Project title:
Signs of wonder: iconography and aesthetic practices of New Black Majority Churches (nBMCs) in the London Borough of Southwark
“Signs of Wonder will interview… nMBC pastors in pastors in Southwark regarding their iconography and aesthetic practices, to discern their significance for nMBC ecclesiology and missiology.”
Researcher:
Dr Andrew Rogers
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Research Centre for Practical Philosophy, Theology, and Religion
University of Roehampton
Project proposal:
Anyone with their eyes open in London cannot miss the distinctive signs of new black majority churches (nBMCs) in the capital. Signboards and banners with striking church names are displayed in shop fronts, warehouses, railway arches, businesses, industrial units, community centres and shared / reused churches. Signs of Wonder aims to investigate the theology embedded in these visual expressions, including other important nBMC aesthetic practices such as their architecture, websites and media products. Building on an extensive existing database of nBMC images from two previous projects, Signs of Wonder will interview a pre-established sample of 20-30 nBMC pastors in the London Borough of Southwark regarding their iconography and aesthetic practices, to discern their significance for nBMC ecclesiology and missiology. These insights will then inform a more nuanced understanding of nBMCs and their congregants for a range of publics, including other Christian denominations, and so also ecumenical relationships. This is at least partly due to the high concentrations of nBMCs in a number of London boroughs which pose ecumenical questions for many historic denominations including Methodists. Project outcomes will be disseminated through both popular and academic channels (print, online, presentations).
Themes:
Enabling transformational change
Encouraging the arts
Seeking justice
Promoting wellbeing
Nurturing rooted communities
Thinking globally
Amplifying voices