and increasing involvement in such ministries. There certainly was an enthusiasm to do more on the part of the volunteers. 5.9.5 Care for the Elderly The Cedar Club is a monthly group run by the church for elderly members. Although the group is open to those who do not attend the church, it seems it exists mainly as an internal ministry serving church members in that age group. Activities have included sessions on health and wellbeing. One interviewee, Amy, a retired nurse who volunteers with this ministry explained to Bremner how she had done a session on the need to get the winter influenza vaccination, and another on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. At another session Bremner visited, an occupational therapist talked to those present about a variety of health issues, but particularly about mobility. The Cedar Club also seems to act as a forum for mutual assistance and support between members, in a manner similar to a small group. Amanda explained to Bremner that people pray together and in hearing those prayers ­others can be led to help. She gave the example of a woman who wanted to change her accommodation but who had challenges, thus making the move difficult. Amanda told how she encouraged her fellow group members by saying, ‘ladies, this is what is on the ground, if … you [can] help, one way or another’. So, the group rallied around to help the woman with her move. It is interesting to note that, according to Amanda, it is not the norm for people to come out and ask directly for help. Instead, it seems that the group prayer time, in which members are invited to ask the group to focus on specific prayer points, serves as an opportunity for people to share with the group their ­practical needs. For

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many of those praying the spiritual element is intertwined with the material aspects. There is a real belief in the power of God to answer their prayers and in a this-worldly manner through other people. 5.9.6 Overseas Mission New Wine has an ongoing overseas mission project in Chennai, India, supporting people suffering from Leprosy, called ‘Shalom Nagar’. Founded in 2007 with the help of a local Indian pastor, the church has created a self-contained leprosy ‘colony’, complete with homes, water and electricity, healthcare, agricultural land and a chapel. Shalom Nagar is funded by the church, and also by New Wine’s ‘Covenant Partners’. Now and then, the church organises short-term mission trips where a small group of churchgoers (less than twenty people) get the opportunity to travel to India to view the project. Those who choose to join the trip pay for it themselves, but the church organises it. Covenant Partners are members or supporters of the church that commit to regular monthly donations and prayer to support the church’s international activities, including Shalom Nagar but also such things as international media broadcasts and training for overseas pastors. These overseas projects are not within the remit of this research project, but we suggest that they are worth mentioning. In the case of New Wine, it is interesting that the church chose to consolidate its overseas charitable projects in Asia, rather than Africa (and more specifically, Nigeria). It could be argued that this reflects a concerted effort on the part of the New Wine leadership team to make their church more internationally aware, and less focused on Nigeria in particular, although the ties with this country will always remain important because of the main constituency in the church. Both the short-term mission trips and appeals within the church for the congregation’s support for the overseas project can be seen as potentially fostering an understanding of the role of the church as one that reaches out to people beyond the UK. 5.9.7 Other Activities The church operates a Careers Builders ministry. Advertised events include an ‘Empowered to Expand’ session on starting a business. With this event costing £10 per person though, it would not be aimed at the lowest earners in the community. However, New Wine also offers free events, such as a career surgery, and even advertises some external job opportunities on its website The website’s Community Action section highlights a number of activities, some of which are current and some historical.90 The historical activities 90

http://www.newwine.co.uk/church/community-action (accessed 7 June 2018).

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noted include the participation in a food support programme in 2002, which raised £2,700 locally and the Mayor’s charity appeal of 2003, for which the church donated £2,500 towards support for those with cystic fibrosis. Ongoing work includes the annual Christmas hamper campaign, careers advice to more than 600 people, youth work with around 200 people aged 13–25 years old, a children’s summer club working with five local primary schools, ministry to inmates at Belmarsh prison and with ex-offenders, as well as support of the elderly through a befriending programme. Thus, it can be seen that social engagement continues in a sustained fashion. It may not be as extensive as other megachurches, nevertheless it is part of the life of this church in its local context. 5.10

New Wine Church: Summary and Emerging Themes

New Wine is a Pentecostal church that has added social engagement activities to its life and mission, and these are reflected in its use of community action labels, indicating a wider involement in the life of the local community. Nevertheless, there is still a focus on its internal life in terms of its own narrative. The mission of the church is to build up people in the Christian faith, so that they can be effective in whatever sphere of life God that has called them to live and work. They see their destiny as living in what God has provided for them and the church is called to discern what God has given each person, so that they can be used for the glory of God.91 There are a number of emerging themes that can be identified from the descriptions of these activities. First, once again, evangelism is central to the mission of the church. There is a desire for individuals to come to a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ as their saviour and this orientation permeates the social engagement activities. This not just about offering ‘sausages’ for breakfast, but ‘sausages and salvation’, since they are intertwined. Once again, we see a relational approach, where people are regarded as worthy of the love of God and given dignity. Their needs are understood and appreciated as points for prayer and their material needs are met as far as these are possible. But alongside this relation approach is also a proclamation one, as volunteers and leaders share the Christian message in an overt manner. There is no conditionality, but it is part and parcel of the ministries on offer. This priority on evangelism and conversion also feeds into the idea that it is largely through individual change that social 91 See http://www.newwine.co.uk/church/mission (accessed 7 June 2018).

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transformation will occur. This approach is best placed within a Pentecostal spirituality, which not only seeks conversions but charismatic experiences and miracles. In this manner, New Wine fits well within the patterns of African Pentecostalism found both home and abroad. Second, we have been struck by just how New Wine uses its physical location to present itself as very much part of the local community. Its building is strategically located for a high visible presence, contrasting kicc and Jesus House, and this has given the church greater public visibility. So, the Christmas lights event with carols by their choir, accompanied by speeches from local dignitaries and their pastor, raise the symbolic presence of this church in a way that is similar to a local Church of England parish. This is both interesting and significant. It suggests a degree of local acceptance that is important for both the church and the community. This form of embeddedness in their locale stands in tension with their national and global ambitions, which, while they are relatively small scale, suggests that there are growing aspirations to connect with and provide mission and ministry resources globally. This glocalised presence is perhaps an emerging model for megachurches in cities such as London. Third and finally, we notice again the role that volunteering plays in the life of the church. There is a clear means of recruiting volunteers, but, perhaps more importantly, there are two events at which volunteers are acknowledged publicly within the life of the church and rewarded for their service. While the number of volunteers (500) for the size of the church is impressive, it must be acknowledged that the numbers involved in social engagement activities appear to be much smaller, except for the Christmas hamper event, which requires many people for a short period of time. The numbers for some activities like the Saturday Church breakfast is inhibited by the available space and should the church expand its provision then more people are likely to come for breakfast thus requiring more volunteers. Therefore, practical constraints also play a factor. But it is worth noting that it would appear that the ‘engine room’ of corporate social engagement is the capacity to attract, train, retain and use volunteers in a sustained fashion. At New Wine it would appear that, despite its success in community embeddedness, the kinds of outward facing events are a smaller component in the overall volunteering profile of the church. 5.11 Conclusion These three very large African diaspora churches provide important communities of faith for Pentecostal Christians, especially Nigerians. In these

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c­ ommunities they can learn how to adapt to British culture among those who have already adapted and not only survived but flourished. Many of their members are from middle class families with sufficient wealth and job security to flourish in their new-found home. In this context, these three churches are finding ways of expressing their faith and engaging in social ministry activities. All three churches have developed avenues for connecting with their local communities through the usual social engagement activities found in other British churches, as noted above. However, it is interesting to observe that the identity narratives of two of these churches do not really focus on the reasons for social engagement. In their self-narrative of who they are and who they hope to become in their contexts, both kicc and New Wine church do not accentuate social engagement as part of their ‘brand’. kicc emphasises the idea of overcoming barriers and obstacles in order to prosper and be fulfilled. Social engagement is not prominent in the vision and values of the church. Similarly, New Wine focuses on personal discipleship and personal destiny within the purposes of God. Community action is visible but not given the same priority as other aspects of church life. It appears as though only Jesus House has embraced a fully integrated vision whereby social justice is linked to social engagement activity and presents an holistic vision of what it means to work towards the establishment of the kingdom of God from a Pentecostal perspective. Their range of activities supports their narrative in strategic ways, for example marketplace ministry and the project called ‘Salt’, which specifically considers civic engagement. The other two churches may well be moving in the same direction as Jesus House but, at least in terms of how they narrate their identities, they do not display the same level of social engagement commitment compared to that which is found displayed on the Jesus House website.

Part 3 Explanations and Implications

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Theological Motivations 6.1 Introduction In this chapter, we discuss one of the main objectives of our research project, which is to explore the theological motivations that influence megachurch social engagement. For us, theological motivations include the range of reasons that draw people into participating in these activities, as well as the organisational cultures and external factors that shaped megachurch programmes, including teaching and preaching regarding social engagement. These motivations are ‘theological’ because they relate to the faith of the person and of their Christian community. We listened to the everyday theologies of social engagement in all their diversity. In the first, and largest, part of this chapter we offer a description of the variety of ways that theological motivations were conveyed by churches and how our participants conceived of their own theological motivations. The second part of the chapter considers the findings in light of the theory of Godly Love, which has emerged in recent scholarship as a way of conceptualising altruistic behaviour among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. In this study, we explored the nature of theological motivations in three ways. First, within our interviews, we asked a range of questions to elicit responses regarding theological motivations. We tailored the questions to suit whether the participant was a church or ministry leader or a volunteer. Here is a list of questions we used within the interview on this topic. They are clustered according to areas of interest. (1) What motivates (drives) the church to be involved in social action ministries? (i.e. why do it?) What motivates you? (why do you do it?) (2) What do you think the Bible has to say about being involved in caring for the community? Are there any key biblical stories, passages, texts, ideas that you think are particularly important for motivating you? Are there other Christian books that have informed your understanding? Are there significant Christian people who inspire you? (3) What sort of teaching does the church offer about social action and how to get involved? How frequently are these kinds of issues addressed in the church’s preaching and teaching? What about your worship songs, do they contain any explicit material on social engagement? Similarly, do your children’s or youth programmes address this area? (4) Are the people of the church highly motivated to be involved in social transformation activities or is it difficult to get volunteers? Are

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people doing voluntary work outside of church? What motivates them? (5) What do you think the role of the church should be for the local community, London or the nation, and for members of the congregation? Usually the language used within the interview was more informal and conversational, and often responded to a statement that the participant had made. Essentially, we invited people to offer an interpretation of the connection between their faith and their involvement in social action in their own words in order to get a sense of their understanding of how motivations might be captured in emic terms. Second, we conducted a review of church publications, which included websites, leaflets, Facebook pages and church magazines. We paid particular attention to statements of vision and values as they were articulated by the church, or individual ministries and activities. Finally, as we have noted previously, we conducted participant observation at various church services. Through being there, we were able to observe first-hand how Sunday services could become a means of resourcing the theological motivations of the congregation. For example, we paid attention to how the Bible was used to explain a need for social engagement, in what ways invitations for volunteers to join particular social engagement ministries were communicated. We noted how prayer for social engagement activities within the worship service raised awareness of existing needs, and in particular the theological language used by participants. We also observed how testimonies of those whose lives had been changed through the ministries could serve to motivate a response. Additionally, we also conducted participant observation at various social engagement activities. At these sites, we could see people in action, and often people shared informally their reasons for serving and being involved. In this chapter, we demonstrate that it is important to listen to why people serve, not just how they serve. At a time when there is a concern about the level of civic volunteerism within wider British society,1 any insight into what motivates people to offer their energy and time for others is of vital importance. As we mentioned in Chapter 2, the 2005 Citizenship Survey showed that those who actively practise a religion were more likely to volunteer than others.2 We also noted Mohan and Bulloch’s study which found that the members of the British ‘civic core’ – those who contribute 90% of volunteering hours, four-fifths of the amount given to charity, and nearly 80% of participation in civic associations – are significantly more likely to say that they are ‘actively 1 Paul Whiteley, Political Participation in Britain: The Decline and Revival of Civic Culture (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). 2 Sarah Kitchen, Juliet Michaelson, Natasha Wood and Peter John, 2005 Citizenship Survey: Cross-cutting themes (London: Department for Communities & Local Government, 2006).

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practising their religion’, than those outside it.3 Clearly, people of faith make a significant contribution to society. We shall return to this question in the concluding section, but for now we turn to our findings regarding theological motivations for social engagement within the megachurches. 6.2

Description of Findings

In this section, we explore our data to discover more about why it is that people of faith volunteer and express their theological motivations through the praxis of church activities. 6.2.1 Church Activities Throughout our study, we discovered a huge variety of ways that churches promote social engagement activities. Indeed, we asked research participants about the activities of the church that were influential or at least intended to encourage people to join in with some form of service. 6.2.1.1 Preaching and Teaching It should come as no surprise that many church leaders spoke about preaching as a means of developing people’s theological motivations for engagement in social action. A church leader at All Souls explained ‘we want to be reflecting that practical outworking of the gospel in reaching and caring for others in preaching’. A ministry leader at All Souls extended this by saying, ‘[social engagement] is taught both explicitly and implicitly. Theologically, we have subscribed to the idea of integral mission. We try to bring the kingdom, the people of God to restoration, a holistic restoration. So, we teach that God calls us to serve, just as Jesus was a servant’. Another ministry leader at All Souls spoke about how the preaching advocates ‘whole life discipleship’, meaning that ‘this isn’t just a message for you on Sunday, this is a message for you Monday to Sunday. It matters not just for home life but also for work life and for when you are on the sports field and in the pub. So, it is not compartmentalising faith, it is a faith that impacts every area of your life’. In expressing these values, it would

3 John Mohan and Sarah L. Bulloch, ‘The Idea of a “Civic Core”: What are the Overlaps between Charitable Giving, Volunteering, and Civic Participation in England and Wales?’, Working Paper 73, (University of Birmingham, Third Sector Research Centre, 2012) http:// www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/documents/tsrc/working-papers/working-paper-73 .pdf (accessed 15 June 2018).

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seem that All Souls remains solidly within the vision expressed by John Stott and continues to be inspired by it. Although not articulating the idea in quite the same way, at htb leaders indicated that Sunday mornings were important for motivating social action. For example, a htb church leader explained that since the ‘transformation of society’ is part of their vision statement, and they preach about the vision frequently, then they are ‘talking about it all the time’. He said that social engagement is not seen as one part of what the church does, but it is integrated into everything the church does. For example, during the field research, a sermon at htb was based on several readings from the book of James. The basic thrust was that the poor have been chosen by God to be rich in faith in a way that wealthier people find difficult. The preacher said, ‘It’s not that the poor need the church, but that the church needs the poor. We don’t have the mentality of poverty and don’t realise our need. So, Christians should also show an interest in the poor’. He concluded by encouraging everyone to be involved in the work of the church with the poor in order to learn from them. Furthermore, a Curate at htb mentioned that educating people in the church about social needs is key to developing a sense of calling to get involved. This ‘education’ often came within testimonies that are shared within the sermon or as part of the worship service. The story would feature a volunteer who has seen an impact of the ministry upon a situation or would be told by a person whose life has been positively affected by the social engagement activity. All of the African Pentecostal interviewees spoke about the influence of their pastors in challenging them to think about ministry to others outside of the walls of the church building. For example, one interviewee from Jesus House said: And one pastor was preaching …, and he said one thing, he said: ‘ministry is about people, and that’s it’, and that to me was it. So for me what I am doing is about people … How do you treat people? Are you making somebody’s life better because whatever purpose you have I think it’s got to relate to people. I think that’s what Jesus will want us to do. So, for me whatever I do no matter how big or how small it goes to people … Another person from kicc referred to the vision articulated by Pastor Ashimolowo for the church to ‘Grow Up, Grow Big, Grow Together’ and how reaching out to the community was regarded as an outworking of that vision. ­Another person told the story of how an ex-prisoner from Pentonville prison came to kicc and was influenced by Pastor Ashimolowo’s message. He said:

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Last year, April, he came and he has not stopped coming. And once again I have seen total change in his life, even physical presentation everything, and he’s been doing really, really well as well because of the kind of messages that pastor Matthew preaches is to kind of inspire you and give you the hope that things can turn around if you really commit your heart to the Lord and do what God wants you to do, and he can use you mightily. So … that is two key people that I have seen recently really change and transform[ed] with the gospel of Jesus Christ and with me also putting in people to help them, you know, encourage them. [I] maybe speak to them once a week and, you know speak at church, maybe go for tea and coffee, you know, just that kind of friendship kind of evangelism … that we do, friendship and evangelism, and that’s been really, really kind of great. Yeah, that’s current people that we are discipling through their faith. Another noted the reinforcement of the message of self-betterment from Pastor Ashimolowo’s preaching: And even in my work there are things that I would never have thought I would have been able to do but because of the teaching in the house [kicc] and the way that Pastor Matthew always says that you can be the best that you are – you do the best, you be the best … even when you look in the Bible, that’s how Jesus was. He was excellent. He didn’t make it so that you have a regimented … like ‘do that, do this’. He inspired for you to do the best that you can. A further person notes that it was not just the preaching that was important but how the pastors model in their own ministry their compassion. She said: I think, in many ways, but there are too many things that we can do, and what I like is, like we’ve said before, kicc looks after the overall church but like Pastor Matthew looks after the widows in Nigeria, then I think if each individual, you know … I mean there is the ministry of kicc and … and I think if each individual is rising up and doing their own things, but yes I think there are many more things that we could do’. So, there is a sense in which the pastors both proclaim and model in their own lives the compassion of Jesus Christ and it is this which is imitated in the social engagement projects.

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Within the Pentecostal churches, sermons often mentioned the need to ‘bless’ others. Sometimes this teaching resulted in action from members of the congregation. For example, one participant from New Wine church spoke about how she had been ‘blessed’ with the ministry of a specific preacher, which had led to a real conviction that ‘we are supposed to meet people at the point of their need, we are supposed to minister the Gospel and God’s love to people, you know?’ These reflections caused her to stop and chat with a Polish homeless person that she encountered and buy him food. Indeed, a church leader at New Wine framed this service as obedience to the command of Jesus Christ. Explaining his work toward motivating people to ‘go out into the community’ he said that this was important because, ‘God said, “Go, if you are my disciples you’ve got to do what I say”. Not lip service. He said, “Go out and make disciples of all men [sic]”. Other religions are doing it very well, thank you very much. But we are so lethargic’. 6.2.1.2 Courses Both the Anglican churches use courses to resource their members, and leadership from both churches spoke about the courses as a means of encouraging social engagement. For example, at All Souls a church leader explained that, in his view, promoting social engagement is a matter of discipleship, and the church’s main medium for this is a course: We run a one-year discipleship course called Springboard. So, the idea is that if you are new to All Souls, if you have just become a Christian, that you would do that for a year. And one of the things that we want to do in that is to model good disciplines for a Christian life. So, meeting with others, praying with others, reading the Bible with others, but also spelling out some of the practicalities of discipleship, which are a key part of service. That might be serving tea and coffee for others at church or it might be getting involved in aslan, anti-trafficking or there are a whole bunch of different ways. So, we want to be helping people see that giving yourself to others is a key part of discipleship and Springboard is one particular way in which we do that. A ministry leader from All Souls notes that since the intention of Springboard is to equip people for service, and participants are clearly informed that the desired outcome is for them to serve and engage with the work of the church, this course is hugely influential in mobilising people. At the conclusion of the course, the different service areas hold open evenings so that people can discover more about them and the opportunities for involvement.

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htb, on the other hand, does not have a course that explicitly promotes social engagement. One member of htb explained that ‘there has been talk occasionally about some kind of course, because htb is good on courses, a course on social involvement or something, but I don’t think it’s ever quite taken root along those lines’. However, in one of the final weeks of Alpha, in a session called, ‘What is the church?’ the church is described as ‘the only organisation that exists for the benefit of its non-members’. A participant described the main message of this session as ‘the church is actually supposed to be outward focused and having an impact on society in whatever way. And, when we talk about that, we also talk about Connect groups, but we also say, “You may want to get involved with some of the other ministries that are going on within the church”’. A member of staff who frequently leads this session reflected: And I think this young generation wants to get practically involved and not just think about it. They want to serve food or visit prison, or help someone who has struggled with depression … So, I think my job is to give opportunities for people from the congregations to get involved. I don’t know what it might be that appeals, but here is a whole spectrum of different things that can be done to help … I think they just want to get involved, they are keen to change things. Therefore, it is clear that the church puts structures in place that both nurtures and channels emerging interests from individuals and enables theological motivations to develop. 6.2.1.3 Advertising Activities Indeed, making congregational members aware of the multiple opportunities on offer was a key means of inviting volunteers. At kicc they have a presentation for people who have newly joined the church. They present about thirty different ‘teams’ who serve in different ways within the church and the community. Afterwards, the teams have tables where new members can come and hear what they do. The idea is that every new member is invited to sign up to join a team. At All Souls they give notices, highlight service opportunities in church publications and use various media to notify people that they can get involved in social engagement activities. As mentioned above, the various ministries have open evenings so that people can go along and see what it is like, and discern whether they might like to join. At htb the service starts with a video called ‘htb News’ that explains what is going on in the church that week, what courses are starting and invitations to volunteer for a particular

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ministry. As mentioned above, htb services often include an interview with a volunteer, who shares what is happening within their area of service, as a means of recruiting more volunteers. One church member stated that it is ‘very powerful’ when people who have come off the streets, taken shelter in the winter hostel or been affected by the prison ministries are also interviewed within a service. She stated that this can be very motivating for people to volunteer. The church also produces ‘get connected’ leaflets that invite people to become involved in various church activities, including opportunities to volunteer. There can be challenges in terms of attracting the right kinds of people for the different tasks and all of the African diaspora Pentecostal churches advertise their social engagement ministries and try to encourage as many people as possible to volunteer. Systems are being developed to maximise the time and the talent that is on offer. For example, Jesus House now employs a centralised system, whereby people who offer to serve have their names and details pooled into a central group and they are allocated specific roles based on the need of the different ministries. Messages about the various needs can be sent to the pool as a group for information. Volunteers can negotiate their areas of service to a degree, depending on their interests and skill-set. This seems to work well enough because currently Jesus House describes the weekly volunteer number as 500 people for all of the tasks of the week’s work. 6.2.1.4 Spirituality: Prayer and Worship A church leader at All Souls spoke about how prayer for a ministry of the church can lead to motivation to get involved in some way. He explained: I think prayer on the one hand gives you more information, so it exposes the needs and that this is a good thing. So if you are asking someone to pray for something you are giving validity to it. You are saying this is important, a good way of expressing your Christian discipleship. That is one of the reasons why we pray regularly for world mission partners, because we want to be global Christians and we want to pray regularly for different ways to engage socially, so, this says that this is a good way of engaging. But also prayer is a key part of partnership. So, as you pray for a ministry area so you are also drawn into it. You are not praying to disengage; you are praying as a part of that ministry. Praying is part of the ministry, so you are drawn closer to it and that may mean practical involvement. I think in many ways that is a key way to communicate expectations of the Christian life. This idea was also illustrated within a church service at All Souls, the person leading intercessions one week praying that ‘we would be motivated by God’s

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love to seek the good of our society and that this would motivate us into political engagement’. A church leader at htb stated that the role of the leadership is to enable social engagement activities to flourish from within the congregation. The social action can start from the grass roots, which means the responsibility of leaders is to provide good teaching and to coordinate the new ideas as they grow. He explained that this is also evident through the songs that people write from within the church: But because the people who are writing the songs are part of the church, they are part of the congregation and hearing the sermons, hearing the teaching and the prayers, the home ministry, and the Spirit is causing them then to write songs – where there is an integration of our relationship with God, and a relationship with others, loving God and loving our neighbour. You know, for example, the parable of the Good Samaritan will be inspiring songs that we sing. And then, of course, that is very powerful, the worship itself, it is powerful in terms of people’s spiritual formation, part of their understanding that, yeah this is Christian discipleship, to love our neighbour to look out for others, to help where we can. A worship song writer and leader at htb explained that worship is fundamental to a congregation becoming outward-looking, because, like prayer, it entails an encounter with God that changes people. This transformative experience then fuels social action. He said: God hasn’t chosen us just to simply be nice to other people, it is out of our relationship with him, out of being transformed by him, that we have our greatest sense of call and compassion. And we are empowered as well to serve and make a difference. So, as I have always taught, it is worship first, service second. Or otherwise we tend to just be glorified social workers. He believes that the encounter with God in worship can give people a sense of hope that they can then take with them into wider society. He mentioned a couple of songs that he had specifically written in order to encourage a sense of linking God and justice in the world, motivating people to be active in wider society. Prayer and sung worship featured in abundance in the Pentecostal services, although these were not mentioned by the church leaders as a means of

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motivating members toward social action. However, bringing people into an experience of God’s presence and power was seen as having the potential to be transformative for people in need. For example, a woman from New Wine said, ‘[w]e are to minister in power, and I think when that comes and you touch people, usher in God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s presence, to those that are lost and those that are destitute and those that are sick and those that are … God can just change their lives’. In the context of the practices of prayer and intercession, it is very clear that all of the Pentecostal churches embrace a clear spiritual warfare paradigm. In this understanding the kingdom of God is at war with the kingdom of Satan, and the task of the church is to rescue people from the grip of adverse spiritual powers. This is a common understanding in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity generally and it is especially prevalent among African Pentecostalism because of its spirit-focused worldview. The main way that warfare is conducted in this understanding is via the practice of intercession, but also prayer walking and ‘spiritual mapping’. This approach was practised explicitly by New Wine and denotes the diagnosis of the spiritual state of a geographical area via spiritual discernment. One interviewee from New Wine explained how spiritual discernment was linked to research to understand the needs of the area and target prayer. Shops closed, boarded up, many things. But we prayer walked the place so many times before moving. We do this spiritual mapping of the place. We went to the archives, to the library to dig into various stuff from the background of this place and to know how to focus our activities. Prayer work and making provisions, all of these things that we are doing today: Christmas hampers, John Wilson pantry, stemmed from that very initial research. When we discovered that there are so many single parents, so much joblessness, so much downtrodden, young, teenage pregnancies, all sorts of things, then we formulated. All the programmes we are running now in church today stemmed from all those needs. We did a survey of about 2000 homes in this area and we said, ‘we are here to serve you’, and from that survey and that spiritual mapping of the area it became clear to us that we are meant to be truly meeting those needs, if we are to be relevant in this community. In many ways this spiritual warfare narrative underpins a lot of the theological discourse of African Pentecostals, even though it is not always expressed because of a misunderstanding of it by materialist western thinking.

