Ashburnham represents a quiet spiritual trend that could transform England.

 

On my first night here, the scene during worship was surreal. Pentecostal pastors and missionaries from dozens of racial and ethnic backgrounds gathered in the mansion’s great parlor—which features the original hand-carved marble fireplaces and ornate crown molding.

 

I looked around the room and saw the new face of British Christianity. There were church leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Trinidad, Poland, South Africa, Holland and India. Many of the Africans, including some who speak only French, have recently planted churches in the London area.

 

A wild-hearted worship team from Wales led us in some vibrant choruses. We became a multicultural symphony as we sang:

 

 

The Ashburnham church, situated just a few feet from the manor, was first established in 1390. The outside of the building is in disrepair, but nationwide the British church is far from dead—despite the fact that only 6 to 10 percent of the people in England are active Christians.

 

I spent three days at this amazing place, training leaders but also listening to their stories about what it means to be a Christian in the United Kingdom.

 

“Some people say, ‘Oh, the church is dying in England,’” says Harold Presley, a Pentecostal church planter from the United States who has worked in England for 17 years. “It’s true that a lot of the beautiful old church buildings are decaying, but underneath the surface there is a bustling spiritual movement.”

 

Presley points to the fact that on any given Sunday hundreds of small evangelical churches—mostly ethnic congregations—are renting local school auditoriums and community centers. “You can hardly find an auditorium because there are so many churches using the facilities,” he says.

 

Obeng Marnu, a Ghanian pastor who came to England 14 years ago, has started four congregations in the vicinity of London. Most of his members are immigrants from Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

 

“God brought me here,” Marnu told me. “I believe that we Africans will be able to encourage the British people who are losing their faith.”

 

Baye Bobala, a young Congolese pastor, planted a church in Portsmouth, in southwest England. Services are in French, with English translation, and its members are from Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoir, Angola and Congo. Bobala smiles and adds that there are a few English people in his church, too.

 

“The British people really do not want to hear about God,” Bobala says. “But God is bringing Christian immigrants here to save the British people. And we find that the younger generation [of Brits] are more open to coming to church.”

 

During one evening service at Ashburnham I couldn’t hold back from releasing a prophetic word about the future of England. The Lord spoke to me and said: “A great thaw is coming to this land. Although things look desolate, as if winter has killed all the trees, I am bringing resurrection life to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The time of springtime has come. Though it looks desolate, if you could see in the spiritual realm you would see the buds have already appeared.”

 

After the service, Presley said he concurred with that prophetic picture of a coming spiritual awakening. According to his ground-level research, renewal continues to stir the Anglican Church in England, audio recordings of passionate British worship are selling fast around the world, and a vibrant prayer movement continues to grow here.

 

“I would say there are more united prayer meetings going on in England right now than there are [proportionately] in the United States,” Presley added.

 

Those prayers come from a desperate people who believe that God has not given up on England. After meeting the diverse Christian workforce that has journeyed here from Asia and Africa and from other parts of Europe, I now understand that the Holy Spirit has already sent His answer.