Windrush: They came, they served and established the Black Church

Men and women of the Windrush generation have played a major role in the development of the Black Christian community in Britain – whether as part of traditional church or as pioneers of the Black Church movement. Keep The Faith magazine turns the spotlight on just a few of the men and women who laid the foundation of the Black Christian community and the Black Church movement here in the UK.

BISHOP ESME BESWICK MBE:

Bishop Esme Beswick has been a church leader for several decades and has played a prominent role within the national church. In 2002, Bishop Beswick became first Black woman to serve as a President of Churches Together in England. In addition, she was President of the Christian Muslim Forum from 2005 to 2010. She is Founder and President of the Joint Council for Anglo Caribbean Churches (JCACC), an umbrella organisation for numerous Black-majority churches. She was consecrated as Bishop in 2015. A preacher and teacher, Bishop Beswick has led numerous community projects, including the Drug and Alcohol Awareness project which began in 1992. The late Diana, Princess of

Wales attended the launch. Bishop Beswick currently leads Nebaioth Prophetic Church in Brixton, south London.

REV DR UNA DAVIS: She is a pastor, community leader, writer, visionary and inspirational mentor. Converted in 1963 as a young mother, Rev Dr Davis became active in ministry and led Bethel Apostolic Church in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, for 48 years. Her ministry has been characterised by healing and spiritual gifts. A mother of eight, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Rev Dr Davis is a District Mother and pioneer of ‘Treasured Saints’ – a ministry launched this year to serve Bethel members aged 70 and over. Throughout the years, Rev Dr Davis has adapted her ministry to remain relevant, and currently uses Facebook Live to broadcast ‘Morning Manna’ once a week. Rev Dr Davis is an example of the spiritual tenacity, vision and pioneering spirit of the Windrush generation.

BISHOP SYDNEY DUNN: He founded Bethel United Church of our Lord Jesus Christ in 1955. Bethel currently has 40 churches in the UK and has a presence in Jamaica, Canada and the US. It has also engaged in outreaches in India and Kenya. Bishop Dunn left Jamaica in 1954 and arrived in Britain in 1955; he preached on the ship and saw people converted. His abiding legacy not only includes the denomination he founded, the leaders he mentored, and the thousands of lives impacted by his ministry, but also the Bethel Convention Centre, which was built under his leadership. It remains the only conference centre built by a Black Pentecostal denomination here in the UK.

BISHOP T. G. FRANCIS: A pioneering church leader, Bishop T. G. Francis arrived in the UK in the early 1950s, joined the Church of God in Christ in 1953, before leaving in 1956 to start the First-Born Church of the Living God. Following the miraculous healing of his wife Elfreda from cancer, Bishop Francis changed the focus of his ministry to one of deliverance. By 1967 Bishop Francis was holding services in his own building. And in the 1970s, inspired by his preaching experiences in America, he purchased a Hammond organ and in so doing was the first to introduce American worship styles in Britain’s Black Pentecostal churches. Bishop Francis also helped to spark mainstream interest in gospel music when he gave permission for his church choir, The Inspirational Choir, directed by his son, John Francis (now Bishop), to sing with the pop band Madness on their single, Wings of a Dove, which reached the top five in the national charts. The Choir went on to get a record deal with CBS Records and travelled the UK and Europe, performing gospel music.

REV DR ISSACHAR LEWINSON: This Jamaican-born minister has faithfully served the New Testament Church of God UK (NTCG) since migrating to Britain in 1955. He was present at the very first NTCG National Convention held in 1956. The son of a pastor, Rev Lewinson settled in Birmingham, attended NTCG Handsworth, and helped to establish NTCG churches in various towns and cities, whilst also studying to be a psychiatric nurse. Ordained as a minister in 1964, Rev Lewinson went on to get a doctorate in Theology, taught at Ebenezer Bible College in Birmingham and London, and for many years served as the chair of Overstone College. He was also National Director of Evangelism, and Secretary and Treasurer for the NTCG. In 1986 he was appointed Senior Pastor of NTCG Willesden, which experienced great growth during his tenure. He also oversaw the multi million-pound refurbishment and bought another building – known as the Lewinson Centre – that provides housing, offices and a community space.