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6.2.1.5 Creating an Environment Conducive to Social Engagement At all the churches, we found that leaders were aware of the power of shared meaning within a community. They knew that if they could build a culture of serving, then people would almost instinctively start to serve as they became part of the church community. One of the church leaders at All Souls stated, ‘About eight hundred people do different things on Sunday. When people arrive at All Souls we say, “You’ve got to be learning and you’ve got to be serving”. So, when they come, we ask, “What are you doing to learn and what are you doing to serve?”’ A ministry leader at All Souls described how modelling social engagement is even more powerful than preaching about it: We could have one sermon that says you should do this, and that is right and good, and we do do that. But at the same time we have six hundred people who serve the homeless. We will ask people to come to a prayer meeting and we will pray for the people from the front, and talk about what the homeless ministry is doing and the unspoken thing there is, ‘come, do it with us’. The question, ‘where do you want to serve?’ implies that service is the norm. We do it and it is part of the Christian life. I think a lot of it is caught as well as taught. The same was true at htb, where a member of the clergy observed that in London the younger generation seems to want to do something practical to help, not just talk about it. So, similar to the staff member noted above, he sees his role as providing lots of opportunities for people to become involved. He explains: ‘I say, “Just try it. You might think you wanna do it, but then you think you don’t, that’s okay. We’ve got the homeless shelter, or help on the night drop-in or go on the recovery course or help on a Sunday or just do something”’. A church leader at Jesus House spoke about how the church hopes that all of its members will be working to create ‘avenues’ that directs people to God. This avenue can take different forms, including giving financial advice, Christmas hampers or teas and coffees at the Tube station. He said, ‘But in order to help that decision or help that process for everyone, we try to provide as many opportunities to just let them know about this Jesus and the love he has for them. The fact that he was willing to send his Son to pay a price that was worth our death. But he died. And that for us, Jesus House is a driving force why we go into all of this’. From this quotation, we can see that the creation of ‘avenues’ of social engagement is expected of all members and is directly linked to evangelism. This was also true at kicc and New Wine, where the church leaders strongly encouraged members to ‘share the love of Jesus’, which included

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volunteering in church ministries as well as informal offerings of help in the local community. Furthermore, church leaders were aware that, in a megachurch, it can be difficult to build meaningful relationships because of the large numbers of people. But one church leader noted that people can also be encouraged to join a social action ministry because it will provide ‘a way of finding community’. Indeed, later in this chapter we will explore how volunteers at all the churches were aware that as they become part of the church community, they are socialised into serving. Certainly, we found evidence that all the churches aim to foster an environment that presupposes an engagement with social action. 6.2.1.6 The Church Vision Statement A church leader at htb said that they are very proactive in motivating people for social engagement: [T]he fact that it is in our vision statement and we talk about the vision statement frequently: ‘[t]he re-evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society’. So we are talking about it a lot and it comes into … it is just a part of what we talk about all the time. This was confirmed by a church member, who stated that encouragement to be involved in social engagement ‘comes through quite often in Nicky Gumbel, who is the leader of the church, and will quite often mention the vision, the ‘transformation of society’. It is clearly a part of the church’s agenda and you couldn’t come here for very long without knowing that, I think, as a statement’. A member mentioned that when the church has its annual ‘vision days’, the people are reminded to think critically about ‘what we are doing as a church’. In a ‘vision sermon’ Nicky Gumbel said: We are involved in the transformation of society. But it is not just us. We are one small part. But we play our part … Think what could happen with the seven thousand Alpha courses running across the country, people coming to Christ, being filled with the Spirit. What could happen in all the prisons, when people are mentored, family life, as people learn how to care for their children and improve their marriages. See what can happen in your lifetime. Don’t be overcome by the evil you see. It is nothing compared to God’s goodness. Jesus has won the victory on the cross, he is winning and he will win. And all the little acts that we are doing here in this church, the five thousand people who are probably in one of the services today, the ten to twelve thousand who are involved each month,

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who make things happen. Everyone praying, serving, giving, anointed by the Holy Spirit with power. Think what could happen as you go out in the power of the name of Jesus to see the transformation of our society. And the impact of our country being changed and that impact on the world. Don’t be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good, in Jesus’ name!4 One All Souls ministry leader spoke about how mobilising people for service works on two levels: discipleship and vision. He observed that All Souls needs to improve in the area of inspiring service through casting a common vision, rather than filling rotas. He said: I think we struggle here at the moment with no clarifying vision. That makes it very difficult here to get volunteers at the moment with what we do here because everyone thinks that it must be good, it is working with the homeless, it is working with the elderly, whatever, it must be good stuff, but it doesn’t inspire. And so we’ve got some gains to be made on vision and how we communicate vision and how these things that we are doing impacts people’s lives and makes the difference and how exciting that is. He noted that All Souls has no shortage of people interested in serving, but what is important is to help them see the ‘why’ of serving. He suggested that instead of people being referred to as ‘volunteers’, they could be called ‘serving partners’ or something similar, so that people see themselves not only as giving up their time, but as contributing to something that can make a real difference within their context. Only one person from All Souls referred to the vision statement when talking about the church’s social engagement activities, and that was the Rector. So, it would seem that the vision statement is not harnessed as clearly as it might be in terms of mobilising social action. However, this is not to say that the church is unaware of the importance of having a clear vision. One of the leaders of the student ministry said: I think the student ministry has a strong sense of purpose. There is a very clear vision. We articulated our vision statement together this summer. So, I’ve never really had a problem recruiting. I think that is partly down to the fact that people know what they are doing and when they are doing it and where we are all going. 4 21 September 2014 sermon at htb, based on Romans 12.21.

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At Jesus House the vision is ‘In pursuit of God, discovering purpose, maximising potential and impacting lives’. The ‘impacting lives’ aspect of the vision is further explained on their website as, ‘We are committed to practical Christianity, where our pursuit, purpose and potential are used to enhance the lives of others. Locally or in the international community, we desire to play our part in easing burdens on those less fortunate than ourselves’.5 In the Jesus House core values statement, the vision is defined differently: ‘a multicultural church made up of spiritually mature people of all ages living out their God-given purpose; a people who are passionate about social justice and committed to the spiritual transformation of society through the preaching of the complete message of Christ’.6 On the same webpage the values are defined and ones that are especially interesting in this context include: ‘I see a people that are radical about social justice with a heart for the poor, the underprivileged and the marginalised’, and ‘I see a church that advances the kingdom of God by serving its community, other churches and para-church organisations’. Jesus House is, therefore, different to the other two African diaspora Pentecostal churches by making social justice a key value in a public statement of intent. The other two churches do not highlight their social engagement as centrally as Jesus House appears to do. The vision statement of the kicc was not explicitly focused on a movement outward into service. However, these statements could be interpreted in this way, if needed. For example, a female leader at kicc said, ‘So the church’s vision is to “grow up, grow big, and grow together”. And that’s quite key. And it’s really to have a church without walls … So, everything we do ties into that. So, if you’re going to be a church without walls, if you’re going to grow up, grow big, grow together, how are you going to grow up if you don’t reach out? Because it’s the people in the community that are coming in. So, it’s about identifying the needs of the community’. Although New Wine does not have a vision statement as such, a document written by the founder, Dr Adeyemi, conveys his expanded vision for the church, which includes these statements: The church I see is relevant and practical in its outreach to society. A church that is answering the questions that people are asking. It’s a place where needs are met, where broken hearts are mended, and hurts are healed … It’s a church that settles social and political issues in prayer; and is not afraid to speak out boldly against social ills and injustices. The 5 http://www.jesushouse.org.uk (accessed 17 May 2018). 6 http://jesushouse.org.uk/our-core-values (accessed 6 June 2018).

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church I see is one of tremendous influence, whose leaders are regularly consulted by government on issues of policy before major decisions are made.7 6.2.1.7 Creating and Distributing Resources The ‘Bible in One Year’ [bioy] is the Bible reading programme that is published annually by htb and distributed electronically by a website, emails or an app. Every day there are three Bible readings, each with comments written by Nicky Gumbel. The comments on the text occasionally reinforce the call to show concern for other people. For example, commenting on Proverbs 19.17, (Those who are kind to the poor lend to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done) Gumbel writes: This is an extraordinary and wonderful promise. God is no person’s debtor. Every time you do something kind for a poor person, you are lending to the Lord and he will repay with interest … There are not many things in life that are more rewarding than ministry with the poor.8 A prayer in another subsequent edition of bioy encourages a person toward action: Lord, help us as a church to push ahead on all fronts. Help us to sow seed in every direction – through worship, prayer, leadership, discipleship, theological training, social transformation, evangelism, work in the prisons and with the poor and the marginalised. Lord, help me and help our community to make the most of every opportunity that you have given us. Help us to fear you and keep your commandments. Help us to use our influence for good and not for evil. Help us to make the most of every opportunity that you have put before us. Through this resource, Gumbel is able to articulate some of the theological motivations for social engagement, influencing the understanding of church members, and all who subscribers to bioy. In conclusion to this section, it is worth noting that church leaders were aware of the complex reasons for volunteering. A youth leader at All Souls 7 ‘The Church I see’ - http://www.newwine.co.uk/church/the-church-i-see (accessed 17 May 2018). 8 From bioy 8 Aug 2014.

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explained it is not enough for people to feel obliged to serve, they need to have a sense of calling to give up their time for this activity: Here, for example, it would be one thing within the youth work to have the volunteers come and run the football club but are they going to really give themselves to the kids in that football club and invest in them? I think too often we just sign people up and try the get them onto the rota and hope that someone is going to scrape together a half an hour and give it to us. Whereas in our discipleship it’s a character work. It is a much deeper thing that is going on to propel us out of ourselves and get into service and that will come from growing more deeply in the gospel. He saw volunteering as an act of discipleship, that emerged out of a deepening faith commitment. Another church leader spoke about how people are highly motivated within their social engagement activities because the ministries themselves grew out of people wanting to express ‘a form of the gospel’. Thus, these activities came into existence not as a church strategy that leaders passed on to their members, but instead they arose from people’s response to the gospel. Leaders were also aware that it was possible for motivational activities to overload people. Another leader from All Souls said, ‘The church is a volunteer organisation and you need to maintain energy and passion. But you’ve got to realise when someone is getting bitter or they just need a break. I do believe in just stopping something, just saying let’s give it a break for a bit and then we’ll see if we can kick it off again’. This tension was also felt at htb, as one volunteer said: There is a lot of talk here about what God has called you to do. Which for some people, I think, feels like a lot of pressure. ‘I don’t feel called, I don’t have a big talent, I don’t know what I’m called to do’. You are expected to be quite energetic in your action here, it’s not a passive, sleepy place. But you can see that there are plenty of people who come and go every Sunday that don’t participate in any of this. So, I think there is a core of htb, and then there are a lot of people that just attend. Therefore, we see that church leaders at times may have to stop ministries due to flagging motivation. We also note how leaders in these churches spoke about the core group within the congregation that is clearly motivated through a calling to serve, while a majority do little. The pressure exerted to encourage people to use their gifts for the sake of others may only produce actual

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volunteers in a minority of cases. However, church leaders are aware that talking about social engagement was not enough. For example, a senior leader at htb explained that motivation for social action comes from people themselves, as the Holy Spirit of God works within them, and this impulse is encouraged and resourced by leaders. So, people are motivated by God and then enabled by the church. For him, preaching and teaching is taking what the Spirit of God is already doing to transform someone’s life, and helping them to consider how this could impact others around them.9 6.2.2 Volunteers’ Motivation As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, we talked to volunteers in interviews or informal conversations during participant observation about what motivated them to be involved in their social engagement activities. We received a variety of answers and it was not unusual for a person to list multiple reasons. Below is an analysis of the most frequently mentioned theological motivations, starting from those most often mentioned and then descending in frequency. 6.2.2.1 Love for Other People By far, the most frequently cited reason for serving was that the volunteer wanted to demonstrate love for other people. A leader of one of the churches’ homeless ministries explained: ‘But the Christians just want opportunities to show and demonstrate God’s love, God’s abundant generous love to people’. This observation was confirmed in the words of church members. For example, an older member of All Souls who has been serving the church for decades spoke movingly about her ministry of hospitality. She said, ‘I think we are just inspired by our love for Jesus and we want other people to know it too … It is our love for people that motivates us to use our energies to bring people to know the Lord the same way as we do … There is something that God has built into us that means we want to be known and loved’. Particularly in the Pentecostal churches, it was clear that this love for people was linked to a mandate from God. For example, a volunteer on a Saturday ministry at kicc explained that she serves because she loves people and she sees it as her ‘assignment’ from God. ‘I feel like I want to see everybody coming in connection with God. I want to see people understanding that they don’t have to live a miserable life, and that, you know, there is hope, through Christ’. Additionally, a member of Jesus House spoke about how she felt a calling from 9 Certainly this assertion was corroborated in a sermon the same leader preached on 23 March on the Rich Young Ruler from Mark 10.

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God to be involved in community work. She explained her motivation: ‘I’ve always known that I had a heart for people. I love people. Regardless of colour. I don’t see colour a lot of the time. It’s just all about caring about people. I care about people. I have a heart’. Participants in all the churches were clear that conveying the love of God needed to take concrete expression. There was a strong sense that they could not just preach at people, because, in order for their message to be relevant, they had to meet their physical needs as well. One person from a Pentecostal church talked about how their Saturday soup kitchen was created to offset the patronising preaching that sometimes happened on the streets. A member of htb who was heavily involved in the prisons ministry said, ‘…it is hard to talk to someone about the love of God when he is standing in the rain and they are naked. You need to clothe them’. Another person from htb related this to his reading of the Bible, ‘Through the parable of the sheep and the goats (that’s not strictly a parable I know) it is those who know Christ, who were filled with God’s love, who instinctively and naturally reach out to those who are homeless or sick or in prison and so on. And then when Jesus says “You did this for me” they say “What? I had no idea”. Because this is the overflow of love from their hearts’. Along similar lines, a volunteer who helps with the homeless ministry at All Souls said, ‘And you can’t tell someone that God loves you and expect them to take any notice of you at all if they are cold and hungry. You have to help them. So, I want them to believe the gospel and I want them to believe that there is a God that loves them … Well, we have to show people what God’s love looks like’. Showing what God’s love looks like was deemed to meet people at their point of need. We found evidence that the participants believed that the experience of love was specifically responsible for helping people out of difficult situations. As one woman who coordinates homeless ministries at All Souls said, ‘Looking at the winter shelter, we saw 22 people rehoused out of the 44 that came to us, which is absolutely amazing. It’s because we are providing a stable base for people and a loving base for people. People from that can then enter jobs’. Another woman who has started ministry among women in brothels observed that just discovering that someone cared enough about them to bake them a cake has been life-changing for the women, because they are gaining a sense of value to conceive of a future outside of prostitution. As well as the practical benefits of experiencing love, participants believed that showing love also had eternal, or spiritual value. They believed that experiencing not just human love, but the love of God, would transform people’s current situations. A participant from New Wine explained that the gospel becomes the social action, because, for example, addicts who turn to God find

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help with their addictions, thus making them less dependent on the welfare system. She said: People would say well what about those who are addicted and who just gamble away their money for no reason? Well we need to be the light that they can see, to actually point out to them that what they are doing is ruining their lives, and there is something better out there. Because if they know Jesus and if they follow him, then there will be less of an addiction, in terms of focus on God and being who He wants you to be, and using your gifts wisely. So, you can change their lives around in that sense, and make them less dependent on society. Additionally, being convinced that God loves these people serves as a motivation for participants to reveal this love to them. At a training day for volunteers in the homeless ministry at All Souls, the speaker explained the aslan vision statement phrase ‘to manifest God’s love’ in this way: We are saying, ‘[w]e will declare the love God has given us for you, we will respond to your physical need and your spiritual need, we will love even though you do not love us, and though it costs us dearly, and we will be evidence for you that the love of God is life-changing. We will do this and can do this because God has poured his love into our hearts’. Similarly, at htb, a leader of the homeless ministry said, ‘I’m definitely interested in seeing people come to faith. That’s the key, the essence, to the why of life. So, without that relationship with God I think people are just wandering and lost … I’d love to see their lives transformed and changed and stuff but with the understanding that that comes from the inside and then it works itself outwards, as opposed to the other way around’. A man who became a Christian through the homeless ministry said, ‘It is people just loving you and showing you love. I kept coming back, and through that, coming in and being with people and being accepted as a person, I started changing’. Indeed, some participants viewed love as a Christian distinctive of their service. Here is how one person from All Souls describes how church-based social engagement can sit alongside the statutory services: aslan is intending to build deeper personal relationships with rough sleepers and vulnerably housed people, and to be consistent and to develop trust with those people over a number of years. We work with the services who provide much more short-term and focused services with

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an outcome. We are on the befriending, loving, family, spiritual side of things. We are very much the Christian end of homeless work. In contrast to the government’s professional assistance, the church can offer to love and befriend people. Another volunteer said, ‘And the government’s job is never to show love, but to show justice. And I think that the church is there to show love in society’. It is important to note that for all of the Pentecostal churches, their motivation to move others was rooted in the biblical examples of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, the imitation of Jesus is a striking theme that underpins the narrative of loving others. They love others and have compassion for others because of Jesus’ example and his call on his disciples to do likewise. In this sense, we detect that the heart of this ministry of love is a concrete re-presentation of Christ to those they meet and minister to, for the sake of the gospel. Their compassion, care, respect for human dignity and the reaching out to all people is regarded as unconditional. With respect to this imitation of Christ, one person from kicc put it this way: And that’s what I mean … Jesus is always the ultimate example. When he came he wasn’t so much into ‘you have to do this, you have to do that’. But it was more of help out a person. Don’t consider a person more than you would someone else just because they the dress that way …. Whatever it is, whatever that person is, they’re important to God. And if you say these are God’s people, then what better way to be that example, to be there … yeah, so it’s more of that’s what God would want me to do. And God is pleased, you know, yeah. Another person from kicc said: I think because, for me, it’s what is real Christianity … I don’t want to be a Christian within walls. Jesus wasn’t within walls; he was moving around and he was touching people’s lives. And I think … I am glad I am able to do things within the church but for me now, at the stage of my faith, I want to be able to reach people, bring them within the community … as far as possible. Because it’s what the Bible asked us to do: to go to the nations. And I want to be able to see, you know, to bring a smile to somebody who … has maybe never smiled within a week, or encourage ­someone who was maybe with no family, who was struggling with … addiction, and to tell them ‘you know, you can come out of it’… through prayers … You know, for me it has become a priority to make a difference within

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[the] outside. Because it is easy to go and encourage people who already believe in God and believe in the Bible, but then … it’s not about me anymore, it’s not about my immediate family but it’s the wider picture … I feel like I want to see everybody coming in connection with God. I want to see people understanding that there is hope, through Christ. So I think that’s the reason why, yeah, I am doing my best to follow what Jesus has done, and I pray every day and I … ask him to give me the wisdom, and the knowledge and the love, because of course you need love. Because if you don’t love people, why would I bother? 6.2.2.2 Encounter with God Leads to Service It is impossible to write about Christian love as a theological motivation without exploring how God’s love has been experienced within the lives of those who serve. The second most frequently cited reason for being involved in social engagement was in response to an experience of God. In answer to the question ‘what motivates you’ to serve, a woman from kicc said: It’s because the love of God that I’ve experienced myself … I came to a deeper understanding when I became born-again. God’s love. And that’s what compels me, if you understand. It’s like even when I feel really tired on Saturday mornings and I just want to roll back and go back to sleep [laughing], I just think ‘you know what? Somebody might be encouraged by my message. I’ve just to let somebody know that God loves them and cares for them. And even in the darkest point in your life, God is always there’. And we are just the ones that really need to reach out. And that’s what really drives me – it’s just that love, you know, because when you’ve experienced that power of God in your life and the love of God in your life, it just really compels you to give, to reach out and give it out. This experience was most often expressed as feeling loved by God and then wanting to share that love. Here is how one woman at All Souls describes her experience: So, I think that when we realise how much we are loved and we realise how powerful God is, how much love that he has for us, how much he has done for us and is doing for us and will do for us, God’s grace makes us generous. I think we see that even in the secular world, when people have a great day, they are probably kinder to people. And we have the greatest day of history and it often does and should make us kind. We want to love like we have been loved, we want to serve like we have been served, we

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want to show grace like we have been shown grace. So, on one level it is an emotional response to God’s grace. When one volunteer was asked why she serves, her simple answer was, ‘Because Christ died for me’. Indeed, she later suggested that the entire ‘wider church’ could do with reminding that Christ’s death is at the centre of the Christian faith, so Christians should be people who respond in gratitude by offering their service. ‘You cannot believe the gospel and separate it from society. That just is not the God or Christ of the Bible’. Indeed, a member of htb spoke about his motivation as located in a more complete knowledge of God. ‘For me, personally, it is about my experience of who God is, and the nature of God and his heart, and understanding that and getting myself and my heart aligned with him’. A woman from kicc explained, ‘But the love of God really makes you realise, because you see people from a different perspective … If you see people through the love of God it changes how you treat people, how you behave towards them … The way I react now is very different to the way I would react before’. For these participants, realising that God cares for people was not enough, their experience of God seemed to demand that they too needed to actively care for others. Many participants specifically cited their experience of conversion to Christianity as a turning point in their perceptions about social engagement. A young woman who volunteers with one of the All Souls homeless ministries said: I just felt really differently about the guys (guests of the homeless ministry) than I would have done before I became a Christian. Then, I was looking down on people, but now I found I had a really different attitude towards people. God had changed my heart. I think God just destroyed the preconceptions I had. I just saw them as human beings created by God and valuable. I think my eyes needed to be opened and my heart needed to change. A woman at htb described how her conversion and her call to serve the poor were linked: I had an encounter with Jesus … I started shaking and sobbing. And I heard Jesus say to me, ‘you will find me with the poor’. I now think that was his call to me. I gave my life to him. I think that that was one of the things that I loved about Jesus was that I realised, ‘my goodness, you are for everyone. You are for everybody’. It felt to me that, as a follower of

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Jesus, I should be for everybody, including people right at the bottom. And I suppose that was what attracted me, was that Jesus goes to that dark place, he goes into hell. So, therefore I was attracted to follow him there. People told us that after they came to faith, their focus moved from their own needs and onto a sensitivity to the needs of others. Indeed, one volunteer said, ‘[a]s a new Christian I just wanted to express love and I wanted to work out where I could serve’. Additionally, a woman who has coordinated a homeless ministry for more than ten years argued that the high levels of motivation that she observes are distinctive of Christians. She said, ‘Christians feel called to do it. The ones who really persevere and are committed are the Christians. We also have a massive flow through of non-believers who just stay for one or two sessions’. A number of respondents spoke about how their service after conversion was located in a sense of obedience to the call of God. For example, A woman from kicc said, ‘I feel God is leading me to work with vulnerable children, abused children. That’s where I feel my calling comes from. I can’t explain … you just know. It’s the things that if you had twenty-four hours you could do from morning to evening. It’s an indication of where your passion lies. So I’ve been involved in children’s activities and helping children, and things like that. It’s God-given …’ Similarly, a woman who volunteers at htb said, ‘I think that since I became a Christian I am just aware of wanting to fulfil what Jesus has asked us to do, wanting to love people that are otherwise excluded and left out’. A church leader noted that it is not that God demands this response of his converts, but that he helps people into positions of service. He said, ‘God hasn’t chosen us just to simply be nice to other people, it is out of our relationship with him, out of being transformed by him, that we have our greatest sense of call and compassion. And we are empowered as well to serve and make a difference’. 6.2.2.3 Sharing the Gospel Message After mentioning being motivated by love and encounters with God, participants frequently spoke about their service as a means of sharing the gospel. Faith sharing was seen not as an optional extra, but instead as the core service being provided. For example, this community youth worker at All Souls said, ‘So I believe that the best thing for all the youth is to come to know Jesus. Full stop. And that will accomplish for them a change in life, it will improve their life and then that will have an impact on the rest of their friends in the area …. Of course, it is still good and proper to be helping out these kids even if they

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never become Christians’. Indeed, his words highlight a tension between evangelising and serving. As we mentioned in Chapter 4, the Anglican leaders of the ministries were careful not to make any of the services on offer conditional upon the clients engaging in faith-based activities. The services were freely offered, and opportunities to participate in Christian activities were extended but not required. One of the leaders at the htb homeless ministry explained how Christian social engagement differs from non-faith based: I know that our motivation might be slightly different. Our motivation would be to love them, guide them and of course as Christians, you know, we believe in salvation through Christ. So, for instance, we offer here Bible study. And it is not just about feeding them and passing them on, we have the opportunity for them, without shoving it down peoples’ throats, to hear the gospel. The main point is that being a witness to the gospel was a key motivator for even doing the social engagement activity in the first place. Another example is provided by a woman who runs the parent/carer and toddler groups at All Souls. She explained: And I suppose that our motivation is winning opportunities to make these friendships and from that, if there are people who are interested in the faith, that we will be able to share it with them and bring it to them … I wouldn’t do it if it couldn’t be a witness. I would still think it was a good thing, but I wouldn’t do it if we couldn’t be overtly Christian and make the most of our faith. The Pentecostal churches also encountered this tension, but we observed that the services offered very openly and prominently featured some form of gospel sharing. For example, one of the women from Jesus House who is involved in the ministry to deliver Christmas hampers spoke about the two aspects of this ministry: to meet the need for food, and to talk to people about God’s love. She said: We didn’t just release the hampers to them because the aim is to talk to them … It’s also about helping to feed their need, talking to them about a change of lifestyle, and just basically getting them to know that ‘God loves you. There’s somebody there who does love you, who does care about you’. And that’s the whole essence of this whole thing.

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However, it is important to note that faith sharing included listening to others. A woman who volunteers with the homeless unit at kicc said: They’ll sit down and talk to them one-to-one. Then we go in the evenings and feed them, you know, so they can visibly see that the church is doing something, you know, because otherwise people will say ‘yeah but you don’t understand us, you don’t know what I’m going through, you don’t know what my needs are, you don’t understand the desperation’. But we do because Jesus does understand that desperation and it’s important that we are in tune and we are seen to be sensitive to people’s needs. Thus, listening, serving and preaching were all components of the services on offer. For all the churches, not only was the opportunity for sharing their faith crucial to the motivations of those involved, but many also believed that the services themselves were a expression of the gospel. For example, one volunteer stated: I think there is a sense that part of our witness is not just speaking the words, but also actually demonstrating what we believe to be true. So, if he is Lord of all, then we have to work that way. Also, God cares for people, so we go in and we work for the benefit of others, we work to serve the greater good. Because that then reflects our theology. Here we see that faith sharing is seen to be happening not only explicitly, but also implicitly within the very activities themselves. Another volunteer observed: ‘And the practical needs are very important. Again, it is not just the preaching and the teaching, it is the way we serve and the way we practise our faith in our daily lives’. This means that faith sharing and social engagement were so closely intertwined in the motivations of participants, that they were almost indistinguishable. One church leader explained that social action is ‘the natural outworking of the gospel and it is, in many ways, it is the gospel. So we don’t see it as one part of what we do – it is integrated into everything we do’. When we spoke informally with the people who benefit from the social engagement activities we observed, we found that they were aware that people’s faith was motivating their service. One homeless man said, ‘They do it because God tells them to’. Another person said, ‘I did not believe that young people would give their time to this until I saw it with my own eyes. It is their faith’.

