Church Growth in African Diaspora Communities: Yoruba Shaped Ecclesiology and Mission

As the centre of Christianity shifts towards Africa, African migrants have become a significant source of Christian witness in the West, and African diaspora congregations in the UK are springing up and multiplying.

In this ethnographically informed study, Dr. Paul Araoluwa Ayokunle explores the factors impacting the growth of three such African diaspora churches in Liverpool, England. His research identifies the challenges posed by hierarchical leadership styles and an unfamiliar, and potentially hostile, cultural context, as well as the essential nature of ecclesiology - one’s theological understanding of the church and its calling - in answering these challenges. Ultimately, he proposes a Yoruba-based ecclesiology, alongside an adaptive leadership model, as a way forward for the African church to continue growing in its mission to be a light to the nations, including to the once-Christian West. This book offers a powerful exploration of the richness of grassroots ecclesiology and the role of migration and contextualization in the spread of Christ’s kingdom to all peoples and places.