£7,740.50 for 3am “anti-witchcraft” and “anti-poverty” services..Church in London

A church in south London has been fined almost £8,000 (Ksh1.1 million) after a series of noisy 3am sermons aimed at battling ‘witchcraft’ woke up its neighbours, reports United Kingdom’s Standard.

Kingdom Church in Camberwell – headed by a Kenyan, Bishop Climate Irungu – holds early morning weekly services that claim to offer “deliverance” from sickness, financial hardship and “demonic soul ties”.

But the preaching which goes on during the events has brought complaints from neighbours and a £7,740 ‘anti-social behavior’ fine was issued on February 22.

When the Standard contacted a female worker in the church, she said that the services had to be held at 3am because it was the best time to ensure “very strong deliverance” from evil.

The outlet reports the church does not appear to be affiliated to any official branches of Christianity in the UK.

One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, told Standard the noise was incessant.

“I live directly next to it,” he said. “The noise is constant. I don’t mind being bothered on Sunday mornings, but the late evening and early morning sessions are horrible. When there is a pause, the congregation flood out to the street to get food from a small food stand for a recharge, making just as much noise as while inside.”

Southwark councillor Michael Situ said: “We would have preferred to settle this matter out of court, but unfortunately our attempts to work with the church leaders were ignored.

“We hope the penalty helps to remind both the leaders, and the wider community, anti-social behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated.”

Bishop Irungu insists the church was there before the residents and it has made every effort to cut the noise.

He told Southwark News: “It is a big fine and we will be appealing against it. I do not deny that we made some noise – we did. But we have spent nearly ten thousand pounds reducing the noise. And I was out of the country so could not go to court.

“We are based is an industrial area. But there are new flats and they complain. The flats were meant to be offices but they became houses. People could hear it, especially in summer when they open their windows.”