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For the Pentecostal church members, evangelism is also part of the central motivation for social engagement. There is a desire to ‘save souls’ for the kingdom of God, because the spiritual need for salvation is regarded as the ultimate need of every single person. In this view they are following the great commission to preach the gospel to all nations, and sowing the seed of the Christian message is at the forefront of their understanding. As a corollary of this spiritual need and provision in the gospel is the view that individual transformation flows from this spiritual change. Without this spiritual change other kinds of healing and human flourishing are inhibited. It is the key means of self-betterment because once a person is converted then they are able to access the riches of heaven for the sake of themselves and others. Thus, it is also linked to the prosperity gospel as well. Positively, it means that spiritual changes are viewed in a holistic fashion and integrated into the Christian life and thus have an impact on other areas of life such as relationships, family, work and business. In this way, individual transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit is regarded as the main way in which society will change for the better. One person from New Wine put it this way: I say … our priority should be God, right? But [it is] not, because we are supposed to do all those things in terms of outreaching socially and meeting people’s needs and particularly those who are broken, particularly those who are destitute, yes? But at the same time, ministering to them Jesus, ministering Christ to them … I just believe if actually we, in the church, would give the gospel free reign, because we restrict so much ourselves. And I am saying that, me going out for evangelism once a year, what is that? But that is what we are supposed to do. I think the two go hand in hand, and that we are to minister in power, and I think when that comes and you touch people, usher in God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s presence, to those that are lost and those that are destitute and those that are sick and those that are … God can just change their lives. For the African diaspora Pentecostal churches, this focus on individual transformation was also aligned with a broader missionary motivation often associated with the idea of ‘reverse mission’. A number of interviewees lamented the state of the UK nation in terms of its religious health. The view was expressed a number of times that Britain had lost its Christian identity and, therefore, part of the social engagement agenda was to express a Christian voice in the public square and challenge the lapse in the moral character of the nation. The view was expressed that government authorities were failing their own people and this was evident in the degree of social need in the country. So, the social

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engagement is a way of belonging to the local community, forging relationships and partnerships for the common good, as well as acting as ‘salt and light’ in society. In particular, it was expressed that the larger bmc churches have an opportunity because of their profile to raise up the ‘Black voice’ on behalf of their constituency and this means being visible, making relationships, and engaging with politicians and dignitaries on occasions. When linked to individual conversion this is also regarded as a key motivation for social engagement, and could be construed as a theo-political motive although it is framed within a theological and missiological narrative. It can be most detected in the public discourse of Jesus House, although it is also present at kicc and New Wine. kicc is still concerned by the way that the media has treated it in recent years and so there is still some wariness towards them. There is a sense of marginalisation, despite its size and influence in the African migrant community. 6.2.2.4 Socialised into Serving In the first section of this chapter we discussed how church leaders aimed to create an environment conducive to service. This strategy must have had some success, because several church members spoke about it. For example, a volunteer at All Souls told us about why she serves, saying: ‘[s]ometimes it is a relational response, so you join the church and the church wants to be a blessing in the world and serve the community and wants people to get to know God and we find ourselves swept along in doing this, we become part of the community that is a serving community, and a missional community’. Another volunteer at All Souls said, ‘[b]eing included challenges you. Church can only be about Sundays. But as you hear about other people doing things you want to get involved’. One young man who volunteers with the homeless ministry at All Souls explained that when he was new to the church, and wanted to get to know other people, joining the team was a good way to meet them, as well as to fulfil a desire to help with the homeless situation in London. Another volunteer spoke about how the climate of the church made it almost impossible for her not to join in: ‘[i]t seemed wrong not to. It always seems wrong not to help homeless people. And when the church has set in place a structure to make it easy for me to serve homeless people, once I found out about it, I was failing in my duty until I signed up’. We observed a similar phenomenon at htb, where one volunteer spoke about serving others as something that becomes ‘instinctive’ within a socially engaged church community. A congregation member described it this way: I think people have a natural desire to do something to better their world and society. And I think that what htb is good at is giving people the

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opportunity to do that. Giving people very high-quality ministry opportunities, and making them accessible to the congregation. They are brilliant at having a smorgasbord of things, a wide variety of different things that people can get involved in, from counselling to social action to mission to Alpha. Another volunteer at htb spoke about how being in this environment encouraged him to get involved: I was just chatting this morning to a guy, he has been an alcoholic, he nearly died from over drinking, it was a complete mess, but there he was at church, volunteering and serving and was preaching at another church the day before, he is about to get married and he is totally alive. And when you hear these stories, you think, ‘Do you know what? This stuff works. And actually, I want to get involved’. It’s almost like, I don’t want to miss out. And so I think you can get a real momentum, and you can have a real impact, and you can mobilise people to really serve. For him, an advantage of being in a megachurch was the sheer scale of all of the social engagement activities that were on offer, which seemed to build up ‘momentum’, giving people the sense that they can really make an impact in their social context. This was also true in the Pentecostal churches. A volunteer from New Wine who is involved in helping people in need of clothes, and those who struggle with addictions, explained that being part of a large church can be motivating. So, it is just the little things we can do to make a difference in our world. So, we have got a lot of little things that we can do really. We can start small, we don’t have to start big, we can just do the little things. And if you are a bigger church society, doing little things here and there, it makes up to the … little drops of water make the oceans, so it makes up a lot. A woman from kicc who is involved in several social engagement ministries said, ‘kicc is also involved in community things on a corporate level and that’s also encouraged on a personal level. Yeah, and it encourages me to assess myself and to ask exactly what impact am I making to my local community and to the community as a whole’. Thus, there was a sense among the Pentecostal churches that doing a small thing is still of immense value, not least because

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in a megachurch, a lot of small acts adds up to a huge impact. Certainly, the Pentecostal churches were also sites of socialising people into volunteering. For example, a woman explained that being part of the church enabled her to look beyond her own interests and show concern for others. ‘So, I think this is what New Wine excels in really, is around the seeing beyond ourselves. The hampers like we have said, the money, like when I give offerings, I usually put on there the children’s orphanage in India…’ What is interesting is that the giving can be designated for something specific, an orphanage in India, as she mentions, or a home for people with leprosy or other charities. This then means that the giving is individualised, linked to the ‘heart’ of the person donating money. Thus, the small act again joins to the corporate initiative to add up to a large-scale activity. We have outlined above the main motivators for social engagement as articulated by the participants. There were other factors that are worth mentioning in brief. A few participants spoke about how they arrived in London with a desire for activism in the social sphere, and the church provided a mechanism for it. Although people expressed that they were not entirely sure what constitutes a ‘local’ community in London, still some talked about how they are concerned about their community, and saw volunteering as a way of helping other less fortunate than themselves. A few people spoke about how serving others is quite fulfilling, and this helps them to carry on when it becomes difficult. When asked why they are involved in social action, some quoted scripture verses and a few even referred to sermons. What is quite telling about these findings regarding theological motivations is that God is seen as being very active within and among all the social engagement activities. He provides the impetus for people to become more engaged in service. For example, a young woman who volunteers at All Souls said, ‘As God changes us, we become the people we are made to become – more like God, who loves to give and is generous and selfless. I think that can be a huge gift to London or wherever’. Another individual, reflecting on personal motivations, said, ‘it’s difficult to know how much of this is me and how much is of God’. Furthermore, in the minds of our participants, God does not limit his concerns to what happens in church, he himself is seen to be acting in and encouraging people to get involved in the public sphere. As one woman said, ‘[God] doesn’t just judge what goes on in the temple, he judges what goes on in the marketplace and the courts and things. So, he cares about those things’. The call to get involved was not from a distant God who instructs his people to do good, but instead was borne out of the example of God incarnate, Jesus Christ, through his example of service to humanity. As one volunteer pointed out, ‘The model of Christ is that like him we serve those around

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us and we are here for his glory and his purposes. There is no fancy stuff, no complications, that’s what we’re here for and that’s what we go back to when things get annoying and frustrating’. We also saw that volunteering sometimes led into full-time service. People in a variety of industries and professions in London told us about how, after they became Christians, they started volunteering at their church, and eventually changed their careers, either through church charitable work or social services. A woman from kicc explained that her experiences of volunteering with the homeless ministry led her to change careers and become a Support Housing Officer. Indeed, the experience of volunteering served to give people the option to test whether God’s call was to be fulfilled within their workplace and through volunteering, or whether an entire change of career path might be appropriate. We spoke to an architect who became the manager of a network of homeless ministries, an actor who now leads a homeless drop in centre, a city banker who now leads a debt relief centre, a photojournalist who leads a ministry to addicts, a food manufacturer who is now managing a foodbank and an audio engineer in the events industry who is considering a future in the social care professions. 6.3

Theorising the Findings

In the previous section, we reported our findings regarding the methods churches use to inspire members toward social engagement, and then what motivations actually led people to serve in some capacity. However, it is worth noting that the church leaders placed a good deal of emphasis upon preaching and teaching about social engagement as central components of their means of motivating people for social engagement. But we see that people reported that their primary driver for social engagement was actually related to an experience of God’s love and wanting to share this love somehow with others. Of course, the teaching, preaching and resources were most likely a part of this, enabling people to make connections between their experience and the opportunities that the church was providing for social engagement. But it is telling how rarely these methods are mentioned by volunteers. 6.3.1 The Theory of Godly Love In recent scholarship there has been an interest in the social ministry of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. These more socially-minded Christians have been termed ‘progressive Pentecostals’, which is perhaps something of a misnomer since most Pentecostal and Charismatic

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Christians are theologically and ethically conservative rather than liberal.10 As part of the Flame of Love project sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, a team of sociologists and theologians explored the nature of altruism among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. Since many of these groups engage in social ministries and are motivated by their beliefs, values and experiences, it is worth considering whether this particular theoretical model provides a framework for conceptualising the theological motivations of megachurch members in this study. In order to assess whether this conceptualisation proves to be fruitful, it is necessary to explore the way in which this theory has been described. At a basic level this theory of altruistic behaviour suggests that for these Christians the motivation for social engagement is based on a fundamental relationship of both experiencing God’s love for the individual in their respective faith communities and an expression of that love for one’s neighbour as part of one’s love for God. It is a dynamic interaction between the person who experiences divine love and responds both to God and others by means of benevolent action. In this multi-layered interaction, there is an energy produced, which is constantly being produced and re-produced by means of loving, social interactions from within the religious community and expressed to those outside of it. This theory draws on the work of the sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, who considers the nature of this Godly Love in terms of (1) intensity, by which is meant the costly nature of the love expressed in terms of selflessness; (2) extensity, which refers to the range of people who receive this benevolent attention and can range from family and friends to complete strangers in a far-off country; (3) duration, refers to the manner in which benevolence is expressed over time, that is whether it is sustained or a ‘flash in the pan’; (4) purity denotes the self-centredness of the action and whether the agent of benevolence is engaged for their own benefit and to what degree; and (5) adequacy refers to the consequences of benevolent action and whether they produce desirable or undesirable, if unintended, consequences for persons and communities receiving the acts of benevolence.11 Matthew Lee, Margaret Poloma and Stephen Post, as part of the Flame of Love project, focused on the idea of love energy constructed by Sorokin and conceptualised a model of godly interaction, which has potential for understanding megachurch social engagement as well. Godly Love is defined as ‘the 10 11

See Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007). Pitrim Sorokin, The Ways and Power of Love: Types Factors, and Techniques of Moral Transformation (Radnor: Templeton Foundation Press, 2002, orig. 1954).

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exemplars

collaborators

beneficiaries

Figure 6.1 The diamond model of Godly Love

dynamic interaction between divine love and human love that enlivens benevolence and allows for “remarkable self-forgetfulness in the agent”’.12 It is the human response to the perception of divine love that influences experiences, relationships and behaviour towards others. In this model, there are a number of interactions, which generate the energy and contribute to its expression. These interactions are theorised as existing between God, exemplars (significant leaders), collaborators and beneficiaries. The nature of this set of interactions has been expressed diagrammatically in terms of what has been called the ‘diamond model’.13 See Figure 6.1 above for a representation of this dynamic interaction. Cartledge adapted the diamond model for his study of Pentecostal family socialisation, which was helpful for highlighting the interplay between the different actors within a congregation.14 Along similar lines, and given the outward focus of this particular study, it could be suggested that ‘exemplars’ is best translated as ‘ministry leaders’, which includes a variety of both ordained and lay leaders in the churches studied. Collaborators should be conceived more precisely as church-related ‘volunteers’ since much of the data gathered in this study has involved the experiences of those volunteering in social engagement. 12

Mark J. Cartledge, Narratives and Numbers: Empirical Studies of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity (Leiden: Brill, 2017), p.141; Matthew T. Lee and Margaret M. Poloma, Social Filters of Godly Love: A Sociological Study of the Great Commandment in the Pentecostal Context (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009), i; Margaret M. Poloma and John C. Green, The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism (New York: New York University Press, 2010) p. 103. 13 Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma and Stephen G. Post, The Heart of Religion: Spiritual Empowerment, Benevolence, and the Experience of God’s Love (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). 14 Cartledge, Narratives and Numbers, pp. 143–144.

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6.3.2 Discussion Revisiting our findings through the lens of this adaptation of the Godly Love diamond model, we find common themes between the five churches, as well as rather different descriptions of godly interaction. Below, we look at each of the four key players in this dynamic relationship: God, Ministry Leaders, Volunteers and Beneficiaries. We draw out the similarities and differences between the five churches. All Souls could be said to sit within the Conservative Evangelical tradition of the Church of England, whereas htb is identified as a Charismatic Evangelical church. New Wine, Jesus House and kicc will be considered together since there were strong similarities across the three Pentecostal churches in terms of their descriptions of godly interaction. Therefore, the key question for this section is, do these different traditions engage in social engagement with different rationales in mind? 6.3.2.1 God and Jesus Christ These traditions recognised that God is active in all of the social engagement activities. The churches used times of prayer for the support of a ministry as a means of drawing people into that ministry and offering practical involvement. It was commonly believed across all the churches that it is God who calls people to serve others. However, at All Souls this notion of the calling of God was considered a divine command, meaning that often service was spoken of as an act of obedience to God. This was also true of the Pentecostal churches, where there was a strong sense that service and witness was about reflecting the command of Christ. As a woman at New Wine puts it, ‘Jesus said “Go and reach out to all nations”, so if we sit there and just take it in and do nothing about it you’re not reaching out’. The motivation to imitate Jesus Christ was pervasive in the Pentecostal data. It is not just a general theism, which is present, that drives this motivation but a genuine desire to be as Christ to others, empowered by the Holy Spirit. In other words, this call was perceived as aligned to an anointing to serve others as given by the Holy Spirit. A participant from New Wine explained that not only does God tell Christians to help others, he gives them the power and authority that they need through Jesus Christ. As noted above, the discourse is not exclusively Christocentric, so at htb this calling from Christ was characterised as a response to an experience of God through the Holy Spirit, which invites a person to join with God’s work to transform society. The songs at htb expressed an integration of relationships with God and neighbours. Times of sung worship at htb, typical of churches touched by Charismatic Renewal, were considered to be powerful times for spiritual formation and fundamental to assist the congregation to be outward looking. The leadership believed that it was out of that relationship and transformation

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by God that people derived a compassion for others. Thus, at htb we see God characterised as an embracing God, while at All Souls he was seen as a ‘calling God’ worthy of obedience, and the Pentecostals stressed the importance of representing Christ to the city through acts of compassion and love. 6.3.2.2 The Role of Ministry Leaders Within the Pentecostal churches there was a greater separation between church leadership and volunteers. Leaders often initiated the various service opportunities, and then aimed to populate them with volunteers through motivating sermons. This approach was not dissimilar to the genesis of All Soul’s main social engagement ministry, aslan, which, as we have recounted, was started by their visionary leader, John Stott. In both these traditions, informing and motivating for social engagement happened through preaching. However, at All Souls, leadership is also engaged in discipleship, which sees service offered for others as a natural outworking of discipleship. The aslan vision statement speaks of manifesting the love of God and proclaims that ‘God has poured his love into our hearts’ (Romans 5.5). By promoting this vision statement, the leadership is explicitly supporting the connection between God’s love and social engagement activities. However, at htb we saw that many social engagement ministries were started from the grassroots. People affected by some societal concern, be it bereavement, eating disorders, homelessness, etc., gathered with others who shared their concerns. After a time of prayer and discernment, with the support but not direct involvement of leadership, they started a ministry. Certainly, this does not mean that the leadership was not involved. In his annual vision sermon, Nicky Gumbel spoke about overcoming evil with good as he reminded the church of their calling to the re-evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society. His Bible in One Year promotes social engagement as a natural outworking of personal transformation. Additionally, song-writers as leaders seek to engender an outward looking stance because worship songs enable an encounter with God, which fuels social action, which comes out of worship. Thus, the progression is worship first, service second, which in turn gives a sense of hope, motivating and sustaining social engagement. Additionally, the leaders of the Pentecostal churches were adept at consistently promoting a set vision, and often applying this to social engagement. Most of the churches held open days whereby new members were invited to explore the possibility of volunteering in some capacity. At htb, Alpha has a session toward the end called ‘What is the church?’ where it is described as an organisation that exists for the benefit of others. At All Souls, Springboard involves encouraging people to explore service as an outworking of their discipleship. Across all of the traditions, we found that

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ministry leaders

volunteers

beneficaries

Figure 6.2 The diamond model of Godly Love Revised

ministry leaders sought to facilitate their members to encounter God in some way and to equip them to respond. See Figure 6.2 above for a representation of this revised dynamic interaction. 6.3.2.3 Volunteers As we have seen, volunteers recounted how they were, at times, socialised into serving. The vision was explained through preaching, courses and prayer sessions, which created an environment in which service became an aspect of shared meaning within the community. People spoke about their church having a ‘culture of service’ and this was indeed evident. Certainly, public testimony regarding the efficacy of a particular ministry was recounted as being significant for those choosing to volunteer. People could see and hear stories of their ministry leaders making a difference in the lives of others, and certainly these stories contributed to a narrative of ‘empowerment for service’. A number of volunteers brought their previous experience of volunteering into their new churches, while many others were either allocated new service roles or negotiated them. It is clear that all of these volunteers were highly motivated by their faith to engage in social ministry, and this motivation came from an internalisation of their faith commitments as well as encouragement and opportunity. In the light of this discussion, we would suggest modifying the diamond model as reflecting the way in which Godly Love is practised among the megachurches studied. 6.4 Conclusion To conclude this chapter, it is important to note that we are dealing with two very different types of Christianity and yet there are commonalities. The Evangelical Church of England churches with their relationship to the state via their

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formal establishment structures and parish system are very different to the Nigerian-led African diaspora Pentecostal churches. There are very many cultural and structural differences between them, as well as theological ones. For example, the Church of England churches do not preach a prosperity gospel, perhaps because they do not need to do so since most members are economically well off. It does not fit with their wider theological and cultural ethos. They are not largely catering for migrants seeking to make a new life in the UK, even if they engage with many international people living and working in a global city (these issues will be explored in the next chapter). Nevertheless, it is clear that all of these churches are seeking to ‘bless the city’ with the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if they express this intention somewhat differently. Importantly, they regard this ‘blessing’, a sharing of the good things of the kingdom of God, as intrinsically transformative for individuals and communities that make up the global city of London. There is a desire to express the love of Christ, out of an experience of love that they themselves have received and continue to receive via the community to which they belong. For these Christians, it is impossible to split off their faith commitments and place them in a ‘private’ box for Sunday. Rather, it permeates and infiltrates every area of their lives, even if they need to make adjustments in specific contexts because of the perceived secularity of certain public spheres. There is certainly a concern about being misrepresented by those in authority and especially the media. They understand that their kind of Christianity is often portrayed as more than weird and wonderful, and yet there is still a commitment to serve others. The adaptation of the diamond model of Godly Love suggests that the four components of the divine (or the perception of the divine), the significant other or leader, the collaborator or volunteer and the beneficiary are important agents for Pentecostals, Charismatics and Evangelicals. Of course, we could make the model even more complicated by introducing the spiritual warfare theme, which often frames the Pentecostal discourse, but this is less evidence in Evangelical Anglicanism even if it is certainly present (and more so among Charismatics than Conservative Evangelicals). But, for the sake of simplicity in terms of this model, it remains a background rather than a foreground theme. Nevertheless, it emerges again as part of the discussion in the next chapter. This conceptualisation has implications for our understanding of theological motivations. It means that motivations, while clearly internalised and shaped by individual thinking, are shaped and sustained in the community of the megachurch and their networks. Motivations are also reinforced by the actual social engagement activity because many of those interviewed stressed the strengthening of their commitment through face-to-face engagement with

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people on the ground. It is the actual ‘nitty-gritty’ of this work and the desperate circumstances of individuals that also generates motivation. Overall, theological motivation as a concept cannot be isolated but must be seen in a rounded and interactionist manner. The significance of this research suggests that for most of these Christians, they bring their whole selves into relationship with others in need. Their desire to build relationships flows from a desire to bless others and not hurt them. It is connected to an understanding that only the gospel of Jesus Christ will ultimately ‘save’ these beneficiaries both in this life and the life to come.

Chapter 7

Globalisation and Social Engagement 7.1 Introduction In this chapter, we consider the idea of globalisation in relation to megachurches in London. We also ask: how do the theological motivations noted in the previous chapter look in the light of globalisation? Megachurches themselves are often seen as both a product of globalising processes and contributing to them. They are embedded in many of the ideas that we associate with globalisation such as the marketisation of religions, the movement of people, the blending of cultures and tensions that these processes bring. It is also the case that Pentecostals have been understood as a global expression of Christianity, similarly with its own expansion and flow of ideas and people. In many ways, the global link between megachurches and Pentecostalism is unavoidable, even though not all megachurches are Pentecostal the similarities are striking. In this chapter, we consider the theory of globalisation and trace some of its important contours. This is not an extensive exploration of the subject but seeks to distil some of the key ideas for the sake of our discussion. This theoretical account is then brought into sharper focus by reviewing some of the main literature that has considered globalisation and Pentecostalism. We sharpen the focus even more by reflecting on how megachurches in particular express globalisation characteristics and contribute to its processes. After laying this ground work, the chapter then brings these perspectives into conversation with a discussion of the five case studies of this book and asks in what ways these churches reflect globalisation features in their self-understanding and identity. Two different models of ministry are proposed based on this analysis, one for the African diaspora Pentecostal churches and one for the Anglican churches. Finally, we reflect on the significance of globalisation for megachurch social engagement and discuss what this particular lens illuminates when used in this way. 7.2

Globalisation Theory

The theory of globalisation is one that is complex, contested and debated and covers many inter-related areas.1 Nevertheless, the notion is used in both 1 For example, see Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (eds.), The Globalization Reader (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 5th edn., 2015). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_008

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­ opular and academic discourse, providing an analytic perspective for underp standing the world in which we live today, but should not be simply understood as either capitalism or westernisation.2 At a basic level, it refers to the idea of compression of both time and space and the increasing awareness that we all belong to a single place.3 This complex connectivity has a number of different dimensions to it, including financial, economic, technological, cultural, political/democratic and religious ones. Nations and institutions are now integrated in ways that would not have been thought possible only decades ago.4 Economic transactions can occur within moments between people on different continents. Business decisions can be made by means of satellite telecommunications, enabling a sense of immediacy. People are transported via air travel within hours and days, covering vast amounts of distance with relative ease and comfort, and mass travel has meant that the cost of air fares have reduced significantly, enhancing the opportunity to travel from country to country. By means of this connectivity and infrastructure, different cultures are transported from various contexts and intersect and intermingle, providing an opportunity for interaction and mutation, as well as withdrawal and resistance. Internet social networks transcend boundaries of time and place and compress them in an instant. In this context of global connectivity, there are also cities that function as ‘global cities’, insofar as the world has come to them.5 They function as global hubs and are a magnet for the world. One such global city is London. It is the centre of the world’s financial market, as well as 2 Michael Wilkinson, ‘The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostals in Canada’, in Steven M. Studebaker (ed.), Pentecostalism and Globalization: The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostal Theology and Ministry (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Pubs, 2010), pp. 70–84 (p. 70). 3 Roland Roberts, Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture (London: Sage, 1992), p. 8; Meredith B McGuire, Religion: The Social Context (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 2002, 5th edn.), p. 314. 4 Ivan Satyavrata, ‘J. Philip Hogan’s Spirit-Led Vision and the Globalization of Pentecostal Missions in the Twenty-First Century’, in Steven M. Studebaker (ed.), Pentecostalism and Globalization: The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostal Theology and Ministry (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Pubs, 2010), pp. 151–173 (p. 157). 5 There is a major discussion regarding the precise nature of ‘global cities’, which are regarded as cities that transcend their national borders in their significance and are a focus for extensive interaction. For the purposes of this chapter, we simply note the importance of the concept since a major discussion is beyond the scope of our work. For a discussion of the debate, see: Saskia Sassen, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2nd edn., 2001); and Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson (eds.), The New Blackwell Companion to the City (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2013). For a discussion of the criteria of a global city, see David Brock, Multilingual Identities in a Global City (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), p. 45; and for a discussion of global cities in relation to Pentecostalism, see Nimi Wariboko, The Charismatic City and the Public Resurgence of Religion: A Pentecostal Social Ethics of Cosmopolitan Urban Life (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

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a cultural capital. It provides much opportunity for those seeking a better life and have the means to make the journey there. Before we begin discussing some of the key analytic categories that are often used in the theory of globalisation, it is worth reminding ourselves that all of these categories have their own limitations, and that, at the end of the day, we are dealing with people’s lives. Globalisation influences and affects the whole of life, as Ipsita Chatterjee states: Globalisation is not just a thing or a process; it is a way of life. Academics, media personalities, politicians, gurus, and pundits have always attempted to analyse and conceptualise ways of life in order to produce worldviews that can explain the chaos of reality. Modernity and modernism is one such ‘way of life’, in which the industrial, mechanical age and its convenience, utility, functionality, science, and medicine all define a spectacular industrial city that is thoroughly analysed, described, conceptualised, and circulated as an ideology, as well as imposed as a civilizing mission under the colonial yoke…. Just like modernity, globalisation is also a way of life that involves increased mobility, flows, circulation, compression, and borderlessness. In conceptualizing it, pundits have used homogenisation, indigenisation, time-space compression, deterritorialisation, reterritorialisation, and hollowing-out, as well as the network, the space of flows, the space of place as examples of some conceptual categories that can make sense of the chaos of globalisation.6 Whether we regard globalisation as chaotic or as complex, or indeed as both, it is a sobering reminder that we are all involved in this ‘way of life’ and the concepts we use are attempts to get a handle on what it is that we are experiencing in our everyday lives. With this caveat, we consider some of the key ideas.7 Globalisation can lead to a profoundly relativizing sense of one’s identity. There are so many different people out there and, to each other, they speak many languages, dress strangely, act oddly and simply do not understand each other’s customs and norms. And yet, these very same people are together in 6 Ipsita Chatterjee, Spectacular Cities: Religion, Landscape, and the Dialectics of Globalization (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 64. 7 Another caveat to this discussion is the increased reaction to the idea of globalisation, found in the concept of ‘deglobalisation’, which can be found especially in the discussion of economics, see, for example, Peter A.G. van Bergeijk, On the Brink of Deglobalization: An Alternative Perspective on the Cause of World Trade Collapse (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publications, 2010); and Walden Bello, Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy (London: Zed Books, 2005).

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one place, in the one place of the world, and, in terms of London, literally in one physical location. This sense of extreme difference has the effect of relativising our norms and values because they are so contrasted, leading to dissonance. Globalisation does not mean harmonious integration. Rather, it ‘results in a disjunction of time and space that produces an ongoing negotiation and reconstruction of what constitutes “authenticity”. Whereas, formerly, people relied on orienting polarities that framed identity and difference (such as home and way, local and global, “us” and “them”), globalisation now relativises those distinctions’.8 This disjunction can raise questions around what constitutes authentic religious identity, which in turn lead to questions of authority and legitimation. Globalisation can, therefore, influence the nature of religions as they ‘flow’ around the planet in various ways. But it is also the case that religions can influence the nature of globalisation through their practices and their embeddedness in social contexts.9 While it has been argued that there is a long historical process and set of conditions leading to what we now call globalisation,10 individuals and groups in different locations around the world find themselves negotiating the conditions of the local and the global as they intersect and intertwine. This dynamic has been termed the ‘glocal’ by Roland Robertson, and refers to the interaction between the particular and the universal or the localised and the globalised.11 Particular social forms spread beyond the local becoming universalising forces, but as they do so they are also transformed and become distinguished from their original form, which in turn becomes particularised in other locations as well.12 The local, historical and cultural conditions are influenced by the contemporary global and cultural forces that require negotiation and navigation. This process is one that is ongoing and, in many places around the world, it proceeds at a frenetic pace. This pace of change and influence is especially the case in global cities because of the sheer scale of interaction between the local and the global. This means that it ‘is not exclusively about [w]estern culture, but a new form of culture that knows no boundaries and is spreading 8 McGuire, Religion, p. 316. 9 Michael Wilkinson, ‘The “Many Tongues” of Global Pentecostalism’, in Michael Wilkinson (ed.), Global Pentecostal Movements: Migration, Mission, and Public Religion (Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 3–14 (p. 8). 10 Roberts, Globalization, p. 10; although this historical position has been disputed by Jan Aart Scholte, Globalization: A Critical Introduction (London: Macmillan, 2000), p. 19. 11 Roberts, Globalization, pp. 97–105, 173–174; also see the discussion of Pentecostalism by Michael Wilkinson, ‘What’s “Global” about Global Pentecostalism?’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 17.1 (2008), pp. 96–109 (p. 98). 12 Wilkinson, ‘The Impact of Globalization’, p. 72.

