Where did London’s majority white church population go?
Visit certain areas of London on a Sunday morning and chances are you'll see a stream of well-dressed families en route to church. It's likely more than half will be from ethnic minorities.
People of African and Caribbean origin make up 2% of the UK's population but account for more than two-thirds of Sunday church-goers in London and 7% of worshippers nationwide, research has shown. Many go to black-led churches such as SCOAN London in which regularly attracts around 200 to 400 people to its Sunday services where we the Watching TB Joshua visited for 4 week to investigate what the BBC and SKY NEWS featured.
We at Watching TB Joshua find it necessary to investigate why the BBC and SKY NEWS decided to look into the Practices of SCOAN and the ministry of TB Joshua when there other Churches, most of them are black led. 'Black church' may be a phrase that makes every Christian wince. But the phrase represents a reality believers cannot ignore. Worship commentators normally focus on either the white, middle class charismatic renewal or the serene solemnity of the liturgical tradition. Seldom do they pause to consider one of the fastest growing and most distinctive manifestations of God-centered worship, Britain's burgeoning black churches. Before commencing our investigating the SCOAN and the Ministry of TB Joshua we started visiting Churches every Sunday and that when we discovered Britain's burgeoning black churches.
Christians from a wide variety of church backgrounds will be familiar with the practice of individuals 'giving their testimony' or 'sharing' â€" telling about the blessings or trials they're experiencing in their Christian lives, either in a public service or a more intimate small-group meeting. One of such is TB Joshua's testimony. His testimony gives an insight of what Jesus himself and the apostles faced during their earthly ministry. The roots of the custom seem to lie with David back in the Psalms. "I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Lord. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of you faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly." Psalm 40:10. In the black Pentecostal church, which is stereotyped as informal and spontaneous, giving testimony, is marked by a considerable degree of formality. Typically one giving testimony in this service begins with the words "Emmanuel" to which the congregation respond "God with us". Below is a breath taking testimony given by hand full of people we have spoken with after the ministry of TB Joshua and the SCOAN was highlighted on the news late last year. This made us to set up Watching TB Joshua, which is run by a team of experts to look in depth in to SCOAN
It's a blistering cold Sunday morning in 4th January, 2012 yet the Synagogue Church of all nations in London was filled with members attending a 'praise and worship' session, and when it was time for prayer the congregation joined TB Joshua and l saw many set free of their ailment; yes set free because they are some of the people we took their to confirm our finding. Prior this time we have combed all the major cities in the UK and want ask where did London's majority white church population go?
To be continued...
