The New Face of British Christianity
Old churches are crumbling, but God has not given up on England. Today immigrant Christians are evangelizing the nation.

To an outsider, Ashburnham Place looks like any other dignified British manor. Founded by a medieval earl in the 12th century, the 220-acre estate includes a mansion built in the 1700s, a walled garden, expansive stables, a church built in the 1600s and a cemetery with moss-covered graves so old that most of the inscriptions are illegible.
But when I arrived here Monday I learned that this crumbling piece of history, located about an hour south of London, has undergone a prophetic transformation. Now owned by the Ashburnham Christian Trust, the estate functions as a prayer and spiritual retreat center. The stables have been converted to prayer rooms, the manor is the site of missionary conferences, and dozens of apartments have been built on the property to house visiting Christians.

"I believe that we Africans will be able to encourage the British people who are losing their faith."—Rev. Obeng Marnu

Ashburnham represents a quiet spiritual trend that could transform England.

On my first night here, the scene during worship was surreal. Pentecostal pastors and missionaries from dozens of racial and ethnic backgrounds gathered in the mansion's great parlor—which features the original hand-carved marble fireplaces and ornate crown molding.

I looked around the room and saw the new face of British Christianity. There were church leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Trinidad, Poland, South Africa, Holland and India. Many of the Africans, including some who speak only French, have recently planted churches in the London area.

A wild-hearted worship team from Wales led us in some vibrant choruses. We became a multicultural symphony as we sang:

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread His praise from shore to shore
How He loveth, ever loveth
Changeth never, nevermore.

The Ashburnham church, situated just a few feet from the manor, was first established in 1390. The outside of the building is in disrepair, but nationwide the British church is far from dead—despite the fact that only 6 to 10 percent of the people in England are active Christians.

I spent three days at this amazing place, training leaders but also listening to their stories about what it means to be a Christian in the United Kingdom.

"Some people say, 'Oh, the church is dying in England,'" says Harold Presley, a Pentecostal church planter from the United States who has worked in England for 17 years. "It's true that a lot of the beautiful old church buildings are decaying, but underneath the surface there is a bustling spiritual movement."

Presley points to the fact that on any given Sunday hundreds of small evangelical churches—mostly ethnic congregations—are renting local school auditoriums and community centers. "You can hardly find an auditorium because there are so many churches using the facilities," he says.

Obeng Marnu, a Ghanian pastor who came to England 14 years ago, has started four congregations in the vicinity of London. Most of his members are immigrants from Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

"God brought me here," Marnu told me. "I believe that we Africans will be able to encourage the British people who are losing their faith."

Baye Bobala, a young Congolese pastor, planted a church in Portsmouth, in southwest England. Services are in French, with English translation, and its members are from Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoir, Angola and Congo. Bobala smiles and adds that there are a few English people in his church, too.

"The British people really do not want to hear about God," Bobala says. "But God is bringing Christian immigrants here to save the British people. And we find that the younger generation [of Brits] are more open to coming to church."

During one evening service at Ashburnham I couldn't hold back from releasing a prophetic word about the future of England. The Lord spoke to me and said: "A great thaw is coming to this land. Although things look desolate, as if winter has killed all the trees, I am bringing resurrection life to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The time of springtime has come. Though it looks desolate, if you could see in the spiritual realm you would see the buds have already appeared."

After the service, Presley said he concurred with that prophetic picture of a coming spiritual awakening. According to his ground-level research, renewal continues to stir the Anglican Church in England, audio recordings of passionate British worship are selling fast around the world, and a vibrant prayer movement continues to grow here.

"I would say there are more united prayer meetings going on in England right now than there are [proportionately] in the United States," Presley added.

Those prayers come from a desperate people who believe that God has not given up on England. After meeting the diverse Christian workforce that has journeyed here from Asia and Africa and from other parts of Europe, I now understand that the Holy Spirit has already sent His answer.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. He is speaking at a conference this weekend hosted by a Nigerian church in south London.