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from everywhere to everywhere. Its interconnectedness is multi-directional and includes the transnational corporations and [w]estern governments that ride the economic globalisation wave as well as the global anti-capitalist movements that oppose it’.13 Peter Beyer argues that through globalisation the world is being transformed into a single society, which is differentiated by means of subsystems or specialised domains, for example economics and religion. He discusses two related concepts in relation to religion, namely function and performance.14 Religion, he argues, has a specialist function and in its performance of its function may address other spheres, but, in order to do so, it must be translated into the language of other domains.15 Each religion differentiates itself from other religions by means of specialisation, which is an internal process by means of which each religious tradition seeks to give a distinct account of its own beliefs and values, behaviour and practices. In the context of globalisation this specialist function is always a means of positioning religion vis a vis other religious traditions. It is clear that as religious traditions interact there is always the possibility of hybridisation, by which we mean they transformation over time through their persistent interaction with other cultural and religious forces. They adapt and mutate, so that they do not stay the same but evolve and develop. Once the religion returns to its original site of production it is not always recognised.16 Of course, there can be a reaction to hybridisation and this is called homogenisation. The degree to which globalisation creates homogenisation or hybridisation is debated.17 Globalisation is also linked to the vast movement of people as never before. At any given moment there is a vast city in the sky as people are transported around the globe. They migrate from one place to another and become embedded in new social spaces. Migration in itself is hardly new, but it has never occurred on this scale before. The migration of people, especially from the south to the north, is unparalleled in human history and an associated characteristic 13 14

Satyavrata, ‘J. Philip Hogan’s Spirit-Led Vision’, p. 158. Peter Beyer, Religion and Globalization (London: Sage, 1994, reprinted 1997,1999, 2000); and Peter Beyer, Religions in Global Society (London: Routledge, 2006). 15 Beyer, Religion and Globalization, pp. 70–96; and Beyer, Religions in Global Society, pp. 79–116. 16 Wilkinson, ‘What’s “Global” about Global Pentecostalism?’, p. 103. 17 Nikola T. Caric and Steven M. Studebaker, ‘Globalization, Global Christianity, and Global Pentecostalism’, in Steven M. Studebaker (ed.), Pentecostalism and Globalization: The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostal Theology and Ministry (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Pubs, 2010), pp. 1–25 (p. 5).

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of globalisation. It is expected that by 2025 approximately 60% of the world’s population will have migrated to cities.18 What is important to note is that in the past migrants lost connections to their homelands or origin because of the distance of time and space. They could not easily return or stay in contact with family members. Today, because of technology and travel opportunities, there is a constant connection between the two places, and with the migration of family members to different countries, there is often a connection between more than two places. So, a family from Lagos in Nigeria may have members in London, Berlin, Sydney and Chicago. They all stay connected because of technology and the opportunity to travel.19 This ability to be connected to more than more place has been termed ‘supraterritoriality’. There is a transworld simultaneity or instantaneity.20 And this level of migration has the potential to change religious landscapes around the world, as people turn to religion in a time of need, or for general support. Importantly, religions offer refuge, resources and respect for migrants during an extremely stressful period of life. 7.3

Globalisation and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity

The discussion of globalisation and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity has largely charted the successful spread of the latter drawing upon the benefits of the former.21 Given the perforations between cultural boundaries, which have been made even more accessible through the processes of globalisation, they have also provided an opportunity for the spread of the Pentecostal message. It has been argued that Pentecostalism is less a reaction to globalisation than a product of it.22 From an anthropological-constructivist perspective (people make culture), Droogers argues that this account does justice to the agency of individuals as well as its alignment with global change (as noted above). This means that identities are under construction and can shift in new

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Satyavrata, ‘J. Philip Hogan’s Spirit-Led Vision’, pp. 164–165. Sturla J. Stålsett, ‘Introduction’, in Sturla J. Stålsett (ed.), Spirits of Globalization: The Growth of Pentecostalism and Experiential Spiritualities in a Global Age (London: scm Press, 2006), pp. 1–10. Caric and Studebaker, ‘Globalization, Global Christianity, and Global Pentecostalism’, p. 7. André Droogers, ‘Globalisation and Pentecostal Success’ in André Corten and Ruth Marshall-Fratani (eds.), Between Babel and Pentecost: Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001), pp. 41–61. Neil J. Omerod and Shane Clifton, Gloablization and the Mission of the Church (London: T & T Clark, 2009), p. 17.

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contexts, depending on the ‘intercultural repertoire of scripts’.23 To this shifting cultural landscape, Pentecostals come to add their own distinctive script, being constrained and empowered by their social context. The internal Pentecostal script contains beliefs about the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, conversion and cosmological dualism (God versus Satan). As Droogers states: People involved in globalisation processes tend … to protect themselves by trying to remain who and what they are (identity as root), while simultaneously developing their own history, and making strategic use of all new opportunities that present themselves (identity as route)… In globalisation processes, actors are confronted with a new stock of structures that seem to impose themselves upon them, but which they use to develop their own routes.24 It would appear that this is precisely what Pentecostals have done, simul­ taneously trying to maintain their root identity while at the same time navigating a new route in given contexts.25 This identity is based in the Pentecost ­narrative, legitimating themselves as ‘cultural polyglots’. They are unconstrained by national boundaries and able to make their home anywhere in the world because they are always connected to others who have Pentecost as their identity, even if expressions of that identity are indeed varied.26 Indeed, it has been argued that in the context of globalisation there are many types of Pentecostalisms because of their transmutations.27 This ability to travel and move through the porous boundaries of cultures without great difficulty has been described in terms of hybridisation noted above.28 Pentecostalism is continuously transformed through cultural interaction, social networks and migration. ‘[I]t is characterised by flows of belief and practice that move back and forth across cultures, in and through the churches, 23 24 25 26

27 28

Droogers, ‘Globalisation and Pentecostal Success’, p. 43. Droogers, ‘Globalisation and Pentecostal Success’, p. 53. Girish Daswani, ‘Transformation and Migration Among Members of a Pentecostal Church in Ghana and London’, Journal of Religion in Africa 40.4 (2010), pp. 442–474. Droogers, ‘Globalisation and Pentecostal Success’, pp. 54, 57, 59; note also the discussion of ‘globalized discourse network’ by Claudia Währisch-Oblau, The Missionary Self-Perception of Pentecostal/Charismatic Church Leaders from the Global South in Europe (Leiden: Brill, 2009), p. 56. Michael Wilkinson, ‘Sociological Narratives and the Sociology of Pentecostalism’, in Cecil M. Robeck, Jr. and Amos Yong (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 215–234 (p. 231). Joel Robbins, ‘The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity’, Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (2004), pp. 117–143.

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and in and out of the lives of its practitioners. It also points to the hybrid quality of Pentecostalism’.29 Pentecostals replicate themselves in different contexts, providing moral support, community, expertise and religious rituals. Robbins describes this hybridisation by means of three features. First, they provide a world-breaking narrative, setting up a dualism against the world and advocating an ascetism, and constructing a sense of continuity with the past and with the world around them. Religious rituals (baptism, baptism in the Spirit, deliverance) and ongoing practices (spiritual warfare, moral codes, ascetism) reinforce this dissonance between the church and the world.30 It is often ‘most indigenous when it inveighs against the local’, resulting in a particular form of hybrid.31 This means that both local and global features appear with intensity, and illustrate the notion of glocalisation noted above.32 Second, Pentecostals also provide a world-making narrative by community building, largely in terms of their own institutions, drawing upon members, and making serious demands in terms of ‘time, talent and treasure’. Positively, this concentration of resources provides support for the newly arrived in terms of advice, education, jobs, as well as spiritual empowerment and cultural support, often given with a great deal of religiously-motivated generosity.33 Third, they navigate a way through the maze of gender relations, politics and economics. Pentecostals appear to establish their own cultural framework that supports female participation, while domesticating men through the Pentecostal gender paradox of simultaneous patriarchy and empowerment. Here, churches become free and protected spaces, often withdrawn from public life and adding to the characterisation of political quietism. According to Robbins, globalised Pentecostals tend not get involved in direct political action but seek to create a space for political autonomy.34 This withdrawal from direct political engagement is also supported by an individualism that stresses evangelism as the remedy for social ills, as opposed to structural solutions. This view, it must be said, contrasts with many commentators on transnational African Pentecostalism, which emphasise the dual features of the prosperity gospel and Holy Spirit power.35 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Wilkinson, ‘The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostals in Canada’, p. 72. José Casanova, ‘Religion, the New Millennium, and Globalization’, Sociology of Religion 62.4 (2001), pp. 415–441 (pp. 437–438). Robbins, ‘The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity’, pp. 129–130. Wilkinson, ‘The Impact of Globalization on Pentecostals in Canada’, p. 72. Robbins, ‘The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity’, p. 131. Robbins, ‘The Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity’, p. 135. Thomas Aechtner, ‘Standing at the Crux: Pentecostalism and Identity Formation in An African Diaspora Christian Community’, in Michael Wilkinson (ed.), Global Pentecostal Movements: Migration, Mission, and Public Religion (Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 171–194 (p. 177).

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Typically, Harvey Cox characterises globalisation and Pentecostalism as an expression of the ‘market’ and the chaos that it brings to the poorest in the world, who cannot compete with it but instead turn to a religious solution. Here is a vital, if too often missed link between globalisation and Pentecostalism. The market revolution results in massive uprooting, displacement and destruction of traditions. The result, for millions of people, is a sense of bewilderment and disarray. Chaos is one of the principle ways in which the poor experience the globalising landscape. But Pentecostal worship with its ear-splitting noise and tumultuous prayer is something of a homeopathic cure. It invites people to plunge into the chaos in order to overcome it, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Unlike enlightened Protestants and Catholics, Pentecostals never claim that spirits of folk religion are illusory. Rather, they proclaim that God can defeat and vanquish them. This theology provides, ironically, both a bridge from the spiritual world of the old religion and a dam against its powers.36 So, for Cox, the rituals of Pentecostal worship provide a coping mechanism against the power of the global market and a means of resisting it. The mysticism of Pentecostalism is both a means of retreat and a means of reordering the members’ internal lives in order to engage with the external chaos of the market and fight its power. Whether one buys into Cox’s narrative will depend on whether one is sympathetic to deprivation theories that have so often characterised the sociological accounts of Pentecostalism. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Pentecostal groups provide networks that transcendent boundaries, often using English as the main language medium, giving a refuge despite what sociological commentators regard as authoritarian leadership styles.37 They provide a ‘home away from home’, enabling migrants to adjust to new circumstanced surrounded by people like them who understand them.38 If the notion of modernisation was based on the idea that the western world export ‘development’ to the rest of the world, then it has now given way to globalisation, characterised by flux, diversity, multiple flows, multiple identities, the dominance of capitalism and glocalising dynamics, which also include 36 37 38

Harvey Cox, ‘Spirits of Globalization: Pentecostalism and Experiential Spiritualities in a Global Era’, Sturla J. Stålsett (ed.), Spirits of Globalization: The Growth of Pentecostalism and Experiential Spiritualities in a Global Age (London: scm Press, 2006), pp. 11–22 (p. 17). Grace Davie, The Sociology of Religion (London: Sage, 2007, reprinted 2008), pp. 214–215. Afe Adogame, ‘Raising Champions, Taking Territories: African Churches and the Mapping of New Religious Landscapes in Diaspora’, in Theodore Louis Trost (ed.), The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), pp. 17–34 (pp. 17–18).

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disjunctures.39 Meyer argues that, in the context of these globalising forces, Pentecostalism constructs different and alternative religious imaginaries that also impact public cultures. These alternative religious imaginaries offer different explanations for the nature of global social reality and they are largely framed in terms of a spiritual warfare model. To understand what is really going on in the world, via malevolent forces, spiritual discernment is required. Rescue from evil powers is at the heart of these imaginaries, and it is celebrated in narratives of salvation. She states that ‘for Pentecostals the world is not a compromising setting per se from which to turn away … but one that requires action and transformation, even though this is full of difficulties and dangers’.40 Part of this action is to enter into the world-making activity of consumerism, because anything can be used by the Holy Spirit, hence Pentecostal spirituality becomes linked to capitalism and consumption. It can also extend to the acquisition and use of place and space, with the expectation that the market will follow the products and deliver growth. This also includes the employment of the mass media to turn the public space of these media into a space to be filled by reverse mission activities, manifesting portable services and practices.41 Alongside the ideas of transnationalism, religious imaginaries and reverse mission, Krause has also introduced thinking about Pentecostals using the notion of ‘cosmopolitan sensibilities’.42 It is defined as ‘a form of competence based on the human capacity to create social relations of inclusiveness and openness to the world’.43 This happens across transnational boundaries as well as linguistic, cultural and ethnic ones. It has also been termed ‘vernacular cosmopolitanism’, meaning that the agents do not just imitate the western forms of cosmopolitanism, but develop their own unique ways of being cosmopolitan. The Holy Spirit is regarded as the one who creates this possibility, as people are involved in more than one international cultural context that transports ideas and practices. Nevertheless, tensions exist here because alongside these cosmopolitan moments there are experiences of exclusion.44 39 40 41 42

43 44

Birgit Meyer, ‘Pentecostalism and Globalization’, in Allan Anderson, Michael Bergunder, André Droogers and Cornelius Van der Laan (eds.), Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories + Methods (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010), pp. 113–130 (p. 113). Meyer, ‘Pentecostalism and Globalization’, p. 118. Meyer, ‘Pentecostalism and Globalization’, pp. 120–121. Kristine Krause, ‘Cosmopolitan Charismatics? Transnational Ways of Belonging and Cosmopolitan Moments in the Religious Practice of New Mission Churches’, Ethnic and Racial Studies 34.3 (2011), pp. 419–435. She uses the terms charismatics and Pentecostals interchangeably. Krause, ‘Cosmopolitan Charismatics?’, p. 419. Krause, ‘Cosmopolitan Charismatics?’, p. 421.

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Moral discourse denounces homosexuality, abortion and drugs and Krause opines that it is this conservative ethical discourse which is responsible, in part, for the lack of a recruitment of the indigenous German population in which the study is situated. White people are mostly drawn into these Pentecostal churches through marriage and the churches are generally labelled ‘African’ by the indigenous population, thus signalling them as ‘other’ and esoteric. However, the church leaders do not see themselves as ‘other’ and irrelevant but as part of historic Christianity that has come back to Europe for the purpose of reverse mission.45 They are part of many international networks finding legitimation not from the general indigenous population but from their own religious and cultural affiliates who endorse the superiority of Christianity over other religious traditions and worldviews. They are rooted in two places simultaneously.46 Their desire to improve the state of the host country ameliorates any longings for their country of origin and reinforces the notion of reverse mission, despite experiences of antagonism and racism. The migrants have cultivated a sense of belonging with regard to both places simultaneously.47 7.4

Global Anglicanism

Given the fact that two of the churches featured in this study are from the Church of England, a state-church with global connections around the world, it is worth reflecting on them in the context of globalisation.48 The history of the global expansion of the Church of England around the world started with the different post-Reformation trajectory of the Episcopal church in Scotland, which was not established, like its sister church in England. The Scottish bishops did not feel able to swear the oath of allegiance to William and Mary in 1688. This meant that the Presbyterian Church of Scotland became the

45 46

47 48

See the discussion by Währisch-Oblau, The Missionary Self-Perception of Pentecostal/ Charismatic Church Leaders, pp. 225–336. Afe Adogame, ‘Reconfiguring the Global Religious Economy: The Role of African Pentecostalism’, in Donald E. Miller, Kimon H. Sargeant, and Richard Flory (eds.), Spirit and Power: The Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 185–203. Aechtner, ‘Standing at the Crux’, p. 192. Kevin Ward, A History of Global Anglicanism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) traces this history with particular emphasis on how Anglicanism became established and adapted around the world.

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established church.49 The different historical trajectory was also accompanied by liturgical divergence dating back to 1637 and this continues to today. This case has provided an example for other Provinces wishing to maintain Anglican liturgical sensibilities while developing independent liturgies suited to their own contexts. The Church of Ireland has its roots in an ancient church dating back to Saint Patrick, but, after the turmoil of the Reformation, it accepted the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559 and functions today as a minority church in Ireland. The Church of Wales had been independent until the twelve century, when the English conquered the Welsh and merged the church into the Province of Canterbury. It became disestablished and an independent Province in 1920. The main means by which Anglicanism spread throughout the world was predominantly through the British Empire, although historically it was uneven and in some places the establishment had very little to do with colonisation (e.g. Japan and Latin America).50 The clergy of the Church of England travelled to accompany the people who administered the colonies and found themselves engaged in mission and evangelism, education and administration. The Church was established in the eighteenth century in America and was initially located in the commonwealth of Virginia. It had a presence in Canada from an early date, and numbers increased from 1758 following the arrival of priests after the American revolution.51 The first bishop for the Church in Canada, Charles Inglis, was consecrated in 1787. The colony of Australia received convicts from the UK from 1787 and from 1817 chaplains were allowed to minister to the population of around 17,000 immigrants. In 1836 W.G. Boughton was consecrated a bishop for the colony in Sydney, with Tasmania following in 1842. New Zealand received an Anglican presence from 1814 and the Church was formerly established by George Augustus Selwyn from 1842. Robert Gray was consecrated the first bishop for the Church in South Africa in 1847. In 1863 a legal ruling meant that for the first time the Church in a self-governing colony was independent of the Church of England.52 Anglican missionaries also preached their faith in the West Indies to slaves from 1813. In the nineteenth century the Church of England sent chaplains throughout the main European countries, while the Church Missionary Society (cms), 49 50

Stephen Neil, Anglicanism (Oxford: A.R. Mowbray and Co Ltd, 1987), p. 279. See William L. Sachs, ‘The Emergence of the Anglican Communion in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries’, in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 33–44. 51 Neil, Anglicanism, p. 298. 52 Neil, Anglicanism, p. 305.

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founded in 1799, sent missionaries around the world to places as far flung as India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon in the 1820s. A diocese was established in Hong Kong in 1849, while American Episcopalians (from 1859) and cms missionaries (from 1869) worked in Japan. An Anglican presence was established in Korea in 1889. The Anglican Church also evangelised on the continent of Africa, with cms in Sierra Leone from 1804, the Gambia from 1851 and Nigeria from 1846. The American Episcopal Church established a ministry in Liberia from 1835.53 The Anglo-Catholic Universities Mission to Central Africa was active from the 1880s and established churches in Cape Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The cms also established churches in East Africa, especially Kenya and Uganda from 1844. In the middle east, a bishop was consecrated for the diocese of Jerusalem in 1841, Egypt in 1920 and missionaries were active in Iran from 1869. The nineteenth century, in general terms, proved to be the most significant century for Anglican mission activity around the globe. The Church of England now stands at the centre of a world-wide Anglican Communion with an estimated 48 million members from 39 provinces around the world and six other national or local churches known as Extra ­Provincials.54 These churches come from Oceania, North America, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. These provinces have a set of relationships that are regulated by specific instruments of communion, namely: (1) the Archbishop of Canterbury; (2) the Lambeth Conference of bishops, which meets every ten years and was started in 1867; (3) the Anglican Consultative Council, established in 1968 and includes representation from laity, clergy and bishops; and (4) the Primates’ (Archbishops’) Meeting, established in 1978 for consultation and prayer.55 The Anglican Communion has come under pressure in recent decades, most notably from sectors seeking greater liberty in the ordination of gay priests and the right to perform same-sex marriage.56 The majority of the Anglican Communion does not support such changes 53 Neil, Anglicanism, p. 338. 54 http://www.anglicancommunion.org/structures/member-churches.aspx (accessed on February 15, 2018). Also see: Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013). 55 See Norman Doe, ‘The Instruments of Unity and Communion in Global Anglicanism’ in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 47–66. 56 Ward, A History of Global Anglicanism, pp. 305–315.

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and this has led to tensions and bishops boycotting meetings, especially those from the more conservative African context.57 As a result of these tensions, in June 2008 a conference to discuss the future of Anglicanism was convened in Jerusalem by 291 conservative bishops and called ‘The Global Anglican Future Conference’ (gafcon). It was an attempt to respond to the liberalism of the western church by those from the more conservative and post-colonial south. The ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ was issued as a statement of faith, based on conference discussions and is used as a touchstone of orthodoxy by many conservative Anglicans. While gafcon has support among various sections of the Anglican Communion, and especially among those who have seceded from Communion provinces, for example the Anglican Church of North America (acna), it has had a mixed reception among Evangelicals in the Church of England. Most Evangelicals in the Church of England continue to see themselves as part of the established institutions of the Communion, rather than part of parallel structures. Neither of the Anglican churches in this study publicly declare their support for gafcon but appear to support the established diocesan and provincial structures. Despite these developments, it needs to be said that the Church of England continues to foster a global sense of mission and ministry, which has been enhanced by the processes of globalisation. This identity was forged from the basis of the British Empire and given expression in the Commonwealth of Nations, but now, with the advent of globalisation, has become an accepted dimension of church life. The fact that these two Anglican churches are situated in the context of a global city simply means that the international dimension is accentuated. Whereas in the past the Church of England has gone out to the rest of the world, now the rest of the world has come to it, and especially in the global city of London. The predicted ‘terminal if managed decline’ of the Church of England is not evident in the life and work of these vibrant megachurches as well as a host of 1000-strong churches to be found in the UK’s major cities and large towns.58

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See the discussion by Godfrey Mdimi Mhogolo, ‘Human Sexuality in the Anglican ­ ommunion’ in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez C Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 627–624. This rather gloomy prediction is made by Mark Chapman, ‘The Church of England’ in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins iv, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 413–425 (p. 425).

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Globalisation and Megachurches

It could be argued that megachurches are themselves products of globalisation, at least insofar as they are often characterised as reflecting global capitalism and the religious market.59 Of course, there were megachurches before the era of globalisation but it is clear that with the development of globalisation these churches have also developed from the opportunities afforded through globalisation processes. A number of these processes can be identified quite easily in relation to megachurches around the world. Many of the churches that can be identified as ‘mega’ have been established by migrants who have initiated the church and then attracted a crowd, or in this case a very large crowd.60 Others who have migrated after them have joined in with what they believe God is doing in and through the church pioneers. In many cases, churches have also established international networks, thus establishing their own brand of megachurch on different continents around the world. In these cases, there is not a flow of migrants, rather the flow is internal to the country and people gather in new churches that grow and become mega in size. These churches, while largely indigenous, are serviced by international leaders who travel around the network on a kind of tour with an annual pattern of conferences and preaching events. Very often these churches are established in global cities, with ease of transport and facilities to match. Alongside the development of these megachurches and their networks has come the use of communication technology, especially with the establishment of the Internet. All of the megachurches make use of communication technology and have a web-based presence, making their ideas and services available to a mass audience outside of their regular on-site congregations. The compression of time and space that is afforded by the Internet means that connectivity is enhanced across cultures and time zones, and this includes the increased support for online spirituality through virtual environments that are nevertheless linked to megachurch networks.61 With these international megachurch networks come a flow of ideas, religious products such as merchandise, teaching material, books, magazines and music. By means of these products there is a communication and dissemination of artefacts that symbolise specific theological and cultural ideas. These ideas are often developed in the process of their communication and as they come into contact with different languages, often through the processes of 59 60 61

See the discussion in Chapter 1, Section 1.2.2. See the discussion in Chapter 1, Section 1.3. See the discussion in Chapter 1, Section 1.3.

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translation. In these processes there is a flow of content that is modified over time. There is often a blending of old and new material that represents a hybridisation of sorts. Of course, this dynamic will vary around the world, but just as programmatic content is circulated through these networks, it is also adjusted according to local custom and as required by the process of translation. But it also contributes to the notion of ‘supraterritoriality’. These megachurches are not simply located in one specific social setting, but they travel to many different settings either by physically planting a new building in a different continent or by exporting their products via the Internet and other means of communication. The twin dynamics of world affirmation and world denial are both present in megachurch contexts. They use the logic of the global market to express their views.62 Just as billions of people can watch a single event, so the idea of capturing a global audience motivates many megachurch leaders to embody a market model and method of reaching as many people as possible. The rationality of creating a product, identifying a market and disseminating that product for the sake of economic gain is very much at the heart of many megachurch leaders. Unlike mainline church leaders, they are not afraid to talk about money; and the prosperity gospel has been an entirely rational accompaniment to the processes of the global market. But alongside this world-affirming marketplace ideology, there is also a world-denying feature. While these megachurches are pragmatic and use whatever is available to develop their work, they do so from the perspective of a mission narrative. People still need to be rescued from the sin of the world and still need to be brought into the faith for the sake of their salvation. In this context, many megachurches are critical of their surrounding culture and wish to see it changed. This is witnessed in the evangelistic efforts that they promote, as well as the many international events aimed at attracting attention from potentially interested parties. 7.6

Megachurches and the Global City of London

As we noted above, London is a global city in the sense that the world has come to it and the city sustains multiple relationships with many countries 62

See the discussion by Robbie B.H. Goh, ‘Market Theory, Market Theology: The Business of the Church in the City’, in Justin Beaumont and Christopher Baker (eds.), Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory and Practice (London: Continuum International, 2011), pp. 50–68, who argues that social engagement activities are ‘a part of a larger organisational logic which is distinct in its successful integration into the commercial ethos of the city’ (p. 59). He regards the alignment with the prosperity gospel by churches as ‘theo-dology’!

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by means of its institutions and life. It is not just that it happens to be a major economic and financial centre, which it is, but high-speed connectivity is everywhere. It is displayed in travel shops, with cheap airfares, internet cafes and international money stores which can transfer money quickly and cheaply.63 The rapid technological changes enhance this connectivity from year to year. Congregations in London, which were monochrome in ethnicity terms now contain people from around the world, even the smallest congregations have some people originating from outside of the UK. Alongside this connectivity, cultural engagement and exchange is the dark side of the globalisation of crime, which brings a threat to law, order and personal security both for the immigrants and the indigenes. However, it is often the poorest who are most affected by the violence and drugs accompanying organised crime on a global scale. These challenges also provide opportunities to engage with individuals, social groups, social processes and policies for the common good.64 We shall argue that while globalisation affects both types of churches, they provide two very different ways of thinking about religion and globalisation, representing two models of engagement. The African model revolves around the notion of migration, whereby people seeking to live permanently in London are attracted to these churches for various reasons. The Anglican model revolves around the notion of discipleship and training, whereby non-permanent members such as students and young professionals participate in these churches for a limited time in order to move elsewhere having been trained and equipped in the Christian faith. While All Souls emphasises discipleship through teaching, htb tends to emphasise evangelism through Alpha and then equipping through other courses such as marriage and parenting courses. They may seem quite different but both use Christian educational processes to form disciples to witness to the world. 7.6.1 The African Diaspora Pentecostal Model: a Bridge-Head As the case study chapters have described, three of the five churches we studied in-depth were African diaspora churches, attracting largely west Africans in particular with Nigerian leadership. These churches provide a shared worldview, a commitment to spreading the Christian message and a home away 63

64

See the discussion of globalization and London by Andrew P. Davey, ‘Globalization as Challenge and Opportunity in Urban Mission: An Outlook from London’, International Review of Mission 88.351 (1999), pp. 381–389. The situation in London has developed even further since he wrote this article. Davey, ‘Globalization as Challenge and Opportunity in Urban Mission’, pp. 385–386.

