Black churches are growing as fast as ever while white churches continue to decline, according to an academic who is expert in the subject.

There is greater concentration of African Christianity in south London than anywhere in the world outside Africa, according to a senior academic.

Most black churches in the London borough of Southwark are 'Pentecostal', featuring long services characterised by exuberant and often loud worship.

Many of the pastors are first-generation migrants to Britain.

Andrew Rogers, a lecturer in practical theology at the University of Roehampton, London, says in an LSE blog series on Pentecostalism that the number of black majority churches in Southwark is so high that at 240, they are nearly twice as nunerous as all the other churches in the borough put together. 

Rogers' Being Built Together project found 240 black majority churches in Southwark, south London, the greatest concentration of African Christianity outside Africa.

He did the project three years ago.

But in his blog this week, he adds that while it is generally acknowledged that black majority churches have enjoyed rapid growth in Southwark in recent decades, it is difficult to determine precisely why. He notes that the London Church Census reported 58 per cent growth in total Pentecostal congregations in Southwark across 2005-12 and a 44 per cent rise across Greater London.

This comes against a trend of falling white congregations over a period when black African Christians grew by more than 100 per cent.

While Southwark may currently be the most intense case, there is also significant growth of black churches in cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, and in other countries such as the Netherlands and in Germany.

The fact that Southwark is 'the African capital of the UK' is one factor.

Southwark is convenient, being close to central London, yet premises are still affordable.

The 'experiential focus' of these Pentecostal churches is an important factor.  'It is recognised, however, that few BMCs at present are managing to reach out beyond the black community,' he writes.