REV DR OLIVER LYSEIGHT: He is the first-ever National Overseer of the New Testament Church of God UK, the largest Pentecostal denomination started by the Windrush Generation here in Britain. He served in the role for 25 years. Ordained a Church of God minister in Jamaica in 1946, Rev Lyseight came to Britain in 1951. He settled in Wolverhampton and started a prayer meeting for fellow migrants. On September 20, 1953, along with seven other people, Rev Lyseight led the first-ever NTCG meeting at the YMCA, Stafford Street, Wolverhampton. In June 1955, that gathering was officially recognised as the first UK branch of the NTCG. The following year, the church held its first national convention. Since those humble beginnings, NTCG now has 130 congregations across the UK, serving 25,000 adherents. In 2004 Dr Lyseight was voted joint second in the 100 Great Black Britons survey and, in 2013, he was awarded a blue plaque by Wolverhampton Civic & Historical Society.

REV NEZLIN STERLING: An ordained New Testament Assembly (NTA) pastor, and a nurse by profession, Rev Sterling has played a key role in both the Black and national Christian communities. As a member of the NTA, she served in various roles, including National General and Company Secretary, and as a member of the Trustee Board. She was also Director of Studies for the NTA Institute of Theology & Christian Training (ITCC), and an accredited lecturer working with the University of Wales, Lampeter, and with Winchester University. Other accomplishments include serving as Joint President of Churches Together in Britain & Ireland; representing the Black-Majority Churches on the Church of England General Synod from 1999 to 2011; being a member of the Free Churches Group, where she served as a member of the Chaplaincy committee; and making tangible contributions to government bodies and committees over the years.

BISHOPS MELVIN POWELL AND DONALD BERNARD: These two men led the New Testament Assembly, a prominent

Black Pentecostal church denomination they founded in 1961. These leaders were known for their great partnership and unified leadership which lasted for 40 years. They presided over an organisation that had branches in the UK, Jamaica, USA, Canada, India, Ghana and South Africa. Whilst alive, they co-pastored NTA Tooting, which was highly respected for its community initiatives. NTA Tooting was featured on BBC Songs of Praise several times, and the church has been a focal point for many landmark events and music concerts over the years.

REV PHILIP MOHABIR (1937–2003):

This Guyanese-born minister played a major role in the development of the Black Church movement in Britain. He was a church leader, pastor, evangelist and author, who also served as an adviser and spiritual father to many leading church figures. He was the founder of the now disbanded African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) and a Vice President of the Evangelical Alliance. Rev Mohabir was a key promoter of church unity and served as a bridge between Black and white Christian communities. He also founded the International Christian Leadership Connections (ICLC), a network that teaches and empowers leaders. He also authored several books.

PASTOR OLIVE PARRIS: This preacher, teacher and evangelist was ordained within the New Testament Church of God, but left to set up her own independent Pentecostal church called the Latter-Rain Outpouring Revival (LROR) church in Hoxton, east London. During the church’s heyday, in the 1970s and ’80s, hundreds of young people were converted through the ministry, and the church was renowned for its choir, the LROR choir, directed by Bazil Meade – to whom she was a mentor – and Lawrence Johnson, two of the founding members of the London Community Gospel Choir.

IVAN WEEKES: He is a Christian who has made a mark in the Methodist Church. From the early ’80s until his retirement in 1995, Mr Weekes served as the first executive Black Methodist Racial Justice Secretary in the Division of Social Responsibility. In 1991 he was elected Vice President of the Conference. Born in Barbados, Ivan Weekes arrived in the UK in 1955. He had been raised as an Anglican, but encountered racism when he attended an Anglican church in Britain. He started attending a Methodist church in 1961, which welcomed him. He heard the preaching and joined the Notting Hill Methodist Church. Earlier this year he gave an insight into his experiences at a special service celebrating Windrush, held at Southwark Cathedral.

PASTOR AMY WILLIAMS: Prior to her death in 2022, Pastor Williams was still leading Bible studies and was one of the oldest serving ministers in the UK. In 1970, this wife and mother of nine, then aged 45, started one of the first Pentecostal churches in Hanwell, west London, called Chosen for Christ Ministries (CfCM). It was one of the most well known in the area. Over the years CfCM held mission outreaches in the UK, the Caribbean, Ireland and Europe, provided members to serve at a local soup kitchen, mentored young men, supported numerous charities, and provided aid to orphanages in war-torn countries.

BISHOP WILFRED WOOD: In 1995, this Barbadian Anglican became the first Black man to be ordained as a bishop when he was announced as the Bishop of Croydon. He served in the role for eight years. After answering the call to ministry, he was trained at Codrington College, Barbados, and