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from home, where the original cultural values are understood and honoured in the context of multicultural Britain. In this discussion of globalisation it is important to ask whether the ideas discussed above can be illustrated in the data gathered from these churches. In other words, are there examples of these concepts in the beliefs and practices of the churches themselves? A number of themes can be illustrated from the data gathered. It is clear that the African diapora churches can be described as ‘worldaffirming’, especially as they promote a narrative of self-betterment and socioeconomic advancement. Despite the challenges that immigrants face in a city like London, the narrative encourages members to participate in the global marketplace. They are to work hard, own their own property rather than renting it, investing their money and saving their money. In other words, they are encouraged to participate actively in all things economic. The kicc leadership is very specific on this matter. They advise that members should save at least three-month’s salary so that if a person were to be made redundant they could survive in the short-term before they are able to secure new employment. They advise members to aim high in terms of educational qualifications, knowing that socio-economic advancement is aligned with educational attainment. They also show that they have adapted to British cultural values, which prizes higher education. Jesus House mirrors this interest and advises young people who are particularly interested in becoming medical doctors. There is a general awareness of how hard it can be for a young African person to succeed in a demanding profession. Similarly, but more generally, New Wine promotes a ‘spirit of excellence’, and with this comes practical advice on how to overcome challenges and to prosper, as well as keeping fit and healthy. Thus, this worldaffirming stance is also combined with a form of hybridisation, as these Pentecostal groups adapt to the British cultural expectations of success, measured in the most prestigious occupations in the marketplace. It sets the context for a form of individualism more associated with the western world, but this is something that is also affirmed as part of the adaptation of Africans living in the UK. As well as adapting to the local context, these global migrants also need support in order to navigate their way through the maze of British ways and ­customs. This community embraces new immigrants and assists them to make the adjustments to their new life in the UK. They illustrate aspects of the ‘­glocal’, the interface of the local and the global made concrete in the support of new comers by a whole community. Thus, they provide cultural interpreters, who know the original culture and have learned how to read the host culture, having adapted themselves to the new social reality. Immigration advice is freely available, as is other kinds of advice to enable immigrants to settle into

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their new environment.65 This advice and support is also given to people on the outside of their communities by visiting people in detention centres and prisons. In addition, activities that are associated with the broader Black community in Britain are adopted in order to reflect back to British society their willingness to adapt and hybridise. For example, kicc holds annual Black History month celebrations, which are now celebrated all over the UK by organisations and local governments. It would not be celebrated back in west Africa, and it is unusual for churches in general to embrace this kind of celebration in the UK. Nevertheless, it is one example of how migrant churches are adapting to the notion of how British people self-designate in terms of race and use it to celebrate cultural values. Again, it illustrates a form of hybridisation and supports the duality of British-African values. Having moved into a physical and social space, the social engagement activities of visiting the elderly, supporting local care homes, working with the homeless and offering acts of kindness are all seen as a ‘bridges’ (or connections) for sharing the gospel message. In a sense, there is an adoption of ‘soft’ evangelistic strategies (as opposed to ‘hard’ ones like preaching on the street, which happens in many African countries) in order to participate in the reverse mission narrative associated with these churches. These Christians do not simply see themselves as socio-economic migrants but as missionaries reversing the moral decline of a once great Christian nation. By critiquing the moral decline of the British people, even as they seek to build bridges, they also participate in a ‘world-denying’ strategy.66 They hope not to be tinged by the moral corruption that they witness all around them, and, empowered by their faith, they seek to transform the nation again. Sometimes this is done in a territorial manner, for example, as New Wine engages in a spiritual mapping exercise, informed by a spiritual warfare model and territorial spirits. Concern about crime and social needs are addressed principally through prayer. There is of course a tension here, because their vision for change is also married to a form of political quietism. On the whole, they do not get involved in the political processes and challenge the structures, preferring to influence individuals as opportunities arise. Jesus House members indicated a certain ambivalence towards politicians who seek to mobilise the ‘black vote’ for their own political 65

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J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘African Christian Revitalization in Europe: Migration and the Mega Church Phenomenon’, in J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Andrea Fröchtling and Andrea Kunz-Lübcke (eds.), Babel is Everywhere! Migrant Readings from Africa, Europe and Asia (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2013), pp. 189–197 (p. 194), who refers to ‘a social safety net from the harsh immigration conditions … of the European Union’. Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘African Christian Revitalization in Europe’, p. 195.

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gain.67 In a sense, by showing a certain cynicism towards politicians they are acting in a very British manner! There is a complex of concepts at work among these migrant Pentecostals. On the one hand, they are working hard to maintain their own faith commitments and cultural values, which are expressed in world-denying rhetoric and moral denunciations. On the other hand, they are fully immersed in globalisation processes of world-affirming capitalism, glocalisation and hybridisation. There are tensions, of course, and their inability to attract White indigenes, except through the practice of marriage, is proving a significant stumbling block to the narrative of reverse mission. It is as if they have established a bridgehead in a new territory and are seeking to infiltrate and influence the host population, but, unfortunately, the host population while accepting their presence in the multi-cultural space that is London, is simply disconnected to them as a religious group. So, with all the connections that globalisation brings, there is a major disruption between the local and the global as expressed in these glocalising groups. Only time will tell if further adaptation results in integration or different forms of segregation. 7.6.2 The Anglican Model: Parish Life and Discipleship Training The two Anglican churches are different in many respects, but in terms of their engagement with globalising processes they have certain similarities. Both are city centre churches with established histories and established physical sites and resources. They are part of the established Church of England and this institutional structure gives them certain opportunities in terms of access to the media and to political power. We wish to argue that both of these churches function like city-centre parish churches and mission training institutions in relation to the global presence of people of a non-British origin. All Souls clearly functions as a parish church and provides the usual service provision for those living within its parish. But in terms of social engagement ministry it has focused on a ministry to the homeless, which is such a significant problem in a large and cosmopolitan city. In addition, its community 67

Clara Greed, ‘A Feminist Critique of the Postsecular City: God and Gender’, in Justin Beaumont and Christopher Baker (eds.), Postsecular Cities: Space, Theory and Practice (London: Continuum International, 2011), pp. 104–119, argues that while an equality and diversity agenda should theoretically embrace African Pentecostalism in Britain, especially when ‘good works’ have been demonstrated over years, city planners have very little understanding of megachurch spatial needs and are often suspicion of them because of the perceived link to ‘fundamentalism’, which, in turn, is dismissed as socially divisive and undermines equality and diversity. She asks whether the African Pentecostal question concerning the balance of rights is getting the hearing it deserves (p. 112).

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centre provides resources and support for the residents of the parish as well as the wider local community. It is this wider social engagement that intersects most obviously with the globalised city of London and this is especially obvious in terms of its student, young professional and visitor ministry. htb, while also functioning as a city-centre parish church, tends to offer what might be called courses for life, in particular the different stages of life, such as marriage, parenting and bereavement counselling. There is a focus on the key institution of marriage and this could be understood as an investment in a strategic social institution in order to strengthen the nation’s social fabric. This is augmented by health support for those who need it, for example, in terms of addictive behaviour and mental health issues such as eating disorders. Realising that money is also an issue that needs to be managed and can cause illness and stress, this is also addressed. It could be said that these courses support good health among their members as part of a commitment to support wellbeing and flourishing from a Christian perspective. In their different kinds of ways, both churches are doing what generations of Church of England churches have done throughout the centuries, except that they are responding to the needs of their global parishioners. The world is their parish, which is now indicated by the fact that the world’s people have come through their doors. It is this openness to the world being their parish that allows us to appreciate their ministry to large numbers of transients. The churches are similar in that all of the leadership would be indigenous to the White middle to upper middle classes, ordained in the Church of England, but their services attract hundreds of international students and young professions who are residing in the UK for a period of a few years and will either move back to their country of origin or on to a different country. In other words, these people are transients. They are people on the move and this is understood and respected by the two churches. While these people are attending All Souls and htb, they aim to offer a community of support and discipleship training in order to equip them to be better effective in their service both now and in the future. There are a number of features that are worth highlighting in particular. Both of these churches could be conceptualised as cosmopolitan. They are attractive for the diversity of worshippers. For example, All Souls church has 60 nationalities represented in its congregation and every three years over 70% of the congregation moves on. These people bring their cultures with them and contribute to the blend that is All Souls, and yet the spirituality is moulded by an Evangelicalism that is well established and communicated effectively. So, this is a cosmopolitanism constrained by the ecclesial tradition. Similarly, htb also has many nationalities and cultures represented in its different

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congregations.68 Yet this cosmopolitanism is also constrained by the Charismatic Evangelicalism packaged and disseminated by the Alpha course in a fairly prescriptive manner.69 There are inevitable cultural constrains on the nature of the cosmopolitanism, but this would be present in all expressions of Christianity and would not necessarily be unique to these two churches. There is clearly an interaction between the local and the global, a glocal negotiation of sorts. While the global dimension is very present, and this is more obvious with htb because of the Alpha course and its presence in over 40 countries around the world, it is also present at All Souls. This is a church that has always had an eye to the world horizon and international ministry connections can be detected. One of the most obvious connections is with the worldwide broadcasting capacity of the bbc (as noted previously). Over the years the church has served a worldwide audience by means of a very local (next door) media giant, and even allows its premises to be used for bbc events from time to time, so that the local via radio and TV connects with the global. During the Olympics, it became a venue with a large screen and refreshments, illustrating its capacity to be open to the world. Both churches aim to connect people across social and cultural boundaries, which they do in different ways, aiming to build some form of community and thus fight against the personal isolation that people experience in one of the largest cities in the world. At the heart of both churches is a Christian educational model, rooted in a mission imperative to share the gospel and to go somewhere else to do it. The international students and young professionals who come and stay for a while are treated at disciples in training. Thus, All Souls teaches them English, provides pastoral support and resources them with Bible study groups and other educationally oriented activities. The church’s sermons are among some of the most well-researched sermons found anywhere in the UK if not the world. All of these activities are designed to help shape the minds of global travellers as well as indigenes. It is expected that these people once shaped will go and influence others for the sake of the kingdom of God. htb is different because it also aims to bring revival to London and the UK, through its church planting, the dissemination of the Alpha course and its other programmes, including 68

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The 2017 annual congregational survey found that one third of attendees at the two largest morning congregations were Chinese/Malaysian, and one quarter were from African countries, see the report by Nicky Gumbel in The Church Times, www.churchtimes.co.uk/ articles2017/21-april/features/features/exporting-the-brompton-way (accessed 21 April, 2017). For critical appraisal of the Alpha Course, see Stephen Hunt, The Alpha Enterprise: Evangelism in a Post-Christian Era (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004); and James Heard, Inside Alpha: Explorations in Evangelism (Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2009).

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the Caring for Ex-Offenders provision. In this model, people are brought to a faith in Christ and then they are trained to live and work as disciples of Christ. Resources are produced and packaged for ease of use to enable people of all backgrounds to access the riches of the Christian faith and improve their lives. So, there is also a narrative of self-betterment, but it is not so obviously narrated as compared to the African churches noted above. Here there is a centrifugal/centripetal dynamic, whereby people are pulled into the church’s orbit for a while in order to be better equipped to serve Christ and then propelled out into the world for the sake of the kingdom of God. Both churches prize the language of ‘connectivity’ or ‘network’. They provide multiple opportunities for people to meet and get to know each other. Part of this intention is to facilitate social capital, although they do not use this language, because they realise that London, given its size, is not an easy place to live, especially if you are from another country of origin. It is also the case that people travel all the time for work, for leisure, and for church events. Volunteering can be very demanding because of the cost in terms of time and money when considerable travel is involved. To ameliorate the effects of travel, loneliness and isolation they create multiple opportunities and networks for people to meet, to connect spiritually and socially. This accent on connectivity is also mirrored in their social media, where multiple methods of keeping up with the latest news, or particular interest groups allow the notion of family (All Souls) or friendship (htb) to be sustained. While these churches affirm the positives of the place that is London, they also know there is a dark side to the capital. They do not obviously narrate the dark side in terms of spiritual warfare (although it may not be entirely absent), but they work with the police and the local government to combat it. For example, All Souls works with the police to respond to prostitution and sex trafficking in an area where there 38 brothels within the parish, which demonstrates the globalisation of crime and the church’s response to it.70 Connecting people, helping people and resisting what is perceived to be evil is part of their mission and service to the people of London. 7.7

The Significance of Globalisation for Social Engagement

In the light of the discussion above, it is worth considering the impact that globalisation makes on issues around social engagement from a megachurch perspective. These are complex issues indeed and there is a danger of oversimplification, nevertheless it is worth attempting to identify a few elements for further reflection. 70

Davey, ‘Globalization as Challenge and Opportunity in Urban Mission’, p. 384.

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One of the main aspects that has been identified in this discussion is the ubiquitous feature of global capitalism. No country on the planet can escape the influence of the global trade. Capitalism has produced great benefits for many people, especially in the western world. It has resulted in wonderful developments in technology, creating infrastructure and beautiful environments. However, as has been recorded by a number of commentators, there is an underside to global capitalism for those in the poorest countries around the world because people are exploited for their labour in places where wages and working conditions are unregulated or weakly regulated. But even in developed countries like Britain, with a stable government, well established civil society and a welfare system, there has been a growth in poverty, especially in cities. There are increasing numbers of people living on the streets, using produce from food banks and supplementing their income by activities that could be considered as criminal. The working poor are one of the groups most disadvantaged because, although they work, people often juggle a number of different jobs, which in turn means long hours. They still struggle to survive economically and provide for their families. Very often a breakdown in family circumstances adds to the misery and children are often the ones most affected. On the one hand, each of us participates in a global economy and benefits from it; on the other hand, we also contribute to its underside without necessarily realising that we are doing so. What are the implications of this economic entanglement for social engagement? The main issue is that while the causes of poverty are complex, and they are played out differently around the world, with a globalised economy comes increasing numbers of people living on the underside of society. These people have virtually no money to use. Instead they barter and beg, share and steal in order to get by from one day to the next. Increasingly, megachurches will encounter people whose resources are so limited and whose lives are so broken through systematic neglect that simply feeding them on a daily basis will not be good enough. The implications of this diagnosis for megachurch social engagement is that it calls for an approach that places the issue of poverty front and centre. Megachurches have the resources internationally to play a significant role in the reduction of poverty and the causes of poverty if a vision for this is caught, understood and implemented. Indeed, it could be argued that one of the main agents able to resist the negative impacts of globalisation is civil society and the churches are very much part of this sector that contributes to the common good at an intermediary level.71

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T. Howland Sanks, ‘Globalization and the Church’s Social Mission’, Theological Studies 60.4 (1999), pp. 625–651 (p. 644).

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Closely allied to the issue of poverty is the movement of people. All around the world we have a movement of people greater than we have known previously. Some of this movement is because of war and conflict, for example the Syrian refugees in Europe, but other kinds of movement are because of socioeconomic reasons, often the desire to escape poverty in one place can lead to the discovery of poverty in another place. But with this dislocation and relocation also comes a series of related issues. For example, through migration, people are separated from families and communities and this separation can bring with it social and psychological stress. Living in a new country on one’s own, having to learn new systems, new ways of living, often communicating in a language that is unfamiliar, can prove to be extremely challenging, not to mention exhausting. When one adds other factors, such as the exploitation of migrants by human traffickers, or the slavery of children, women and men for the sake of labour or sex work, then the connectivity of global networks looks very different and oppressive. With globalisation comes global crime organisations, who prey on the vulnerable and the weak. For those whose primary work is with people there is a responsibility to understand and engage the full range of issues facing people on the move and caught up in aspects of globalisation. Again, how should these churches respond? It has been interesting to see how one church (All Souls) is engaging with its locality as it has been impacted by the global movement of people through human trafficking and sex work. They have partnered with the police and local government to provide volunteers to do limited but strategic work in the area around the church. They have also engaged in supporting sex workers and people who have escaped human traffickers. This provides an interesting example of how a megachurch can use one of its most obvious assets, namely people, to serve the local community affected by a global problem. Similarly, New Wine church visit people in prison and supports people detained because of immigration issues, providing knowledge and care. While htb is noted for its programme to look after and care for ex-offenders, which has had a significant impact around the country. Increasingly these offenders will not be British-born but come from other countries. Given the increased movement of people, and the attendant issues that they face as they seek to live in the UK, megachurches have much to offer local government and police forces if they have the vision to see it. Finally, it is worth also reflecting on the impact that technology has in a globalised world and its weaknesses that lead to real human need. Technology brings many benefits and when it is used for communication it has brought terrific advantages to people doing all sorts of things from business to leisure as well as spiritual pursuits. Megachurches have been at the forefront of the use

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of technology, as have Pentecostals around the world.72 With this technology comes the power to connect to many people, especially through social media. Social media is an increasingly important part of contemporary life, with many people simply plugged into online gadgets 24/7. People no longer turn off their smart phones, they simply charge them while they sleep, so that the first thing it does in the morning is to wake up its owner. Globalisation, as noted above, has had the effect of speeding up communication so that we can be in contact with many people constantly, forcing us to interact throughout the day and the night. But with this connectivity comes superficiality. These relationships are maintained for most people at a fairly superficial level and behind the flurry of activity lies a longing for something deeper, more authentic in terms of human contact and relationship. It is here that megachurches are potentially both part of the problem and part of the solution. Megachurches by definition contain lots of people. One of the standard critiques of these churches is that they are so large that no one really knows anyone else because it is impossible to know so many people at a given time. So, the problem of Facebook is repeated in a congregational setting: anonymity breeds isolation and superficiality once again. But the emphasis in these church narratives is the need for relationality, which is genuine and facilitated by face-to-face time rather than Facebook time. Where megachurches have recognised the human need for deep and meaningful relationships they have created and sustained a hospitable environment. In this way they may bring something crucial to the globalisation conversation. In the world of mass this and mass that, there is the possibility of being known for oneself, accepted not rejected, loved and cared for not because of some economic functional value but because of the fact that the person is created imago Dei. At the heart of one version of the imago Dei is the idea of relationality. That human beings were created to enjoy relationships with others in a genuinely reciprocal manner. This is something that megachurches have the capacity to offer, if they are able to get past the numbers to the individuals who make up the numbers.

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Greed, ‘A Feminist Critique of the Postsecular City’, sees this as the potential answer to the problem of access to space in the city by megachurches. Why bother competing for geographical space when TV and Internet communication can reach millions of people instead? (pp. 114–115).

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7.8 Conclusion This chapter placed the study of the megachurches described in this book in conversation with the nature of religion and how it is influenced by and in turn influences globalisation. It is clear from the discussion that megachurches are intertwined within the processes of globalisation and cannot but reflect and participate in them. Nevertheless, by considering the key components of the theory in the light of the findings of this study regarding social engagement, it is important to recognise in what ways globalisation both illuminates specific aspects but also hides others. We have illustrated the kinds of features that it illuminates and we have identified areas that demand further reflection and indeed action by megachurches in the context of the global city of London. Much more can be said and done for the benefit of more people living in this mega city. It is worth observing that the context of globalisation does not fundamentally change the nature of the theological motivations which inspire and resource social engagement. Instead, it could be said to accentuate these motivations because they are understood to be even more significant in expressing the gospel across what might be perceived to be cultural boundaries. The concrete expressions of these motivations in social engagement activities are, of course, particular to localities, but they are also connected across continents and cultures. This is especially the case for west Africans who continue to be connected to family and friends back in their country of origin; their social engagement in the UK can and does inspire support for social engagement back in their home country and vice versa. The emphasis on the transformation of the individual before anything else by means of conversion and empowerment through Pentecostal spirituality aligns easily with the fluidity of globalisation and its relational networks. In this sense, theological motivations and globalisation reinforce each other. For the Anglican churches, which are also committed to evangelism and discipleship, globalisation has brought visitors, students and temporary workers to them. It will also take them away in due course, whether back to their home country or on to a new country for work. So, the opportunity is given for them to influence these significant and highly educated individuals. In this way, they are simply continuing in an Evangelical Anglican tradition of targeting the leaders of tomorrow with the gospel in the hope of influencing society for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Only in this case, the leaders of tomorrow are international ones coming from all over the world to the UK, thus discipleship is given a distinctly global twist.

Chapter 8

Implications for Church and Society 8.1 Introduction One of the significant aspects of framing this enquiry within the broader context of public theology is that, whatever we have discovered in terms of our research findings, it is always important to ask the ‘so, what?’ question. So, what difference might these findings make to our understanding of how these megachurches shape social engagement in the context of London and the UK? If research is a process of investigation leading to insights that are effectively shared, then how can the insights from this study be used to address the relationship between the churches, the Christian faith and the context of social need in the UK today? In this final chapter, we aim to summarise these specific forms of public expression of faith, characterised as a ‘megachurch public theologies’, and suggest certain implications for the church and its contribution to social policy. We achieve this goal by considering (1) public theology as informed by the actual practices of the megachurches studied, which includes a discussion of the nature of faith and the common good; (2) the implications for churches and church leaders, which includes a discussion of the way transformations are narrated, the scope of social engagement and the use of power and resources; and (3) the implications for social policy, given the relational approach and certain values, concluding with a number of specific recommendations. 8.2

Ecclesial Practice-Informed Public Theology

In order to consider an empirical approach to public theology, we discuss the following features: (1) a relational faith, (2) discipleship, transformation and the common good, and (3) scale, structure and social impact. 8.2.1 A Relational Faith Importantly, and consistently, across these megachurches, Christian faith was spoken about in terms of a relationship with God. People narrated their personal experiences of God, and particularly of encounters or incidents that made them aware of God’s love for them. Sometimes this occurred in the context of a conversation or interaction with another person, while listening to a

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sermon or participating in worship, when reading the Bible personally, or in what was described as a direct encounter with the Holy Spirit. The churches’ teaching was orientated towards encouraging and instructing people as they sought to develop this relationship with God, and to allow God to have increasing influence in every area of their lives. For some, this will not be a novel concept at all (after all Christianity is concerned with belief in God), but it is very much at odds with the way in which faith, or religion, tends to be dealt within the public sphere, and particularly when its contribution to society is discussed. For instance, in political discourse, we frequently see politicians applauding Christian ‘values’ and sometimes equating them, arguably problematically, with ‘British values’. We also see faith groups, and churches in particular, categorised as service providers, poised to respond to local needs as statutory funding diminishes. Even in academic analyses that have offered a much needed and nuanced approach to understanding faith groups, such as work around the concept of spiritual capital, the unique value of this contribution is nevertheless said to be found in the values and beliefs that faiths provide. Little, if any, mention is made of the claims of these churches that Christianity is not primarily a moral framework (though it would certainly include a moral vision as part of its worldview), but it is first and foremost about entering into, and learning about, a living relationship with God, made possible through Jesus Christ, and mediated by the Holy Spirit. The basis for this type of faith lies in an understanding of God as inherently relational, reflected both in the relationships between the three members of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and in God’s desire to relate to people, something that Jewish and Christian scriptures document in their various literary genres.1 It could be argued that the whole trajectory of the biblical canon suggests that the relationship with God is central to its message: from the accounts of the Garden of Eden in Genesis where God seeks out Adam and Eve (however this literature is understood), and his communication with the people of Israel through the prophets, through to the incarnation of Christ, engagement with his disciples and many other people in the Gospel narratives, the reported outpouring of the Holy Spirit after his resurrection on the day of Pentecost, and the promised future homecoming of the people of God set in the context of the new heaven and the new earth as represented in the book of Revelation. 1 For a discussion of the relationship of the doctrine of the Trinity to theological anthropology, see Stanley J. Grenz, The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of Imago Dei (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001).

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Not only is God seen by these churches as inherently relational: people are too. Of course, this corresponds with secular and non-theological analyses: from attachment theory in psychology through to the Office of National Statistics’ ‘Measuring National Wellbeing’ survey. The importance of social relationships to human wellbeing or flourishing is well attested, even if it often seems to be insufficiently considered in policy decisions that focus on cost-cutting at the expense of contact time in health and youth services, for example, or the relocation of social housing tenants without regard for their social and familial ties. But, for these churches, the relational nature of human beings is understood as one of the characteristics of their being made in the image or likeness of a relational God. Human beings are understood to bear some reflection of the nature of God [a theological concept expressed as Imago Dei, which has been interpreted in substantive (e.g. rational), functional (e.g. representational) and relational (capacity for relationship with God and others) terms].2 People’s desire and need for relationship is therefore seen as being God-given. Furthermore, it is the belief that all people are made in the image of God that forms the basis from which these churches teach, seeking to demonstrate through their relationships and engagement with society that all people are of great and equal worth and dignity. This dignity is regardless of their faith, gender, behaviour or any other factors.3 Significantly, then, this is a value that cannot be lost or increased, for example through ‘bad behaviour’ or even ‘good behaviour’. Here, again, this stands against popular conceptions of Christianity, where it is frequently assumed that churches consider people to be more or less valuable or deserving depending on how they behave. Importantly though, these churches understand the image of God to be damaged, if not lost, and the relationship between God and human beings to be broken, even if the language of ‘sin’ is rarely used. This human predicament is seen as having effects on all people and all creation, including the relationships between people. Some of these effects include injustice, poverty, suffering, conflict, abusive relationships, and so on, the kinds of things that much 2 See the basic description of these interpretations in Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995), pp. 498–512. 3 It is worth pointing out that the Christian tradition has always maintained the intrinsic dignity of each person, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, education and occupation and other characteristics because of this fundamental ontology. Of course, this has not always been expressed in practice, but it is nevertheless well represented in the history of Christianity. For a discussion of anthropology in recent theology, see Richard Lints, Michael S. Horton and Mark R. Talbot (eds.), Personal Identity in Theological Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006); and R. Kendall Soulen and Linda Woodhead (eds.), God and Human Dignity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006).

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social engagement and most social policy tries to address and prevent, where possible. In the Pentecostal and Evangelical traditions represented by these churches, human beings are usually seen as alienated from God and therefore as having a fundamental need for reconciliation with God. This is understood to be made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as saviour, because in this act Christ is believed to have taken upon himself the punishment for the sin of all humankind, leaving those who accept their need of his forgiveness free to relate to him as sons and daughters without the hindrance of guilt or distance. This reconciliation is regarded as an adoption into the family of the people of God, as well as an on-going relationship with God through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Thus, the new believer is not only understood to be reunited in a relationship with God but also now belongs to a body of believers locally and globally.4 The relationship with God that these churches talk about, and many of the people we spoke to claim to experience, is one that they believe is open to all people. Jesus Christ is understood to be inviting, seeking out and welcoming anyone who comes to him. For these churches, part of the responsibility of his followers – those who belong to the church – is to play a part in extending this invitation to other people, whether through praying for them, showing kindness and compassion, inviting people to events, building personal relationships, or talking about matters of faith and belief with them. There appears to be a genuine care for those who are regarded as vulnerable in society. Often the community of the church is expressed in familial terms, where personal support is offered over a protracted period of time. In terms of policy-making, or even the sociological study of churches and faith-based organisations, attempts are often made to distinguish between organisations or activities that involve evangelism – or proselytisation, as it is sometimes termed – and those that just do social action. For some churches and faith-based organisations, this makes sense: some are keen to avoid any association with evangelism, seeing it as coercive or narrow minded and perhaps not subscribing to the theology outlined above. Others give attention to evangelism, but consider it important not to mix it with services that are intended to help people in practical or other particular ways. However, these megachurches demonstrate that the distinction is not so clear-cut. A relationship with God is seen as being an intrinsic part of wellbeing or flourishing, both in the present context, and over an eternal time-frame (eternal salvation). It is something 4 See a standard Protestant exposition by Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 3rd edn., 2014), pp. 153–158; also see Anthony C. Thiselton, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015), pp. 149–153.

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that greatly increases people’s propensity and ability to change. Therefore, these churches do not really conceive of ‘evangelism’ (often expressed in terms of ‘sharing the love of Jesus’) and ‘social engagement’ as separable. Indeed, as noted in earlier chapters, it is partly through people becoming individual followers of Jesus Christ that they believe society will be transformed.5 Such a perspective, however, does not mean that all of the social engagement activities in which these churches were involved necessarily included overt proclamation of the gospel message in verbal or written forms. For example, in some cases, a service or activity would be offered underpinned by both a desire to express compassion and care in a practical way and by a longing for people to become Christians. But, in that particular context, there may be no preaching or formal teaching, except through the course of informal conversation. Some of the churches were set up in such a way that they could signpost those who showed an interest in finding out more about the Christian faith to courses or small groups that might be relevant for them. On the whole, it seemed to be the case that those engaged in social ministries regulated their own behaviour, and tended to be highly sensitive regarding when it was not appropriate to say or do certain things or when these things would not be welcome or well received. (There are different approaches to proclaiming the message for these Christians and not all of them would always practise the classic traditional Evangelical discourse when seeking to share the message of the Christian faith.) Analysis of faith-based social engagement from a social science or social policy perspective is often underpinned by an unwritten assertion that the desire for others to join one’s own faith is essentially a negative thing, being inevitably manipulative, self-seeking, controlling or disempowering of others.6 Clearly, there are instances where this has been and is the case; however, our study shows that this is by no means the only possibility. It is important to hear the voices of our participants who talk about a desire for others to experience God’s love, in a similar way that they claim to have experienced it for themselves. Undoubtedly, there is potential for the abuse of power, particularly in working with vulnerable groups, but in practice it seems that there may be more fear of, or at least tentativeness around, evangelism amongst Christians 5 The centrality of evangelism for American Evangelical churches has been observed by Stephen Offutt, F. David Bronkema, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Robb Davis and Gregg Okesson, Advocating for Justice: An Evangelical Vision for Transforming Systems and Structures (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2016), pp. 27–28, and so they advocate for the freedom of religion and especially the right to evangelise in society. 6 The issue of ‘conditionality’ should be noted as discussed in Chapter 2, see Grace Davie, Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), pp. 209–211.

