In pictures: The African Christian congregations of London
- Published
Reuters photographer Simon Dawson has been photographing African churches in London for the past year, capturing the thriving community at Sunday morning worship.
In parts of the capital, Sunday morning will see worshippers making their way to churches, each with their different styles of worship. The hymns are only sung in African languages in some congregations, and only in English at others.
In a street outside one church, a pastor flicks holy water over the car of a woman who wants a blessing to ward off the risk of accidents.
Dawson accompanied members of the Apostles Of Muchinjikwa Christian church to photograph a mass baptism in the sea at Southend.
The House of Praise congregation is one of south London's biggest and meets in a former theatre and bingo hall, which can hold several thousand people. The services, mainly attended by worshippers of Nigerian descent, are recorded on video.
Members of the youth church perform in a knife crime play on Good Friday.
Worshippers take photos outside the House of Praise church after a service.
According to University of Roehampton researchers, Southwark has the biggest concentration of African Christians in the world outside the continent, with an estimated 20,000 congregants attending services each Sunday.
A worshipper reads a passage from the Bible on her smartphone during a Sunday service.
Members of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim Church parade through the street in Elephant and Castle, to celebrate their annual Thanksgiving .
Young members of the church take a break ahead of the parade.
The Celestial Church of Christ in Elephant and Castle is based in a former Church of England building just off the Old Kent Road. The Sunday service lasts for several hours.
All photographs by Simon Dawson / Reuters
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