A Megachurch in a Megacity

Abstract

This study brings together three fields of enquiry for the first time, namely megachurch studies, cyber-religion and Pentecostal and Charismatic studies. It is a study of the online self-representation of the largest Pentecostal church in Europe, Kingsway International Christian Centre, which attracts approximately 15,000 different regular attendees for worship over the course of each month. The focus of the study is how the church represents itself through the medium of the internet, its theology and culture as expressed in cyberspace. Analysis of the website material indicates that the church advocates a narrative of self betterment, based on the Christian message, which differs somewhat from so-called “prosperity” preaching in that it prioritizes personal divine empowerment as the key to unlocking spiritual and material blessings. Indeed, the church advocates empowerment for life in general not just a form of spiritual fulfilment. This is a narrative that clearly appeals to young professional West Africans living in London and southeast England, who are most prominently modelled via the website as those experiencing the blessings. The website presents the church’s senior pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo, through both graphical and textual representation as an anointed leader who encourages the faithful members of the church to “live bigger” and receive the blessings that come from such divine empowerment.

The Emerging Church in Transatlantic Perspective

“…Neither of these movements has a similar level of public visibility in the United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand. According to the most recent research there are only around 10 megachurches in the United Kingdom and most of these are located in London (Cartledge and Davies ); a good number are also black‐majority churches with strong links to West Africa, and so are unlikely to serve as a significant “out‐group” for the predominantly white middle‐class members of the ECM. Patterns of secularization in the United Kingdom are in many respects echoed in Australia—e.g., in terms of declining levels of church attendance, religious self‐identification, and participation in religious rites of passage—and large, thriving evangelical churches like the influential Hillsong in Sydney or CityLife in Melbourne are the exceptions that prove the rule (Hilliard ).…”

Bringing the Kingdom to the City: Mission as Placemaking Practice amongst Kenyan Pentecostals in London

“…Having its own building is rather a materialization of a morally and socially significant community that makes tangible Massey's definition (1993) of place as articulated moments in networks of social relations. Identifying these contrasting approaches to territorialization helps to disaggregate our understanding of Pentecostalism in the African diaspora, which has primarily focused on large transnational Pentecostal churches like RCCG (Knibbe 2009;Burgess 2009Burgess , 2011Hunt and Lightly 2001) and megachurches like Kingsway International Christian Centre (Garbin 2013;Cartledge and Davies 2013).…”

Students’ Constructions of a Christian Future: Faith, Class and Aspiration in University Contexts

“…2.5 These strands of Protestantism have also been distinguished in recent years by a celebration of individual empowerment that has fused the language of the Bible with the language of business (Cartledge and Davies 2014; Guest 2010; Marti 2010), highlighting affinities with the ‘aspirational’ language addressed above. At the same time, however, evangelical and Pentecostal churches have also shown a growing tendency to resist making a clear differentiation between evangelism as converting non-believers and evangelism as serving the needy.…”