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than amongst non-Christians, and that those who accessed services and were not interested in the faith seemed to be confident to do so without any sense of obligation on their part. In fact, people were actually very careful about how they shared their faith, and regulated their own language and practices particularly, for example, when working with the most vulnerable groups. In hoping that people will become Christians, and trying to find ways of making this more likely, these churches express and demonstrate an approach that seeks to release people into their own relationship with God. As such, this should not necessarily be viewed as paternalistic or controlling, but can be seen as potentially emancipatory (e.g. gaining freedom from addictions), helping people to grow in resilience and resourcefulness in relationship with God and with others. Arguably, it is the introduction of the relationship with God that offers the potential for overcoming problems around social power dynamics. For these Pentecostal and Evangelical churches, failing to offer this invitation, in fact, sustains an existing power imbalance, because it would amount to withholding the power of the Holy Spirit, which the Christians engaged in this social action claim is present to them. This power in them has the potential to benefit or ‘bless’ others. The desire for people to experience a relationship with God and become followers of Jesus Christ does not preclude these churches, or the Christians that constitute them, from collaborating with those who do not share their beliefs or experiences. In some cases, this includes collaboration between local councils and services, while in other cases the concern for ‘political correctness’ (and government ‘strings’) has led others to decide not to apply for state funding. Importantly, even though a Christian perspective on what constitutes human flourishing, or wellbeing, includes a relationship with God, this does not mean that these churches do not consider it possible to improve aspects of people’s personal and social wellbeing without particular reference to God, or without being or becoming a Christian. Indeed, human flourishing is seen as being of intrinsic value in its own right, even if incomplete. The same God who is understood to invite all people into a relationship with himself, is also understood to desire the good of all people, and to have given all people, regardless of their faith, the propensity to do good or bless others. This means that in general terms these churches believe that they should serve all people, irrespective of who they are and whether they convert to Christianity or not. 8.2.2 Discipleship, Transformation and the Common Good There is an expectation among these churches that those who decide to become Christians are entering into a relationship that will be transformative in an on-going way. It is likely to give rise to some changes in the way that

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an individual sees their identity, their purpose in life, their responsibilities to others and how they use their time, skills and money, for example. These churches have a vision for discipleship (following Christ) that involves being transformed oneself, and seeking to be part of the transformation of the world in which one lives. The Holy Spirit is seen as playing an important part in equipping followers of Christ on this journey, and is arguably understood to be the main agent in both personal and societal transformation. This vision for transformation is not merely a vague aspiration: many people in these churches have stories to tell about how their lives have been changed. There is a certain degree of involvement in small groups, which are about helping people to grow in their faith. There is an expectation of commitment and participation going beyond people simply assenting to certain views that society should be fairer or that people should not have to suffer so much. Specifically, it is assumed that Christians will actually use some of their personal time, money and other resources to make a difference regarding such matters. As we have seen, there is a wide range of social action or engagement, which are resourced primarily by volunteers from the churches, and often overseen, trained or organised by staff. The churches’ ministries, including their social engagement and personnel, are typically supported by the financial giving of the congregations, with this being another way in which it is understood that one can ‘pass on’ to others the good things that one has received. This opportunity may be important for members who are financially wealthy but who are ‘time poor’ because of a demanding work and family lifestyle. An important difference that the soteriological nature of the Christian faith seems to make to the willingness of people to volunteer their time is that they have a basis for offering hope for real change and, in many cases, stories of real change in people’s lives to back it up. This seems to provide a confidence and an impetus to engage with those who other people may ignore, perhaps because to engage feels too complicated and difficult or because it requires an intentional crossing of social and spatial boundaries. However, the structured opportunities that these churches provide for social engagement also play an important part in making volunteering possible and manageable. Some churches are very careful not to overburden their volunteers (e.g. specifying monthly commitments), although this does give rise to questions about whether this infrequent interaction really offers genuine ­relationship-building, or more of an educational opportunity. There is the potential for the depth of relationships to increase if the individual’s involvement in church increases. This can be seen in a good way, if a form of reciprocity that gives the person a choice about how involved they wish to get. The offer of relational support will increase the more they show an interest in the Christian message and the more they c­ ommit to

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church life. However, this could be seen to lay the churches wide open to criticism for offering more support as the person gets more involved in church life, but is it really as problematic as some may be quick to suppose? The people in the church are not paid to engage with vulnerable people. This study has found that not every volunteer working with these churches would claim to be a ‘Christian’ and, in many cases, volunteering did not necessarily require a Christian commitment to be made prior to service. The megachurches’ impact on the flourishing of their own congregations should not be underestimated as a social ‘good’. For example, htb has a strong emphasis on helping people build friendships in a city that can often be lonely and isolating (and this is echoed in the other churches). Other churches prioritise encouraging and helping congregational members to become more successful in their careers or personal lives, particularly where they may face o­ bstacles due to racial prejudice or socio-economic disadvantage. Both teaching about and examples of people’s lives being transformed seem to be an important source of hope and encouragement for many people in the megachurches. It accompanies a sense of confidence and belonging that can be nurtured through being part of a group with a common identity and purpose. Christianity is a corporate faith and, while these churches are extremely large, there are sufficient numbers of subgroups to support individuals who are struggling with a range of difficulties such as addictions, financial problems and migration issues. In some cases, this support takes place through organised courses and programmes, but in others it emerges through strong relational ties that bind people together in mutual support, despite personal problems of one kind or another, for example in the context of weekly small groups or teams serving in particular areas. Despite this strong personal support, another limitation of the ‘one-personat-a-time’ approach to social engagement, is that it means macro-scale structural injustices are unlikely to be challenged by the megachurches, at least not in a collective way. In spite of their scale, if the focus of the megachurches is purely on transforming the lives of the individuals who are in contact with them, and those who belong to them, there will be many people who are not particularly helped or enabled to flourish by them. A lack of overt engagement with structural and systemic issues in society more generally is a significant finding.7 It is interesting that this lack of engagement with the social structures is consistent across the different case studies. This finding resonates with the 7 Nevertheless, it is consistent with research in the US, see Offutt et al., Advocating for Justice, pp. 37–40.

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history of Pentecostalism globally: very often Pentecostal churches have been marginalised by the societies in which they have developed, and so, having been rejected by the established power structures, have tended not to engage formally with social and political structures. There have been attempts on the part of politicians to engage with the UK’s Black megachurches. For example, as noted previously, the former UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, spoke at rccg’s Festival of Life in 2015 shortly before the General Election. However, the two Church of England churches in our study arguably have far greater relational access to the corridors of political and economic power at national level in the UK. They have more developed relationships with local government in terms of providing and co-producing services in their respective parishes. Nevertheless, because of the history of British politics and the established Church of England, these churches are careful not to engage in public debate about social policy, but instead seem to use their influence via personal contacts in the government (sometimes privately but occasionally publicly, for example, the support of htb’s Alpha course by David Cameron in his 2014 Easter message). Before we dismiss the relevance of megachurches to social policy altogether, however, there are at least two caveats that need to be borne in mind. The first caveat has to do with the way in which these churches understand the Kingdom of God: this ties in well with both secular thought and theological debate about the common good. The second caveat concerns the way in which the social impact of these churches is distributed spatially, institutionally and across different spheres of life. In terms of the first caveat, the rhetoric of the ‘common good’ is not one that we find within the discourse of these church communities, but the concept is arguably present because in many of these social engagement activities there is the expression that they are for all people, not just Christians or those who may want to become Christians. The Roman Catholic tradition has defined the ‘common good’ in the following way: The common good also suggests that the good of each person, the wellbeing of the human person, is connected to the good of the other. That is, human beings only truly flourish in the context of community. Our wellbeing is experienced amidst a setting in which each persons also flourish. From this perspective we can say two things: Each of us has an obligation to contribute to the common good so that human life can flourish, and no description of the common good can exclude concern for an individual, writing off some person or group as unworthy of our interest. That is why human rights claims have become an important dimension of the

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common good in cst [Catholic Social Teaching]; no one should be denied the basic goods needed to join in the life of the community.8 Despite the intertwining of soteriological and social engagement discourse, there is still the view that common humanity requires Christians to love and serve all people. There is an expectation that the blessings of the kingdom of God spill over into society for the good of all. In this sense, the megachurches seek to bless society, not just through good citizenship, but also through their Christian discipleship expressed via relationship building. It is understood that not all people will become Christians, nevertheless they can experience some of the blessings of the kingdom in their lives through the witness of Christian disciples. This is the case when they are shown love and compassion, as well as support in their pursuit of justice. In offering these benefits to others they are consciously and intentionally including the socially marginalised and disenfranchised in ways that the secular, statutory services may not fully appreciate or understand.9 There are many areas where there is much scope for collaboration between people of different faiths and of no particular faith and, indeed, as our research has shown, some of the churches were providing opportunities for people to get involved in social engagement who were not part of the membership, for example through giving or volunteering. There was also collaboration with statutory agencies, such as the police and social services. We address the second caveat as part of a consideration of our final theme: scale, structure and social impact. 8.2.3 Scale, Structure and Social Impact A key focus of these churches is on the equipping of those who join them so that their individual lives increasingly reflects their Christian faith. This may have significant implications in terms of a person’s choice of occupation, how they do their job, how they spend or donate their money, how they relate to their families and neighbours, how they engage in political or campaigning activity and so on. Much of this has a diffuse, but arguably substantial, social impact. It would be insufficient to interpret their social engagement only in terms of the activities that are visible at the organisational or institutional 8 Kenneth R. Himes O.F.M., Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching (New York / Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2001), p. 36. 9 For further comment on this topic in terms of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, see: Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Renewal Theology and the “Common Good”’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 25.1 (2016), pp. 90–106.

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level. It was frequently reported that people were involved in volunteering for, or giving to, charities (some Christian, some secular) that were not organised by or related to the church itself. This more diffuse form of social engagement does need to be noted, even if it was beyond the remit of this particular study to investigate in any detail. As we mentioned earlier, these megachurches rarely translate a commitment to social justice directly into political or policy terms. Unlike some denominational bodies or Christian advocacy and campaigning groups, the churches themselves seem to be very careful to avoid appearing partisan or criticising government policy. In some cases, this is because members of the congregation are elected Members of Parliament (MPs), and often the churches are seeking to build good relationships with politicians from all parties. They wish to treat politicians as ‘human beings’, not merely as power holders or instruments to be manipulated for their own ends. There is also a sense in which, whilst politics is seen as important in these churches, it is not the primary remit of the leaders and staff to exert political or policy influence. Rather, they aim to encourage and stimulate both the number and nature of Christian disciples, some of whom will likely become involved in politics or other forms of social engagement as a result.10 Campaigning on specific issues, for example, may be more likely to be done by individuals, or clusters of people who form a grouping organisationally independent of the church, but in fact supported largely by people from within it. In this respect, the churches differed in the extent of their connections to those who hold political power. Some churches were attended by MPs and others involved in political life, for example, htb holds an annual politics prayer breakfast attended in 2015 by about 80 people including several Christian MPs and Peers, giving them an opportunity to be prayed for by others present. Another important function of all of these churches is the integration of new immigrants into London and the UK. What this looks like differs between the churches, partly according to the different origins and characteristics of the migrants they typically receive, but it includes nurturing feelings of community and belonging, seeking to make new arrivals feel welcome and cared for. Among the Nigerian megachurches in particular, there is an indication that they are providing a point of connection and celebration of transnational 10

This whole issue as it plays out in the American context is addressed by Offutt et al., Advocating for Justice, passim. Some of this material resonates with the Pentecostal megachurches in the UK, but the Church of England parishes represented in this study are part of a wider established church that has a long tradition of social and political involvement, including both co-option by and critical engagement with the state’s power structures.

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cultural identity for both new arrivals from Nigeria and those who are longer established in the UK. They offer guidance, support and solidarity in the navigation of UK culture, law, employment and public services. Although there is an expectation of participation, rather than just attendance, this looks different for many people, and as with any group of people there are various levels of commitment and involvement. Clearly, not all of the congregational members are involved in the megachurches’ organised social engagement activities. Indeed, in some cases, in spite of large congregations, there are relatively small numbers involved in social ministry. Therefore, there is a risk of these people being over-burdened or of the church having a much smaller level of involvement in the wider community than its size might indicate. Some are more effective than others in leveraging the economies of scale for social impact. Discipleship and service are influenced by church leadership – and in different ways – maybe by being told what to do (for example, where the leadership is more authoritarian), maybe through teaching, through the observable decisions a church has made about what ministries to resource and develop (for example, ‘since my church thinks engaging with homeless people is important, perhaps it is important to engage with them’, etc.), or through modelling of particular behaviours (welcoming strangers, showing hospitality). Involvement in organised social engagement activities is also influenced by the congregations’ availability. Many of those who attend megachurches are busy professionals, and/or young families with many commitments and demands on their time. Some congregations could be seen as ‘resource rich’ in terms of expertise and money, but ‘time poor’. Nevertheless, our research also documented examples of people giving up well-paid jobs or switching to working part time to initiate or develop church-based social engagement projects, as well as using their free time voluntarily to assist with these activities. 8.3

Implications for Churches and Church Leaders

In the light of this study, we suggest that churches and church leaders would benefit from reflecting on the implications in terms of (1) language and storytelling, (2) the scope of social engagement, (3) power and empowerment, and (4) the sharing of resources and collaboration. 8.3.1 Language and Story-Telling The language that churches and Christians use to articulate their understanding of the nature of social engagement matters. This is obvious, but very

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often communities are so embedded in their ‘language games’ that they do not fully realise how difficult it is for outsiders to understand and appreciate their discourse. In the context of conversations about public theology, this issue relates to the question of translation and communication. Finding a mode of discourse that expresses the faith commitment of these communities while at the same time communicating effectively to outside audiences is an on-going challenge. The identity of the community, we would argue, should not be compromised for the sake of relevancy, yet tightly bounded language games and religious practices that cannot be explained in ways that are accessible to nonreligious audiences will be perceived as irrelevant.11 It is the case that in the UK today there is greater religious illiteracy than ever, affecting not just the understanding of Christianity but other religions as well. We were impressed by the practice of htb, which probably has the greatest impact in terms of social engagement practices and influences on politicians because of personal relationships. They managed to facilitate an on-going engagement with politicians because of strategic engagement in the area of prison ministry and care of ex-offenders. In terms of their communication of their work, they did one main thing in two ways: they told a story of transformation and change for the common good. First, they told a story in terms of numbers. The Alpha course was changing x number of lives in prison because of a religious conversion and this, in turn, meant that recidivism was reduced. The follow-up work with ex-offenders meant that they were rehabilitated back into mainstream life and their lives were put back on track, so that their citizenship was being retrieved. Second, this story of impact through numbers was equally matched by strategic and personal testimonies of transformation at a very individual level. In other words, a personal narrative was articulated of change and improvement. Together, these two ways of telling the same story at macro and micro levels are mediated by the meso level of the church community. Telling the story of transformation, whether through numbers or through testimonies, is an important part of the churches’ communication and it has an historic place within Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. Testimony has always been an important form of discourse in the expression of faith. It is important that when these churches do communicate their stories that ‘God’ is not taken out of the picture for the sake of translation. Indeed, their stories would have no authenticity for their own audiences if it became humanistic discourse devoid of transcendence. Christian discourse needs to be allowed to be ‘Christian’ discourse and not squashed into some kind of homogeneous policy discourse that is alien to it. For many ordinary Christians, and indeed for 11

See the discussion of identity and relevance, as well as the issue of translation, in Chapter 2.

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these megachurches, they do not engage in a sophisticated argument based on tight logic or assiduously assessed evidence. That is not their mode of communication. They are not attempting to win an intellectual argument but witness to God in their lives and to the most vulnerable in society for their wellbeing. Perhaps one of the key findings from this study is the importance of keeping the relationship between people’s experience of God and their social activism connected. The main motivating factor from a theological perspective is that individuals and churches engage in social ministry because they are motivated out of love and compassion for their neighbours. These elements are rooted in and spring out of their commitment to the gospel message, that individuals and communities needs to experience the love of God for themselves. In a crucial sense the Christian message of salvation through Jesus Christ drives the motivation. This can be problematic for a secular audience to understand because of the fear of proselytism and religiously motivated conflict, which is evident in the contemporary world. However, church leaders know that they are able to mobilise their volunteers for these social ministries because of their integration of the gospel message with their activities. If this source of motivation were diminished then the engagement would dwindle. So, the narratives of engagement will always need to be placed within a larger and more comprehensive narrative of salvation and the kingdom of God, at least from the Christian perspective of these churches. This story-telling is, of course, influenced significantly by the leaders of these megachurches. All of the main leaders of these churches have big personalities and generate great loyalty and affection from their members.12 One of the aspects of megachurch studies that has been raised in the literature has been the influence of megachurch pastors as ‘pastorpreneurs’. They are innovators and shapers of Christian culture, adapting their communication techniques in the light of new technology and the growth of their churches. They shape the big ecclesial narrative into which social ministries fit and find their location. What is interesting from these studies is that it is very rare that these megachurch pastors are actively involved in social ministries themselves, even if they are guest speakers on specific occasions, for example during Christmas events. Rather, they delegate this work to others. They may be involved in high profile meetings with politicians and government officials from time to time, but it is not a major part of their ministry. This observation may be simply a 12

Although we have not focused on the nature and style of leadership in the megachurches, we do acknowledge that it is an important aspect of these churches, see Scott Thumma and Dave Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America’s Largest Churches (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007), pp. 55–77.

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function of time and of priorities, since they are extremely busy people. But it reinforces the idea that while these ministries may be regarded as important they are still secondary to other roles required by the senior pastor. One of the reflections emerging from this study is that if social engagement is going to be sustained and resourced in the long term, there needs to be a tight narrative fit between the activity and the endorsement and support from the leadership of the organisation. 8.3.2 The Scope of Social Engagement One of the important findings from this research is the role that churches play as social units within a context such as London. Of course, London is an extremely large city in relation to the overall size of the UK and is disproportionate in its influence geographically. But this is the nature of global cities as noted in the previous chapter. What is important in this context, but also more generally, is the role that church congregations play as meso-level units in society, often invisible in their work addressing social needs.13 Very often we think of public theology operating at the macro-level informing national debate and resulting social policy. Alternatively, we think of it resourcing individuals at a micro-level in terms of personal discipleship practices in the place of work, where Christian values are enacted for the sake of others. But in between these two social units is a third mediating one. Congregations function to mediate the macro to the micro and back again. They assist individuals in the formation of their beliefs and values, but they also, from time to time, speak directly to politicians and policy makers out of their experience of social engagement with the larger community. Furthermore, they have a direct impact on their local community even within a large city such as London. They influence the landscape with their buildings and facilities and mediate between the different social realities simply by their presence. One of the major influences that meso-level units such as congregations have is in fact the mobilisation of volunteers. Very few organisations mobilise volunteers as religious communities do and the churches in the UK are very successful at doing this when other organisations are beginning to flounder. One of the findings of this research is that volunteering among megachurches in London is proportionally quite low, but because of the sheer size of these churches the raw numbers look very impressive indeed. Compared to even large size church of 500–1000 worshippers the number of volunteers mobilised is significant. This availability of human resources means that a range of 13

See the study by Ram A. Cnaan, The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare (New York: New York University Press, 2002).

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activities are possible, which would not be possible for smaller or medium size churches. However, one observation is perhaps in order at this juncture. It appears as though Anglican megachurches are more successful at mobilising their members for social engagement rather than the African diaspora ones. One possible reason for this is that the African diaspora churches are largely attracting immigrants to their worship services, who are themselves adapting to life abroad in a major European capital. The fast pace of life, long commuting and working hours, as well as the demands of family and the learning of new cultural norms means that ‘time’ is in short supply. These folk are engaged in worship and church-based events, but often they do not have the resources to give extra hours to ‘outside’ focused activities. Whereas the Anglicans, although attracting lots of international visitors and students, are largely composed of settled middle-class indigenes. While they may work in demanding jobs, they do not have the time consuming pressure of integrating into a new culture which means they have potentially more ‘free’ time to use for volunteering activities. When we evaluated the social engagement activities across the five different megachurches, we realise that there is an impressive array of activity. It is impossible to calculate the economic value of this kind of work because it is not just about the ‘hard’ hours of face-to-face work, but also the ‘soft’ hours of preparation, planning and travel to and from venues. It would be worth churches auditing their own activities, not only for self-reporting purposes but to explain just what it is that is given in terms of time and money. There is a significant link between the giving of time and money in relation to altruism or benevolence, and this has been noted already within the study of Pentecostalism.14 Further research on the relationship between resource allocation and the different kinds of social engagement activities would be a useful addition to research in the field. One area where we thought there could be more development, and which reflects the nature of megachurches globally, is collaboration. On the whole megachurches do not collaborate effectively and in a sustained manner with other megachurches or other churches except where it is strategically necessary. They are the centre of their network hub and while some of these networks are extensive and indeed fluid, because they do change over time, their ‘brand’ lies at the centre of these relationships. In other words, collaboration happens when it is a stepping-stone to other goals, usually for a limited period or as a one-off event. Of course, this is less evident for some churches, for example, All Souls, Langham Place functions like most city centre Church 14

See Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Religious Socialization and Benevolence: A Study among American Pentecostals’, Journal of Beliefs & Values 34.1 (2013), pp. 46–63.

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of England parishes, where the parish is comprised largely of shops and businesses. But for others, for example kicc, despite events like their annual conference, which provide a platform for their brand and maintain their influence globally among prosperity-type megachurches, they do not build relationships with other congregations and share resources and activities. htb, in effect, is run like a para-church organisation, according to one person who commented on the church. This is because it has now planted over 30 churches around the UK and has Alpha offices in over 50 countries. It is its own brand and network. Others can join in with that they are doing, for example, the Leadership Conference, which serves leaders around the UK with high quality training, but they appear too powerful to allow others to change their trajectory. They have been so successful, why would they change? Perhaps there is a Christian imperative about the rich becoming poor, so that the poor might become rich (2 Corinthians 8.9)? So, the question is what would it take for these megachurches to collaborate with other congregational units, to share resources and dissipate their power through an investment with others? A critical area for consideration is the relationship between social engagement as acts of altruism or charity, whereby individuals are helped on a personal basis and more systemic approaches to the issue of poverty reduction, access to resources, health care, education, employment and civic benefits.15 In almost all cases the systemic issues behind the allocation of resources or life opportunities are not addressed by these churches.16 In the African diaspora churches there is certainly a desire for upward mobility and a narrative of selfbetterment.17 These communities genuinely wish to help their members become more socially mobile and this social-economic agenda is very much part of their ecclesial culture. It could be argued that the Anglicans do not need to provide this social mobility since most of their members have already ‘arrived’ and in fact have been at or near the top of the socio-economic tree for

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Arguably, this has its roots in eighteenth century Evangelicalism, even if its contribution to the development of social work provision was to be secularised, see: Graham Bowpitt, ‘Evangelical Christianity, Secular Humanism, and the Genesis of British Social Work’, British Journal of Social Work 28.5 (1998), pp. 675–693 (p. 681). Also see the biography of William Wilberforce by Eric Metaxas, Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (New York: HarperCollins, 2007). This is the main argument articulated by Offutt et al., Advocating for Justice, who observe that most Evangelical groups operate in terms of evangelism, development and welfare, p. 37. However, David Conradson, ‘Expressions of Charity and Action towards Justice: Faith-based Welfare Provision in Urban New Zealand’, Urban Studies 45.10 (2008), pp. 2117–2141, suggests that this shift is beginning to occur. Cf. David Martin, Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), pp. 145–149.

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quite some time. But the question could be raised: why is it the case that such powerful social units, with access to certain power structures in society, would not wish to speak out or campaign on such issues? Clearly, individuals within these churches have and do engage on a periodic basis, but there seems a reluctance to move from individual level work to society level work. Of course, many conservative church groups are concerned about being side-tracked, as they see it, into social issues such that they lose their focus on preaching the gospel. But, given that some movement into social engagement has already been achieved, it appears odd that no engagement at a systemic level has been attempted. One reason perhaps is the fear of getting embroiled in issues that are regarded as ‘politically correct’. Since they feel that their beliefs and values are now ‘politically incorrect’, it is best to keep quiet and let others speak or act. This is an area that needs further research since there is a strong tradition of social responsibility in the Church of England, and this is also reflected in the Churches Together structures. 8.3.3 Power and Empowerment Human relationships are always power relationships.18 This is true in life in general as it is true in all religious life. There is no zone or dimension in any relationship that is free from the influence of power by one person in relation to another. It is very much part and parcel of the human condition. Indeed, to state this fact is to state the obvious. All human beings, whether they realise it or not, are power brokers. At one extreme we have modern day slaves whose lives have been ruined by an extremely minimal amount of power. Whereas at the other extreme we have dictators whose will to power appears to know no limits. Most human beings live somewhere in the middle of different power relations and develop ways of navigating a path through the power terrain of different contexts and cultures, and these include Christian subcultures as well as wider society. Given what we have learned about these churches, it is worth reflecting on their use of power and how this power is mediated and facilitated in the context of a spirituality, which is generally concerned with the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the key questions in ecclesiology is the mediation of the Holy Spirit to Christians, such that they grow in their discipleship reaching maturity in the faith. For many Evangelical Christians, this mediation of grace is focused on the Bible and its reception in worship and in the context of study and prayer,

18

See the discussion by Stephen Sykes, Power and Christian Theology (London: Continuum, 2006).

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as well as its application to all areas of life. For many Catholic Christians (in the sense of the catholic tradition broadly conceived and not exclusively Roman Catholic), the mediation of grace is focused on the sacraments of the church; and the church confers authenticity of grace by its regulated practices. For many Pentecostal Christians grace is mediated through both of these practices but also through extended worship times, where the presence of the Holy Spirit is experienced in tangible ways and in specific practices such as the laying on of hands and prayer for healing and other needs. With the mediation of grace always comes power to mediate to others. There is always an element of control, or legitimate authority regulated by a denomination or a leader or a group of some kind. In all of these contexts, power is exercised by leaders who represent the church internally and externally. The question that this role raises, and indeed other more minor leadership roles held by the laity, is whether the exercise of power, especially in these social engagement ministries, is in any way coercive or manipulative? Is there a conflation between perceived divine power and human power, such that they are confused? In some Pentecostal contexts this is an issue because the senior pastor is the main and only broker of divine power because of his ‘anointing’. To what extent does the Pentecostal preference for hierarchical leadership models influence this mediation of power in terms of the ecclesial culture and the social ministry? It should be said that in all of the material that we gathered across these five different megachurches, we did not encounter examples of coercion in terms of evangelism. For sure, evangelistic ministry was and is intertwined with many if not all of these social ministries. This is what we would expect from Pentecostal and Evangelical churches committed to communicating the central Christian message. But what we did not find was evidence of manipulation or control, such that access to services and resources were ‘conditional’ upon a person taking part in a worship service or making a Christian profession of faith or committing themselves to a course of attendance for a period of time. In many cases, volunteers were very concerned not to come across as pushy in terms of their faith sharing but would only share their faith as part of a structured event or when invited to do so by a client. This is not quite what we expected to find. There was greater sensitivity than we thought would exist, so our own preconceptions were challenged at this point. However, this does not mean that coercion never was or never will take place in these churches, but it does mean that there is sensitivity to the power issue that we did not expect to find. Nevertheless, the nature of the exercise of power in a religious context, as in other contexts, is worth reflecting upon critically for the sake of the dignity of all concerned. Is there an ethical approach to evangelism that could be adopted by these churches as a matter of policy, which would seek to

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protect the vulnerable from abuse?19 Should a standardised approach to the ethics of evangelism be expected by denominations, boards and trustees, as well as funders of these churches? At the very least, it might be expected that churches that are engaged in evangelism alongside social ministries would put in place guidelines for best practice. For many people who do become Christians through a first point of contact via social engagement activities, it has been transformative of their lives. The narratives that are told confirm the classic conversion accounts of someone in a crisis seeking help and discovering along the way that there is a divine power to assist them in their quest and this is also part of the megachurch narratives.20 They expect individuals to convert to Christianity on a daily basis: they plan for it, understand it and believe that it is at the heart of what they are meant to be doing. In this regard, they are simply in line with historic Christianity as a missionary movement, as well as the standard human rights thinking which has enshrined in international law the right of one person to change their religion when it is a free decision made by themselves without any coercion.21 Politicians and social policy makers should be aware that, for such people who do convert, their lives are in the process of being changed quite substantially. For many new converts, their life priorities change, their circumstances change, sometimes for the better but sometimes for the worse, and these changes can have a drastic impact on their family relationships, social relationships and work relationships. Therefore, while it can be a personally empowering journey, it can also be a difficult one as well. What was not always clear in the material we gathered was just how committed these churches were to the long-term, sustained care of converts, given their size and

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For an example of ethical evangelism, see the discussion by Louise Nelstrop, ‘When Buddhist Women Go to Church: Reflections on the Nature of Ethical Mission’, in Mark J. Cartledge and David Cheetham (eds.), Intercultural Theology: Approaches and Themes (London: scm Press, 2011), pp. 93–111. The research on religious conversion suggests that it is an active process rather than a passive one, see Lewis Rambo, Understanding Religious Conversion (London: Yale University Press, 1993); for research among Pentecostals see Mark J. Cartledge, Testimony in the Spirit: Rescripting Ordinary Pentecostal Theology (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010), pp. 55–80 and Grace Milton, Shalom, the Spirit and Pentecostal Conversion (Leiden, Brill, 2015). See the United Nations’ ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, Article 18, which states that: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance’. http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human -rights/ (accessed 11 January 2019).

