Because Mojirayo Ogunkanmi was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK at age 13, she’s always felt her identity is stranded somewhere between both countries, feeling neither Nigerian nor British.
Mojirayo, now 31 years old, has spent most of her time in the UK attending white British majority churches. She’s actively volunteered to help make church life feel more intercultural and experienced times of encouragement, seeing people from diverse backgrounds being welcomed and empowered to participate in church life. At other points, however, the responsibility of speaking up about intercultural issues has weighed on her.
“After some time, I became really sick of it. I felt as if I’d become the go-to person for Black culture,” she said. “I was made to think critically about my own culture, and I’m not even sure what my own culture is, so I found that bit really, really hard,” she said.
Since February 2026, she’s been part of an Anglican church in Southall, where there’s an Indian-majority congregation, and she’s discovered that it’s not only white British churches that must wrestle with the question of how to become more diverse.
For Mojirayo, belonging to churches trying to grow in intercultural fellowship has at times been challenging. But she can also recall feeling immensely loved and appreciated as a Nigerian person in churches she’s been part of.
One time, a Bulgarian family invited her over for Christmas dinner and asked questions about how she’d normally celebrate the occasion in Nigeria.
“I really felt seen and accepted in that space,” she said. “It wasn’t just about me eating Bulgarian food. They wanted to know about me,” she said.
Years ago, Mojirayo would shy away from talking about Nigerian culture, believing that no one would be interested or that other cultures were superior to hers. Over time, she’s grown in confidence about being Nigerian and speaking up about her experiences as a black woman in church.
One thing that helped was reading the book, “Healing the Divides” by Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall, with a group of fellow church members and leaders in 2024. The book focuses on racial justice in the church, and in group discussions, members would share stories about their cultural upbringing and be honest about their experiences with racial issues in the church. It helped Mojirayo open up about her own experiences and carry this mentality forward into her everyday church life.
A year ago, when a child in a previous church had her first birthday, Mojirayo knew she could celebrate in a typical British way by buying the child a teddy bear or similar gift. However, instead, she chose to go about things as she would in Nigeria, giving the child money. She even told the parents, “Now this baby has a Nigerian aunty.”
A key lesson Mojirayo has learned in her journey is that one’s culture is “nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Nobody’s culture is better than any other person’s,” she said.
