Longing for Family
Authors:   , Walsh Thomas John 
Published: November 2023

This practical piece of ecclesiological theological research investigates the phenomenon of Muslims in Britain becoming Christians, and the consequential relationships that are developed with the Christian Community. The specific research question answered is, “What are the practical ecclesiological challenges facing the British Christian Community as it engages with Christians from a South Asian Islamic background?” With increasing numbers of Muslims becoming followers of Jesus Christ, little research has been undertaken as to the next steps in the process, namely how the church should receive them and what type of church is most appropriate for a welcoming reception and sustainable belonging within the Christian Community. A wholistic and comprehensive view of the experiences and narratives of the twenty-eight participants was taken. This research does so by conceiving the conversion as a process with various steps rather than as a single point in time.

The research conveyed that the cultural, religious and familial background that the participants were coming from differed from the background that most members of the UK churches understand. The participants had an exciting, risky journey to Christ, carried out with great determination, but many paying a heavy relational cost. My work unearths many of the tensions that the participants felt and experienced, as they transitioned into church life. Reflection upon their stories has allowed me, not simply, to chart their journeys to Christ, but to reflect more thoroughly on how the church could better receive, welcome and disciple the new believers. If the direction of travel for my interviewees was towards Christ, Christianity and the Church, their deep concern for the families and the community they had left, suggested that at the very least the church should position itself with a greater sensitivity to this heritage.

Chapter 1 introduces the themes and also tries to show what the research is not seeking to do. Chapter 2 describes the process I went through in arriving at the research question and the epistemological assumptions, methodological and methods which undergird the work. Chapters 3 to 7 discussed the findings in a logical order, beginning with the participants’ lives as Muslims, charting the factors that led them to become Christians, and finally exploring their experiences within the Christian Community. In line with the hermeneutical phenomenology framework introduced in Chapter 2, these chapters have a twofold structure, beginning with a descriptive account of the participants’ experiences, followed in the second half of most of these chapters by a theoretical reflection on the issues raised. It is here that serious engagement takes place with selected literature. The variety and richness of the participants’ experiences are framed under the metaphor of a journey with different stages. Component parts of this journey are ‘home’, ‘arrival’, ‘settling in’, and ‘family’. Reflection on this journey allowed for normative Christian assumptions to be questioned and to discuss alternative possibilities. This questioning is at all times stimulated by the experiences of the new believers alongside relevant theological literature. Chapter 7 draws the thesis to a definitive conclusion, arguing that church should be constituted more on familial lines, in keeping with the hopes and expectations of the participants. In acknowledging that ‘family’ is a disputed term I seek to decipher its precise meaning from a South Asian perspective.

Chapter 8 summarises the whole thesis and makes a number of practical suggestions for the church, based on conclusions drawn and brought from elsewhere throughout the work. The final title of the piece, ‘Longing for Family: Experiences of Converts from a Muslim Background and Challenges Facing the British Christian Community as it Welcomes Them’, directs the reader to what they will discover.