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busyness. This is one area that requires further research in order ascertain just how individuals are nurtured through the different stages of conversion. 8.3.4 Resources and Collaboration Megachurches by virtue of being very large churches have a lot of resources. Sometimes these resources are very tightly managed so that there is no slack in the system. One of our team said to a church leader that he thought their church was rich, to which the answer was, we are not rich because we have no money in the bank at the end of the financial year. Everything is budgeted for and spent, so we carry no capital. This comment sounds extremely impressive until one remembers that the church in question (which will not be identified) contains so many wealthy individuals that they function a little bit like ‘the bank of mum and dad’, ready to bail out the church when necessary. Not all of these megachurches would be in a similar situation, but most could raise substantial amounts of capital if required to do so for the ministry of the church. Given their ‘hub’ structure, in most cases they can also mobilise resources (people, expertise and money) from one area to another on the basis of need. This model is something that smaller churches could emulate, even though they do not have access individually to the scale of resources that megachurches possess. We also recognise there is a megachurch economy of scale: there are simply things that megachurches can do because of their huge resources. But smaller churches can pool resources, including expertise, equipment and buildings in order to produce cost effective social engagement activities that could not be achieved by one church alone. Therefore, we would suggest that small and medium size churches consider identifying projects or issues around which there is some energy and adopting a ‘hub’ model, where one church takes the lead and others act as outposts to their lead church. On different issues other churches can take the ‘hub’ role, with remaining churches functioning as outposts. This could be an effective model for the distribution of resources for the mission and ministry of social engagement in communities around the UK and even elsewhere in the world. According to circumstances, it might be possible to partner with other voluntary and statutory services using this hub/outpost model. 8.4

Implications for Social Policy

Given the discussion above, we argue that the social policy community would benefit from considering the following implications in terms of (1) a relational

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approach, and (2) a values approach to megachurches specifically and faith communities in general. 8.4.1 A Relational Approach The preceding chapters illustrate the kinds of things that churches are doing in terms of social engagement and, importantly, why they act in the ways that they do. These descriptions and explanations provide policy makers with valuable insights to help them understand the megachurches’ organisational values and culture. Hopefully, they are better placed to enter into conversations around concrete and practical activities for the sake of communities, groups and individuals. What is important from a policy perspective is that they are not homogenised under the rubric of ‘religion’ or even ‘Christianity’, but rather that they are treated as distinct expressions of living religious traditions. So, one of the practical steps that local and national government officials can take is to listen to megachurches on their own terms and offer a flexible, relational approach to responding to their work and their motivations for doing it. Communication is always a key component of any relationship so any practical steps that can facilitate communication in terms of policies and procedures would be welcome. Since these communities function in a highly relational manner, it is important for social policy makers to reflect this modus operandi back to these churches in their dealings with them. Highly bureaucratised systems might suit public service management, but these systems are not how church organisations work, so recognising these culture differences is an important step to greater cooperation. The role that churches play as meso-level units in society should be recognised much more fully. We noted their mediating role above. In terms of the practical approach to social policy, it is important for policy makers to recognise this meso-level influence and begin to factor it into their thinking when developing relationships with individuals as well as groups who represent congregational life through their social engagement activities.22 We observe how congregations shape individuals through their teaching and community life and this influence is then taken out into the world of work, leisure and volunteering in many different contexts. Therefore, policy makers could review their standard faith engagement protocols to reflect the significant socialisation role that congregations have, as well as their influence on the social and geographical landscape of local communities.

22 Offutt et al., Advocating for Justice, pp. 115–117, argue that congregations are also important units for the advocacy of social justice and this is often undervalued or missed completely.

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As a result of a relational approach adopted by policy makers and government funders, it would be possible for joint agendas to be developed. Instead of churches always seeking to attract funding from previously defined schemes or according to local government agendas, it could be possible to define priorities jointly based on the local knowledge of these church communities. This knowledge is also part of the meso-level role of the churches because not only do churches contribute to their local communities but they also benefit from their concrete locations themselves. They have local knowledge, which is invaluable to understand how a given context operates. Of course, communities change over time and so does the knowledge generated by these congregations, but their engagement over a protracted period of time means that their accumulated knowledge base is often an untapped source of information. Given the approach suggested here, an on-going and strongly relational mode may well produce long terms solutions to what may appear intractable problems through a collaborate approach to social engagement. 8.4.2 A Values Approach We have suggested that a relational approach by policy makers and government would be a beneficial posture in terms of how megachurches, and indeed other churches, access resources for the sake of social engagement. We also think that there is space for some principles or values as well. We think the following values would be useful as starting points for discussion. 1. Valuing the whole person. One of the important findings from this research is that megachurch social engagement tends to treat people as whole people. Their social, physical, psychology and spiritual needs are all intertwined and necessarily so. What does it mean for social policy makers to treat people holistically? It would mean challenging any reductionist account of humanity, based on economic value or utility. In the context of public services, educational resources and social benefits, it would mean taking all aspects of the human condition into account. Greater resources would be needed to do this effectively, so there are cost implications, but with the example of these churches it is surely possible. 2. Valuing the relational. There is one aspect of the whole person approach that needs to be stressed. If one of the key lessons from this study is the fact that people are in need of strong personal relationships to survive, and conversely people do not flourish where there are poor personal networks, then attending to the mental health of vulnerable individuals is significant. In a big city such as London, there can be poor relationships and much loneliness. Attending to how the most vulnerable in society access the benefits of social relationships

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should be just as much a priority as providing basic health care, food, clothes and shelter. 3. Valuing a relationship with God. As an extension of the previous point, we would like, at the very least, to raise the issue of a relationship with God as relevant to social policy. We realise that current social policy is largely based on a materialist reading of reality and so ‘God’ as such is relegated to a belief that cannot be empirically tested. Thus ‘God’ is treated as a cultural product and respected in varying degrees as part of some people’s worldview and cultural commitments. We agree that ‘God’ cannot be empirically tested. Nevertheless, beliefs in God have significant social impact; beliefs are real in their consequences. Policy makers should be encouraged to take God-beliefs and attendant religious practices seriously as explanatory factors in their engagement with communities of faith. By extension, this means valuing a worldview which has God at the centre rather than at the periphery or lacking entirely. 4. Valuing hope for change. One cannot research these megachurch Christians without realising that they are people of hope. They believe that God changes peoples’ lives. They believe that even the most difficult of adverse conditions or circumstances can be changed for good. There is a general narrative of betterment that is underpinned by hopefulness of transformation. While it may be true that some expectations are overly optimistic, it is also the case that holding out the possibility of change for better is in itself a catalyst for change. Policy makers should also recognise hope as a value undergirding their interaction with faith communities for the sake of the common good. 8.4.3 Specific Recommendations While these churches’ corporate engagement with social policy may be quite minimal, our research has some important implications for the ways in which policy makers and those involved in political and public life seek to engage with and talk about churches, about Christianity, and about faith more generally. Furthermore, as others have suggested more generally, the principles that these churches teach and seek to embody may also offer valuable insight for policy-making. Some of the possible policy implications of our findings are as follows: 1. There would appear to be strong grounds for collaboration between these churches and statutory and voluntary sector actors towards the ‘common good’ of society. Many of the aspects of well-being or human flourishing with which the churches are concerned correspond with those of the state, those held by

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other faith communities and people of no particular faith who are engaged in helping others. However, it should be noted that such collaboration may not involve running services at the request of the state, or providing them at a scale or level of systematisation sufficient to remedy gaps in provision arising from cutbacks in government funding. 2. Church growth and discipleship are important for resourcing and sustaining these churches’ activities, especially caring for and affirming the volunteers who staff the various provisions. Many people get involved because of their faith – and sometimes also because of friendship: both relational and spiritual connections are important in mobilising people’s involvement. Thus, efforts to separate out ‘faith’ and ‘social action’ will likely undermine the resource base and effectiveness of the latter. 3. Megachurches represent huge resources of volunteers, and it seems likely that there is untapped potential, particularly among those with less developed structures for getting people involved in social engagement. However, it is important not to see this as simply ‘free’ labour. Choosing to volunteer comes at a cost of doing something else, and churchgoers are no less busy than other members of society – juggling jobs, families, hobbies, housework, etc. These churches tend to be quite savvy about not making excessive demands on their members’ time, particularly since many are busy professionals and/or have families. This is an important difference to bear in mind from some accounts of Anglican churches which focus on those with elderly congregations who are likely to be comparatively time rich, even though numbers will be much smaller. 4. Many of the churches are involved in feeding homeless people. Yet there is a cost required to train people with regard to food hygiene in the voluntary sector. One clear concrete step that could be taken is for policy-makers to make the necessary hygiene training free of charge to those volunteering in the voluntary sector. 5. Where local or national government funding is (or may be) allocated to projects run by faith-based organisations, this project highlights the need, and ­potential for, a more nuanced understanding of issues around conversion, evangelism and the sharing of personal stories about the influence of a reported relationship with God. In conjunction with existing initiatives such as Faith Action’s ‘Covenant for Engagement’, there may be grounds for developing resources to help decision makers consider what particular practices they are concerned about, rather than whether a service is ‘evangelistic’ or not. While

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we welcome the ‘Covenant for Engagement’ as a positive step forward, it would benefit from being more nuanced. For example, among the elements that faith groups promise to do is to serve ‘equally all local residents seeking to access public services they offer, without proselytising, irrespective of their religion, gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, mental capacity, long term condition or disability’.23 The language of ‘proselytising’ is, in our view, unhelpful because of its pejorative connotations. What should be clarified is that participation in religious or explicitly evangelistically activities should not be considered as a condition of access to services. Is evangelism rightly constructed as a threat or imposition, or is there room to consider alternative voices, including those who would claim to be inviting other people to share in the best thing that has happened to them? Such possibilities suggest that there may be different, more constructive ways to approach this issue, which is also of relevance to other religious traditions and their relationship to social policy issues. The Christian Muslim Forum in the UK offers a practical and thoughtful approach to this matter, for example.24 6. Many of those involved in working with some of the most vulnerable people in our society on a voluntary basis are motivated by the kind of faith that our account has described. This should perhaps call into question the way in which this kind of faith is often misrepresented and dismissed in public and academic debate. Those shaping public debate would do well to avoid the presumption that people working in professions such as education, law, medicine, and so on are by definition ‘above’ what is sometimes presented as the naivety or ignorance of letting one’s life be shaped by a religious faith. It has become commonplace in universities and many mainstream media channels to presume that a well-educated person, unfettered by dwindling societal pressure to ‘go to church’, is almost by definition someone who does not practise a faith in an holistic way. However, such attitudes seem to be changing, partly because of the growth of other faith groups in the UK, as well as the growth of Evangelical, Charismatic and Pentecostal churches, and their increasing – and increasingly visible – involvement in social engagement. 7. The relational perspective taken by these churches may hold important wisdom for re-humanising public services and politics. Inter-personal contact is valued highly, and loneliness is recognised as one of the major issues 23 24

http://www.faithandsociety.org/covenant/full/ (accessed 8 February, 2017). http://www.christianmuslimforum.org/downloads/Ethical_Guidelines_for_Witness.pdf (accessed 8 February, 2017).

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in contemporary society. The relational emphasis may also have significance for social cohesion because support and assistance are given across social and cultural categories. 8. Congregations such as those we have studied arguably serve as important meso-level units in society: the social impact of churches reaches far beyond their organised, social engagement activities. When policy or academic analysts consider the contribution of churches to society, they would be unwise to attribute this merely in terms of the activities they organise – though these may be indicative of the churches’ relative commitment to social issues. They have a ‘presence’ in communities and localities that influence and shape the social landscape and mediate macro and micro social realities in significant ways (e.g. the strengthening of social institutions, such as marriage, as well as the role of parents). Members also take this mediating influence out into their everyday lives. Many will be seeking to influence society through their jobs, through their relationships with friends and family, through other voluntary work, and so on. 9. It seems very likely that our future public and political life in the UK will need to be informed by a much greater religious literacy and sensitivity, not only regarding the key festivals and teachings of different faiths, but also regarding the lived experiences and worldviews of those who practise them and those who do not. How these interact with each other in public life, whether at the level of local communities, national policy making or global politics is something that requires more careful attention. 10. We all now live in a globalised world, where there is a compression of time and space and a flow of information and people and resources from different parts of the world. Megachurches are expressions of these transnational people flows and the social issues being confronted in one part of the world can be mirrored in the UK as well. What happens in Lagos can and does affect people in London in concrete and very particular ways. Social policy needs to have a more global awareness, while at the same time attending to domestic realities because they are deeply intertwined and cannot now be separated.

Chapter 9

Conclusion We conclude this study with a brief summary of our findings from the megachurches studied and their key practices of social engagement. We suggest how this research may be developed towards a constructive ecclesiology, given the empirical data that we have explored. We also suggest how this study is significant for scholarship and recommend areas for future research. 9.1 Summary The two kinds of megachurch in this investigation (Anglican and African diaspora Pentecostal) have similarities and dissimilarities, which are, to a large extent, determined by their traditions and dominant cultures. The Anglican churches are still framed by their Church of England state church and parish systems, over which they have added a cosmopolitan dimension. They are international churches and have been for some time, so their ‘mega’ status is simply a development in size of their existing ethos. Both these Evangelical Anglican churches, as one would expect, have a soteriological narrative at the heart of their ministry. They are concerned to ‘win souls for Christ’, so evangelism is central to their life and work. But they are also holistic and perceive mission and ministry in integrated terms and it is out of this holistic concern that social engagement flows. Both have a concern for ‘discipleship’ and being followers of Jesus Christ in all areas of life, including the world of work, as well as home life and leisure. All Souls emphasises discipleship in terms of joyful obedience, that disciples follow the way of Jesus Christ and from this life and lifestyle is developed a concern for the poor, the destitute and the local community. Its location in a global city means that it has an orientation towards the international other and sees its discipleship work as influencing the nations for Christ. htb has its roots in the same kind of Evangelical spirituality but has added a charismatic dimension following the influence of the Charismatic Renewal movement of the 1970s, the visits of John Wimber in the 1980s and the Toronto Blessing in the 1990s. In this spirituality, love for the other is not just an obedient action but also an experiential disposition. The experience of God’s love, and especially the love of Jesus, empowers the disciple to engage in acts of compassion, all made possible by the Holy Spirit. But this spirituality has also been ‘branded’ and ‘packaged’ because the church has been influenced by market rationality. For example, the evangelistic course, Alpha, © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:10.1163/9789004402652_010

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has been refined and branded to such an extent that it is now regarded as virtually synonymous with the church. The megachurch market mentality appears to be present as a reality, although saying this in no way detracts from the significance of the course for those who experience conversion. Both churches aim to transform society for the common good, by changing one person at a time. They assist individuals to live out their faith in their spheres of influence and by cooperating and collaborating with public sectors where possible. They also use their social standing as ways of influencing people in power, especially htb because of the greater public profile of Nicky Gumbel due to the role of the Alpha course in prisons and its impact on re-offending. The transformation of the global city is thus seen as a natural outworking of individual piety, citycentre parish life and the support of church programmes that engage with the most vulnerable in society. However, there appears to be no strategic systemic approach to social justice from a Christian perspective. The African diaspora Pentecostal churches are very different to these two state churches and lack the historic resources that the Church of England as a denomination gives, as well as the automatic social status, at least historically. Instead, they are fiercely independent, providing a home from home for largely west African immigrants in search of a better life and they are largely populated by younger and affluent professionals who are enjoying the benefits of a global city and all that it has to offer. Once again, there is a soteriological narrative, like the Anglican churches they preach a gospel of personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord. But they also perceive themselves as part of a wave of Christianity sent to re-Christianise the nation, after the collapse of its moral vision. They believe that the UK (and Europe) has turned away from Christian values upon which its civilisation was built. This understanding of ‘reverse mission’ is a dominant narrative: they are here to transform the city, to make it more Christian. However, in terms of actual numbers of indigenes converting and joining their churches, it appears problematic because they have not materialised. Instead, their work among indigenes and other migrants from Eastern Europe has been via their social engagement ministries and it is these ministries that have provided an outlet for evangelism and ministry in a broader sense. Their size has attracted attention both positively and negatively. The media has focused on the prosperity gospel and financial issues, especially in relation to kicc, while politicians have seen Jesus House as a model of African assimilation, thus giving it a unique voice in relation to the political powers.1 Thus, social engagement activity, while flowing from an attempt to imitate Jesus Christ, also contributes to a narrative of adaptation 1 Although it could be said that politicians appear to treat all religions similarly, see, for example, David Cameron attended an all-night prayer meeting at Jesus House followed by prayer

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and acceptance within broader British society. From this attempt to navigate the cultural and religious differences of British society comes the opportunity to express a voice on behalf of Black people and especially African migrants. Once again, structural injustices are not addressed head-on, instead individuals and communities are empowered through education and support, thus establishing the assimilation and socio-economic stability of future generations. At the outset of the project, the researchers articulated five basic questions, which we now consider in turn. What is the nature and significance of social engagement among the megachurches of London? When this portrait is compared to the social ministry typology outlined by Unruh and Sider, it can be seen that these five megachurches, although very different in many ways, are also similar. Unruh and Sider define social ministry in terms of (1) relief services – giving a hungry person a fish – directly supplying food, clothing etc.; (2) personal development – teaching a person to fish – empowering individuals to improve their physical, emotional, intellectual, ­relational and social status; (3) community development – giving people fishing equipment – renewing the building blocks of a healthy community, such as housing, jobs, health care and education; and (4) systemic change – helping everybody get fair access to the fish pond – meaning the transformation of unjust political, economic, environmental, or cultural systems, which is often ­accomplished through advocacy methods.2 These churches tend to work at ­levels (1) and (2) as noted above, offering relief and empowering individuals. There are elements which could be seen as moving in the direction of community development, especially in relation to career support and job training, as well as educational support. But these churches often work in partnership at level (3), which is probably what we should expect in the UK today. Even megachurches do not have the resources to start their own housing provision or schools and they do not need to do so. But the context of London means that it makes more sense to partner with existing providers in any case. None of the five churches appear to be involved in explicit and consistent advocacy for systemic change because this would take them into a political realm and the dangers that would bring to their ministries. htb’s commitment to the transformation of society does not clearly spell out how this would be done systemically; and the at a Sikh temple, see: https://www.thecable.ng/attending-redeemed-church-london-vigildavid-cameron-prays-sikh-temple (accessed 28 August, 2018). 2 Heidi Rolland Unruh and Ronald J. Sider, Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 29.

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commitment of Jesus House to social justice similarly lacks explicit action plans. Where these two churches perhaps stand out is in their courting of political figures for the sake of social influence. It is possible through private conversations that systematic issues are discussed, but as a form of corporate activity systemic issues are not addressed explicitly. How do theological motivations influence the social engagement of megachurches, especially when viewed in connection with the impact of transnationalism and globalisation? There is a clear impact of theological motivations on social engagement. These churches are engaged in mission and social engagement is part of that mission: it is inextricably tied to the proclamation of the Christian message. The love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of these Christians is what motivates them to give of their time and their talent, as well as their money for the sake of others. They seek to love their neighbours as themselves. Of course, theological motivations are also influenced by other motivations, such as self-betterment, social uplift and greater influence in wider society. It is also the case that transnationalism and globalisation affects the two types of megachurch differently. The Anglican churches are places of hospitality for transnational visitors and short-term members, while the African diaspora churches are a ‘home from home’ that are intimately connected to families and friends back in west Africa in particular. Globalisation opens up the possibility of connections and immediacy, which in turn places mission in a transcontextual framework. The lives of these churches are influenced by Christian forces outside of the UK, just as much as they are in the UK. In what ways do contextual and cultural factors influence and shape megachurch theological motivations for social engagement? It is certainly the case that the Church of England provides an ethos and a framework for both of the Anglican churches, whereby city parish ways of working are brought alongside international evangelism and discipleship priorities. These ecclesial cultural factors shape how they go about their social engagement, with an emphasis on ministry to both the insider and the outsider to the congregations. The prevalence of middle and upper-middle class Evangelicalism is obvious in both churches, even as they have had to adapt to receive worshippers from outside of these dominant cultural classes. For the African diaspora churches, they are navigating a path in a different cultural context in the hope of supporting their members to settle in their new location and to flourish. There is a narrative of ‘reverse mission’ and self-betterment,

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but alongside this narrative sits another one of adaptation and settlement (hence our use of the ‘bridge-head’ metaphor). Social engagement activities are pursued for Christian motives but also as symbolic actions that suggest these churches have adopted aspects of mission appropriate to their setting, in other words as a form of contextualisation. How might current discussions within public theology about the relationship between religious faith and the public sphere inform the theorisation of empirical data on megachurch social engagement? As we have described, public theology on the whole is not constructed from the basis of congregational studies. When we view public theology from this perspective drawing on empirical data, we see that congregations are making connections to faith in the public sphere in a variety of ways. This theology may be undeveloped and indeed may be in need of critical review, depending on the position one wishes to take. But, in our view, there is a role for discerning what ecclesial praxis plays in the expressions of public theology. This is especially the case when one considers the possibility of ‘operant theology’, that is the enacted theology of individuals and communities. Public theology, in our view, needs to consider this enacted theology much more intentionally. This brings public theology into conversation with corporate espoused theology, as well as the sociological explanations of the dynamics at play, for example in relation to globalisation. What is the nature and extent of faith-based social capital associated with megachurches in London and how might this social capital contribute to a dialogue between megachurches, other substantial urban churches, and the makers and influencers of social policy at city and national level in the areas of community enhancement and development? It is clear from this study that social capital, both in terms of bonding and bridging capital is a significant by-product of megachurch social engagement. As noted previously, it is unwise to conceptualise the church as an instrument of social capital as if that were its main or only purpose. Churches are committed to soteriological narratives rather than social capital ones. Nevertheless, it is clear that social capital is a significant feature of their corporate lives and it is generated to different degrees and with variable benefits. Of course, it cannot be quantified precisely, but it can be described at least in a provisional fashion. In between these descriptions of social engagement activities and their significance for the city of London and beyond, we get a glimpse of lives being supported and changed through relationships. Indeed, relationality is at the

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heart of the mission of these churches. Other churches can certainly learn about the importance of this relationality, and indeed social policy makers could benefit from conversations on this subject as highlighted in our previous chapter. Given these summary answers to the questions posed at the beginning of this study, and given the ecclesial focus of our enquiry, it could be asked: is there a way of construing ecclesiology in the light of these kinds of social engagement? In other words, is there such a thing as an ecclesiology of social engagement, that perhaps has wider application beyond megachurch studies? 9.2

Towards an Ecclesiology of Social Engagement

This study has provided insights into the nature of social engagement when viewed from the perspectives of agents within megachurches in London. The material gathered and sifted has provided important contributions to public theology, especially the undeveloped aspect of ecclesial praxis. As noted in Chapter 2, actual, concrete ecclesial praxis is not usually mapped and used to contribute to public theology. What has become clear from this study is that churches, and especially very large churches, function as meso-level units in society and thereby link the micro world of individuals and groups to the macro world of broader society as a whole. This influence can be magnified through denominational structures and global networks. This social unit, therefore, has potential for shaping individuals and groups in both directions: from society to the individual and from the individual to society. The portraits painted in the section above in many ways demonstrate this mediating role in British society, even for migrant churches, as well as established and indigenous ones. But what this picture does not do is to express an ecclesiology of social engagement. Here, we wish to move from a descriptive and explanatory account of these megachurches, what they are and why they do what they do, to a more constructive account. How might we suggest a theological conceptualisation of the nature of church that is orientated towards social engagement? In other words, is there is an ecclesiology of social engagement that transcends these megachurches? Cartledge has previously suggested that Pentecostal and Charismatic ecclesiology can be understood to comprise: pneumatology, relationality, sacramentality and mission.3 It is an ecclesiology that works with and alongside different ecclesial traditions, but it also provides a framework for understanding 3 Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Catch the Fire: Revivalist Spirituality from Toronto to Beyond’, PentecoStudies 13.2 (2014), pp. 217–238. It is also a development of an earlier discussion of

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megachurch approaches to social engagement as well. Pneumatology is central to Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity and the motivational narratives combine the energising role of worship with a clear pneumatological dimension. Given the focus on obeying and imitating Jesus in the narratives, it should be stated that this pneumatology should be balanced with Christology: imitatio Christi is empowered by pneumatology. Relationality is also central despite the challenges of size, hence the use of small groups, as well as the metaphors of family and friends. Social engagement is placed within a clear context of relationality as individuals and groups are opened out into the wider community and society. Sacramentality is often referred to as the extended use of signs, symbols and gestures or actions accompanied by words to signify a divine-human encounter, or ‘means of grace’. It can be used rather flexibly. This is a significant way of construing social ministry practices within an ecclesiological framework because acts of kindness in themselves become signs of the Kingdom of God to their recipients. When accompanied by Christian soteriological narratives they are linked to the gospel as an echo of the narratives associated with Baptism and Eucharist. Mission is central to the identity of Pentecostal and Charismatics and is essential to their ecclesiology. This is expressed in the language of evangelism and gospel proclamation. Cartledge identified the pull/push dynamic of missiology as characteristic of this type of ecclesiology, especially when the main congregation is the hub at the centre of a network of international locations.4 People are pulled into the hub or centre for training and resourcing before being propelled out in mission to wider society. This is repeated in different ways among these megachurches and global connection accentuates the pull and push dynamic in transnational ways. Given this ecclesiological framework, it is worth considering sacramentality in a little more detail as it is related to Evangelical social engagement and Godly Love as an expression of it. Evangelicalism is a broad theological tradition and has intersected with Pentecostalism around the world, sometimes stressing its affinity and sometime stressing its difference. Omri Elisha suggests that Evangelicals have used social engagement practices in a sacramental sense, by which he means there are resonances and symbolic parallels to Roman Catholic social engagement. There has been an increased interest and focus on suffering and compassion in the model of Christ, as the Body of Christ. The church is mandated and empowered to ‘heal ecclesiology, see Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Renewal Ecclesiology in Empirical Perspective’, Pneuma: the Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 36.1 (2014), pp. 5–24. 4 Cartledge, ‘Catch the Fire’, pp. 217–238.

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all manner of temporal suffering while simultaneously administering the means of eternal salvation’, which resonates with the incarnational and the redemptive suffering motif in Roman Catholic theology.5 Evangelicals have also developed the same logic, says Elisha, by understanding compassionate responses as the means by which transformative spiritual experiences are facilitated for both the beneficiaries and those ministering in terms of their discipleship development. While explicit sacramental language is rarely used by Evangelicals to frame their social engagement practices symbolically, Elisha notes the ‘idiom of grace’ is used: They (the ministry agents) spoke as though they believed that concrete spiritual outcomes could take effect, or were taking effect, as an immediate or direct result of benevolent services and acts of compassion they performed. … perhaps paradoxically, charitable gifts and works were also frequently idealised as literal embodiments of grace and thus, in turn, opportunities to transmit grace from one individual to another.6 Direct and intimate interactions with people in need are therefore understood to be instantiations of the mediating and transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, they see themselves as channels of hope and changed lives through the use of everyday objects blessed by prayer.7 Elisha suggests the more that Evangelicals understand their social engagement ministries as means of grace and not a lesser alternative to gospel proclamation, the more ‘they allow the theological significance attributed to nonproselytic acts of mediation to be intensified’.8 It is here that concrete acts of Godly Love could be a form of sacramental expression. Beneficiaries of these acts receive material benefits, but they also receive potential grace as mediated via these acts because of the Christological and pneumatological dimensions of the acts themselves. The signs of kindness are given freely for the sake of the gospel and the needs of the beneficiaries. Elisha further narrates how Evangelicals have borrowed from the Roman Catholic tradition by drawing upon the Catholic Social Teaching of the 5 Omri Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now? Specters of Catholicism in Evangelical Social Engagement’, in Brian Steensland and Philip Goff (eds.), The New Evangelical Social Engagement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 73–93 (p. 81). 6 Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now?’, p. 84. 7 At the same time, Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now?’, observes that this kind of social engagement can produce a kind of paternalism, in which grace is possessed more by others and thereby dispensed by them to the needy (p. 85). 8 Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now?’, p. 85.

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‘­common good’, used by ‘compassionate conservatives’, such as Chuck Colson in the 1990s and developed by Evangelicals in the 2000s.9 This new posture is well stated by Elisha when he says: The latest generation of engaged [E]vangelicals is eagerly drawn to ambitious holistic initiatives regarding social welfare, economic uplift, and environmental sustainability, broadly conceived. These include entrepreneurial ventures such as micro financing program[me]s, development projects, and profit-sharing arrangements guided by common good principles as opposed to strictly profit-driven market principles. Moreover, my own research shows that recent evangelical forays into the field of urban renewal reveal a tendency to rely on certain utopianist ideals and millennial notions that straddle the line between competing notions of kingdom now and kingdom come, thereby allowing visions of imminent social reformation to coexist alongside long-term visions of ultimate reward… Catholic social teaching highlights continuities rather than ruptures between this world and the kingdom of God, and it furthermore calls on would-be disciples to embody ‘faithful citizenship’ through public as well as private action, and with concern toward institutional structures as well as pious devotions. This is a model of engagement that [E]vangelicals are undoubtedly drawing nearer toward, in both principle and practice.10 The relationship between sacramentality and the common good within the larger eschatological concept of the kingdom of God is certainly worth noting. Indeed, recent academic Pentecostal and Charismatic eschatology would emphasise a renewal of creation rather than a rupture of it. This means that there is a closer link to Roman Catholic thinking than Elisha acknowledges, even as the concept of the kingdom of God remains central to their eschatological discourse. When we relate this understanding from Elisha to the ecclesiological framework of Pentecostal and Charismatic spirituality, we may regard social engagement as a form of sacramentality since it provides an opportunity to meet with and resource individuals and groups of people in concrete symbolic ways. In turn, it provides an opportunity to build relationships and invite people to experience corporate worship as a form of the mission pull. This interaction between social action and corporate worship no doubt continues for some 9 10

Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now?’, pp. 88–89; also see: Mark J. Cartledge, ‘Renewal Theology and the Common Good’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 25.1 (2016) pp. 90–106. Elisha, ‘All Catholics Now?’, pp. 89–90.

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time until the individual decides to avail themselves of some process of commitment and is evangelised. Once evangelised, the person over time becomes an active member of the group and moves from the periphery over the membership line into deeper relationships with other members of the group. This process eventually leads to mobilisation whereby they are directed into some form of ministry, which may be internal to the life of the church or which may contribute to the overall mission push of the church in its attempt to influence society in a variety of ways. It could be suggested that the kingdom of God provides the overarching concept and gives the theological context within which the church engages with society. That is, the church is an eschatological community experiencing the in-breaking reign of God. The kingdom can be discerned in wider society and by engaging in sacramental social engagement, associated as Godly Love, the church itself becomes a signpost to that kingdom and a collaborator with others for the sake of the common good. 9.3

Significance of the Study and Areas for Future Research

As we conclude our study, it is worth noting what we have achieved and suggest areas for future research in megachurch studies, Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity, public theology and social engagement. This is the first detailed academic study of megachurches in the UK. As such, it breaks new ground and allows other researchers to appreciate the nature of megachurches in Europe better in order to make some further comparisons with other parts of the world. If Europe is an exceptional case to the rest of the world in terms of declining religiosity, then the city of London is an exception to that exception, hosting as it does the largest number of megachurches in Europe. This study places the ecclesial praxis of social engagement firmly within the domain of public theology, which has not engaged in empirical studies as enthusiastically as it might have done. In this development, it would do well to follow the direction of practical theology. So it adds to the discourse of public theology how social engagement might be considered from an ecclesiological perspective. It does not detach theological ideas from their roots in church life but seeks to elaborate them from the perspective of the agents themselves. The study also brings together different kinds of perspectives from theology, anthropology and sociology in order to address social policy as well as ecclesiology. There are very few studies that have this range of interdisciplinary discourse and reflects the strength of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers working collaboratively. The study also contributes to Pentecostal and Charismatic studies because it highlights the significance of these types of churches and, in

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particular, the ways in which theology and culture combine through migration flows and global networks. It offers a snapshot of different churches that are a social force in the UK and globally. In a fast-changing world, we need to be attentive to both the particulars and the universals of Christianity. This study allows us to do that and, hopefully, better informs us of the potentialities and challenges for and from religion in the contemporary world. There are a number of areas that can be identified for future research. First, this study could be replicated in different contexts and among different types of churches. While we have focused on megachurches, there are a large number of churches attracting 1000+ people that would not be considered ‘mega’. Nevertheless, they would be worth studying to understand their impact locally and globally. So, this study could be replicated among these large churches. It could also be replicated among other megachurches in Europe more generally. An early pilot study revealed a growing number of megachurches in Europe of approximately thirty, and many of these have not been researched in any depth in order to appreciate their life and engagement with the societies in which they are situated. Second, public theology is a contested designation for the relationship between faith and society. While we have used this designation and engaged with its field of study, we are also aware that at times there can be a loss to the distinctly ‘theological’ nature of public theology, so there is certainly more research required to appreciate this relationship and in particular how theological categories may or may not be translatable. The relationship between theology and public life is an important one that cannot be ignored. Third, it is clear that the church is involved in specific ministries to vulnerable people, be they homeless, ex-prisoner, children, especially migrants, and those caught up in human trafficking. Further detailed studies of church engagement are required, showing how concrete practices are changing lives but also changing church communities as a consequence. One issue that stands out because of its explosion over the last decade is human trafficking. Only one of the churches we studied was involved in supporting statutory services, but we are aware that the churches’ response is evolving as the situation develops globally. This is an important issue for future research, even if there are risks involved. Fourth, we have placed this study in relation to ecclesiology and in particular Pentecostal and Charismatic ecclesiology. As always, the nature of church and its work continues to be a pressing matter for research because of its role in global society and its importance in shaping different cultures. The mesolevel significance of congregations is something that we noted and it would be worth researching in much more detail.

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Index of Modern Authors Adedibu, Babatunde 14–15, 215 Adkins, LaTrese 58 Aechtner, Thomas 299 Alvarsson, Jan Åke 42 Anderson, Allan Heaton 9, 19 Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena 24, 43, 61, 62, 73, 310 Au, Ho Yan, Connie 10 Baker, Christopher 85, 87, 307 Barnes, Sandra L. 54, 57, 59 Barber, Kendra Hadiya 58 Bax, Josephine 11 Bazeley, Pat 34 Beadle-Holder, Michelle 59 Beaumont, Justin 85, 87, 94, 96, 307, 311 Bebbington, D.W. 7 Bennett, Dennis J. 9 Bellofatto, Gina A. 3 Bello, Walden 294 Berger, Peter 62 Beyer, Peter 269 Bickley, Paul 109 Bird, Warren 42, 45 Boli, John 292 Booker, Mike 132 Bopp, Melissa 59 Bowler, Kate 53 Bowles, Tuere A. 58 Bowpitt, Graham 335 Breitenberg Jr., E. Harold 85 Brenner, Neil 4 Bretherton, Luke 104, 111 Bridge, Gary 293 Brieskorn, N. 96, 366 Brock, David 293 Brown, Callum G. 93 Bruce, Steve 93 Bryman, Allan 88 Buckingham, Heather xi, 5, 113 Bulloch, Sarah L. 112, 256–257 Burgess, Richard 4, 18, 22, 98, 191, 215, 216 Cairns, B. 110 Campos, Leonildo S. 67

Cantle, T. 114 Caric, Nikola T. 296, 297 Carney, Charity R. 52–53 Cartledge, Mark J. xii, 2, 6, 8, 10–13, 24–25, 28, 30, 71, 78, 80, 84, 88, 130, 195, 286, 328, 334, 338, 351, 352, 354 Casanova, José 229 Chafetz, Janet S. 110 Chapman, Alister 10, 158, 159 Chapman, Mark 7 Chapman, Rachel 87 Chatterjee, Ipsita 294 Chaney, Cassandra 59 Chaves, Mark 42, 80 Chevreau, Guy 13 Chin, Joy Tong Kooi 64 Clapham, Barbara 122, 124, 127, 138 Clifton, Shane 68, 297 Cloke, Paul 94, 95, 96, 99, 108, 110, 115, 117 Cnaan, Ram A. 333 Coleman, James S. 5 Coleman, Simon 22, 75, 216, 219 Connell, John 68, 69, 70 Conradson, David 106, 110, 113, 117, 335 Cox, Harvey 300 Crisp, Justin E. 107–108 Daniels, Joseph P. 52 Daswani, Girish 298 Davie, Grace 92–93, 94, 95, 97, 111, 300, 323 Davies, Andrew xi, 2, 24, 25, 27, 71, 78, 80, 195 Davies, Charlotte Aull 24 Davidsson, Tommy H. 42 Davey, Andrew P. 308, 314 Day, Katie 87 de Gruchy, John W. 90 Dinham, Adam 99, 102, 106–7, 108, 110, 112 Dixon, Marcia 232 Dixon, Patrick 13 Doe, Norman 304 Dorrien, Gary J. 88 Droogers, André 4, 297–298, 301 Dudley-Smith, Timothy 157–8, 175 Dunlop, Sarah 5, 32–33, 121, 125–130, 133, 143, 154, 156, 163, 165, 169–172, 179, 184, 186

385

Index of Modern Authors Eder, Klaus 95–96 Edwards, David L. 8, 18 Elisha, Omri 352–3 Ellingson, Stephen 44, 53–54, 80–81 Endersbee, Mary 158, 160 Erickson, Millard J. 321

Hussain, Dilwar 112 Hutchison, R. 110 Hynes, Maria 69

Fath, Sébastien 4, 70–71, 75–76, 78 Farnell, Richard 112 Field, Clive 94 Field, John 5 Finneron, Doreen 112 Flory, Richard 302 Forrester, Duncan B. 90–91 Frahm-Arp, Maria 61 Freston, Paul 23 Furbey, Robert 108, 112–113, 115

Jackson, Robert 99 James, Aaron B. 44, 50–51 James, Jonathan D. 43–44, 62, 64–65, 67 Jamoul, Lina 110, 113, 115 John, Peter 256 Johnsen, Sarah 110, 117 Johnson, Todd M. 3 Jawad, Rana 100, 102–103

Garrard-Burnett, Virginia 44 Gibbs, Eddie 43, 51–52 Gill, LeRoi L. 56 Glaser, Barney 34 Goh, Robbie B.H. 69, 307 Goodhew, David 94, 97–98 Graham, Elaine 85–86, 87–88, 89–91, 96–97, 305 Grenz, Stanley J. 320 Guest, Matthew 98 Guiness, Os 45 Gyülekezte, Hit 70 Hamalainen, Leila 87 Hammersley, Martyn 30 Habermas, Jürgen 87, 95–97 Hackett, Rosalind I.J. 62–63 Hand, C. 132 Hardy, Alister 29–30 Harper, Michael 10 Harris, Hermione 18, 25 Harris, M. 110 Hawkins iv, Barney J. 7, 303–305 Heard, James 13, 132, 313 Hilborn, David 13, 124 Himes, Kenneth R. O.F.M. 328 Hocken, Peter 9–10 Hollenweger, Walter, J. 15–17 Horton, Michael S. 321 Howarth, Catherine 112 Hunt, Stephen 12, 14, 16–22, 123, 132, 215, 218, 313

Ihejirika, Walter C. 62 Ireland, Mark 132

Kalu, Ogbu 22–23 Kay, William K. 8, 65 Kim, Sebastian C.H. 3, 63–64, 90 Kitchen, Sarah Juliet Michaelson 256 Klaver, Miranda 77 Knibbe, Kim 4, 98, 216 Krause, Kristine 301–302 Leach, Monica T. 58 Lechner, Frank J. 292 Lee, Matthew T. 285–286 Lewis, Amandia Speakes 56 Lints, Richard 321 Lowndes, Vivien 107, 110, 363 Lowe, Stephen 85–87, 89 Macey, Marie 108 Maier, Katrin 22, 216, 218–219 Mannion, Gerard 86 MacCulloch, Diarmaid 7 MacLaren, Clare 102 Markham, Ian S. 7, 303, 304, 305 Martin, Bernice 4 Martin, Pamela P. 58 Matthewes, Charles 91 May, Tim 136 May, Jon 110 McCann, Dennis P. 87 McGuire, Meredith B. 93, 293, 295 Metaxas, Eric 117, 335 Meyer, Birgit 4, 301 Mhogolo, Godfrey Mdimi 305 Migliore, Daniel L. 322 Miller, Donald E. 285

386 Miller, Patrick D. 87 Mitchell, J. C. 30 Milton, Grace 338 Mohan, John 112, 256–257 Moore, Anna 149 Moore, Sharon E. 57 Moses, Crystal George 56 Neil, Stephen 6, 7, 303–304 Nelstrop, Louise 338 Offutt, Stephen, F. 323, 326, 329, 335, 340 Okon, Godwin B. 62 Olson, Elizabeth 98 Olofinjana, Israel 14–15, 17–18, 20, 23–24, 217, 219, 230, 232 Omerod Neil J. 297 Osgood, Hugh James 25, 97, 98, 192 Paddison, Angus 85, 89, 91 Paeth, Scott R. E. 88 Palmer, Sharon 112 Patrick, Le’Brian 59 Paris, Peter J. 59, 60 Percy, Martyn 132 Perez, Roland 67 Pfister, Raymond 76 Perriman, Andrew 24 Poloma, Margaret M. 285–286 Porter, Jeremy R. 52 Pipes, Paula 110 Post, Stephen G. 286 Price, Clive 123–124, 130 Putnam, Robert D. 5 Puzynin, Andrey 60, 70–71 Pytches, David 12 Quaas, Anna 4, 216 Rambo, Lewis 338 Reddy, Y.A. Sudhakar 65–66 Reder, M. 95 Ricken, F. 95 Ritzer, George 64 Robbins, Joel 298–299 Roberts, Roland 293, 295 Rocha, Cristina 69 Roger, Keil 4 Romanillos, José Luis 94–95, 99

Index of Modern Authors Sachs, William L. 303 Sanks, T. Howland 315 Sargeant, Kimon H. 302 Sassen, Saskia 293 Satyavrata, Ivan 293, 296–297 Schmidt, J. 95 Scholte, Jan Aart 295 Scotland, Nigel 11 Sinitiere, Phillip Luke 53 Smith, Dennis A. 67 Smith, Greg 110, 111, 112, 114–115 Sorokin, Pitrim 285 Soulen, R. Kendall 321 Springer, Kevin 12, 42 Stackhouse, Max L. 85–86 Stålsett, Sturla J. 297, 300 Steffensen, Leslie Nuñez 7, 303–304, 305 Strauss, Anselm 34 Stott, John R.W. 8, 10, 157–161 Studebaker, Steven M. 293, 296 Sykes, Stephen 336 Talbot, Mark R. 321 Tanner, Mark 14 Tangen, Karl Inge 70 ter Haar, Gerrie 18, 21–22 Terry, Justyn 7, 303–305 Thiemann, Ronald F. 86, 91–92 Thiselton, Anthony C. 322 Thumma, Scott 2, 42–47, 57, 60, 64, 71, 78, 79, 81, 332 Tillich, Paul 89 Torry, Malcolm 237 Tracy, David 89, 91 Travis, Dave 2, 42–44, 46, 48, 57, 64, 71, 77, 332 Trost, Theodore Louis 300 Tucker-Worgs, Tamelyn 55–57 Twitchell, James B. 49–50 Tye, Catherine 122, 124, 127, 138 Ugba, Abel 15–16, 18 Ukah, Asonzeh 23 Unruh, Heidi Rolland 5, 113, 116, 348 van der Ven, Johannes A. 88, 106, 301 Vermeer, Paul 76 Volf, Miroslav 107 von der Ruher, Marc 52

387

Index of Modern Authors Wade, Matthew 69 Währisch-Oblau, Claudia 298, 302 Wakefield, Gavin 8 Walker, Andrew 122 Walton, Jonathan L. 55 Wanner, Catherine 4, 72–75 Ward, Graham 91 Ward, Kevin 302, 304 Ward, Peter 132 Wariboko, Nimi 293 Warren, Mark R. 112 Watling, Tony 132 Watson, David 12, 122–123 Webb, Benjamin 59 Weber, Max 29 Welsby, Paul 158 Whiteley, Paul 258 Whyte, William Foot 31

Wiegele, Katharine L. 64 Wier, Andy 117 Williams, Andrew 108, 110, 117 Wilkinson, Guy 112 Wilkinson, Michael 293, 295, 298, 299 Wills, Jane 110, 113, 115 Wimber, John 12 Wollschleger, Jason 52 Wolffe, John 98 Wood, Natasha 256 Woodhead, Linda 96, 98, 99, 321 Wuthnow, Robert 5 Yin, Robert 30 Yip, Jeaney 45, 68–69 Zehavi, Amos 108

Index of Subjects African Diaspora Pentecostal churches 4, 21, 36, 78, 97–98, 191, 196, 201, 218, 250, 262, 268, 280, 290, 299, 308, 334–335, 347, 349 Akindayomi, Josiah 19, 215 Adeboye, Enoch 19, 61–62, 215 Alpha conferences 131 course 33, 36, 78, 106, 125–126, 130–139, 144, 148–149, 153–156, 261, 266, 282, 288, 308, 313, 327, 331, 346–347 in prison 138 magazine 124 publishing 130, 133 Senior 133, 148 small group 132 website 131, 138 Youth 133 Articles of Religion 6–7 Ashimolowo, Matthew 23–25, 78, 190–192, 195–196, 199, 200–202, 212, 219, 258–259 Baptism in the Spirit 8, 12, 63, 235 Barrett, Thomas Ball 8, 15 Bennett Dennis 9 Bonnke, Reinhard 19 Brem-Wilson, Thomas Kwame 15 Brown, A.D. 16 Charismatic focused 47 ministries 133, 155 piety 54 Renewal Movement 9, 19 spirituality 8, 11, 43 studies xi, 1, 60 Cho, Paul Yonggi 19, 64 Churches All Souls Church 4, 10, 13, 33, 36, 78, 121, 156, 157, 168, 170 All Souls Local Action Network 33, 166–168, 170–175, 178, 260, 273, 288 broadcast 160 clubhouse 33 Day Centre 171–172

discipleship (Christian explored) 164–165 fellowship groups 165 history of 157–161 vision of 161–166 Celestial Church of Christ 18 Christ Apostolic Church 18 Gateway House 229–230 Jesus House for All Nations xi, 4, 22, 46, 78, 190, 191, 193, 201, 228–229 congregation numbers 217 history of 215–217 influence of 218–219 interchurch relations 219 worship 219–220 social engagement Christmas Activity 223–225 food bank 222–223 Novo Centre 221–222 prayer walking 226–227 Christians against Poverty 225–226 Holy Trinity Church (Brompton) 4, 12, 36, 78, 121–122 Alpha course (see Alpha) global outreach 135–136 history of 122–124 parish 122 social engagement bereavement 152–153 debt advice 145–146 elderly 147–148 ex-offenders 137–139 homeless drop-in 139–141 homeless winter shelter 141–142 hospitality 146–147 ID (eating disorder) 153–154 marriage 148–150 money course 144–145 parenting 150–152 prison (see Alpha prison) post abortion 152 recovery course 142–144 William Wilberforce Trust 136–138

Index of Subjects worship services of 126–130 vision of 124–125 Kingsway International Christian Church xi, 4, 22, 36, 78–79, 190–191, 196 Bible institute 194, 197 congregational numbers 78–79 context (see history of) 190–194 history of 190, 191–194 leadership 197–199 local and global 194–196 location (see history of) 190–196 organisation (see leadership) 197–199 social engagement 202–203 career counselling 205–206 Christmas hampers 208–212 educational initiative 203–205 homeless 206–207 worship 199–202 New Wine Church xi, 4, 36, 79, 190–191, 193, 201, 217, 249–250, 251 history of 229–232 congregation numbers 232–233 leadership 233–234 worship 234–236 recruitment 236–237 social engagement care for the elderly 247–248 Christmas activities 241–243 community outreach 243–245 John Wilson Pantry 237–241 miscellaneous activities 248–249 prison and immigration 245–247 oversea missions 248 Church Denominations Assemblies of God 15, 67, 69 Baptist 9, 16, 71–72, 79, 131, 230 Church of England 1, 4, 6–11, 13–14, 79, 94–95, 98, 102, 121–122, 156–157, 162, 164, 189, 209, 250, 287, 289, 290, 302–305, 311–312, 327, 336, 346–347, 349 Church of God 16, 18 Church of God of Prophecy 16 Church of God in Christ 15, 16, 18, 42 Methodist 9, 16, 79, 123, 131, 235 New Testament Church of God 16, 18 Redeemed Church of God 4, 19, 61, 191, 215

389 Roman Catholic 9–10, 43, 64, 67, 75, 97–98, 122, 131, 209, 227, 327, 337, 352–354 Vineyard 7, 11, 12–13, 123–124, 131, 189 Church Traditions Anglican 6–7, 9, 10–11, 13–14, 17, 31, 36, 122–123, 125, 128, 130, 131, 158, 176–177, 260, 277, 290, 292, 302–305, 308, 311, 318, 334–335, 343, 346–347, 349 Anglo-Catholic 8, 122, 304 Classical Pentecostal 3, 9, 10, 11, 16, 21 Charismatic Anglican 13–14, 122, 130 Charismatic Evangelical 4, 14, 123 Conservative Evangelical 4, 13, 44, 158, 287, 290 Evangelical Anglican 8, 123 Holiness 8, 19, 55 Independent 3, 16, 18, 44, 53, 79, 94, 97, 131, 191, 196 Independent African 14, 18, 61 Independent African Pentecostal 20 Independent Charismatic 13, 47, 55, 75 Independent Pentecostal 3, 20 Orthodox 94 Protestant 20–21, 57, 63, 78, 81, 84, 91, 108, 211 Roman Catholic (see above) Third Wave 25, 90, 137, 169 Wesleyan 22 community 2, 4–5, 17, 21, 23 data (see Qualitative Research) empirical 11, 15–16, 41 collection (gathered) 43, 44 general 47 Pentecostal 287 database 220 discipleship 12, 36, 46, 51, 61, 86, 134, 162, 185–186, 188, 189, 227, 251, 257, 260, 262–263, 267, 269–270, 288, 308, 311–314, 318–320, 324–325, 328, 330, 333, 336, 343, 346, 349 Ecclesial Practice 36, 116, 319 Ecclesiology 4, 28, 35, 37, 117, 336, 346, 352, 356 Pentecostal 351, 356 Social Engagement 118, 351 Edwards, Joel 18

390 Ekarte, Daniel 14 Evangelical Alliance (ea) 24, 230 Gee, Donald 15 Hagin, Kenneth 23 Harris, Reader 8 Holy Spirit 8, 10–12, 27, 44, 47, 65–66, 78, 124, 130-131, 133, 154–155, 220, 235, 246, 264, 267, 271, 280, 287, 298–301, 320, 322, 324–325, 336, 346, 349, 353 Hooker, Richard 7 human trafficking 5, 183, 189, 316, 356 Immigration 4, 94, 96–97, 100, 245, 309, 316, 334 Nigerian 4, 20 Caribbean 15 centre 245–246 Jea, John 14 Jeffreys, George 8 Keswick Convention 7–8 Liberal Theology 8 Lyseight, Oliver 16 Megachurches 2, 4, 5, 6, 14, 20, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31, 41–45, 49, 52, 55, 60, 61, 80, 199, 249, 266, 305 African diaspora 78 Australia 67–70 Brazil 67 Europe 70–75 France 76 India 65–57 Korea 63–65 London 2, 36 Netherlands 76–77 studies xi, 1, 35, 42 Ukraine 71 America (usa) 80–82 Multicultural 15, 47, 161, 228, 268, 309 Newman, John Henry 6 New Wine Network 12, 193

Index of Subjects Peddie, G.S. 16 Pentecostal/Pentecostalism 2–4, 7, 10, 14–15, 18–19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 47, 65, 67, 71, 74, 82, 97, 122, 189, 288, 290, 292, 298–301, 311, 317, 322, 327 African 191–192, 347 Anglican 347 British 8 Caribbean 16 Christianity 3–4, 43, 62, 255, 264, 284–285, 297, 331, 337, 352 church xi, 1–4, 7–11, 14–23, 25, 27, 36, 41–43, 47, 61–63, 65, 67, 71–72, 74, 76, 79, 82, 94, 97–98, 117, 122, 123, 131, 189, 190–193, 196, 201, 209, 212, 216, 218–220, 235, 249–250, 260, 262, 264, 268, 271–272, 274, 278, 280, 282–285, 287, 290, 292, 324, 327, 344, 347 context 337 discourse 290 eschatology 354 Ghanaians 191 interviewees 258 League of Prayer 8 message 297 ministries 62 Mission Union 8 movement 8, 23 Nigerian 191 services spirituality 8, 61, 63, 250, 318, 354 studies xi, 1, 356 Plessis, Dave du 123 Prosperity Gospel 20–21, 23, 53, 57, 61–62, 75, 78, 201–202, 214, 280, 290, 299, 307, 347 Public Theology 1, 6, 26, 28–29, 35–36, 83, 84–92, 100, 118, 155, 189, 319, 331, 333, 350–351, 355–356 public policy 86, 91, 95, 106 public service 101, 103, 107 public sphere 2, 95, 99, 107, 110, 320, 350 Qualitative Research (see data) focus groups 31, 33, 34, 88 interviews 31, 34, 88, 121, 138, 156, 161, 198, 206, 255

391

Index of Subjects semi-structured interviews 32 grounded theory 34 participation observation 31–34, 88, 121, 138, 141, 156, 256, 271 Roberts, Oral 23 service provision 92, 103–104, 106, 108, 111, 117, 311, 314, 343 social action 28, 102, 104, 113, 322, 343, 355 capital 2, 5, 108, 112–113, 116, 350 engagement 1–3, 29, 35, 36, 57, 84, 102, 103, 105–108, 113, 269, 319, 323, 329, 331, 333, 338, 341, 343, 344, 345, 351, 355 gospel 57 groups 104 justice 110, 329

ministry 1, 118, 337, 338 policy xi, 1–3, 26, 28, 36, 37, 58, 84, 88, 91, 92, 99, 100, 101, 105, 110, 111, 116, 118, 228, 319, 322, 323, 327, 333, 337, 339, 340, 341–342, 344, 345, 350, 351 theory 35, 84 science(s) 1, 26, 84, 95, 99, 105, 116, 323 services 103 sociology xi, 1, 29, 116, 118, 355 sociology of religion 26, 41, 84, 92 Spirit baptism (see Baptism in the Spirit) 8–10, 12, 63 Tongues (speaking in) 8–9, 12, 201, 235 Toronto Blessing 13, 123–124, 235, 346 Transnationalism 2–4, 301, 349 Wesley, John 20–21 Wimber, John 25–26, 137–138, 169, 203, 360