Tributes have been paid to Rev Carmel Jones, a prominent figure of the Windrush Generation, after he passed away on Saturday following a period of ill health.
Rev Jones was a much loved Pentecostal church minister and founder of the Pentecostal Credit Union (PCU), which he created in 1980 to help the black community achieve economic self-reliance, and access loans and other financial services at a time when these were difficult to obtain from Britain's established banks and building societies.
The loans helped many black church organisations buy their buildings, including AME Zion Church, Ruach City Church in Brixton, and the New Testament Church of God.
Paying tribute, Bishop John and Pastor Penny Francis, joint leaders of Ruach City Church said, "Rev Carmel Jones was a trailblazer, a pioneer, and a legend - you could also say he was the church's black banker! He was a special confidant and friend to me personally.
"When I look at all the acquisitions of Ruach City Church, it started with Rev Carmel Jones, who gave us our first mortgage when our high street bank turned us down.
"As a young pastor, starting a church from the ground up, Rev Jones was the first person to give our church a loan."
In addition to establishing the PCU, Rev Jones was the founder of the New Assembly Of Churches and the RESCUE Training organisation that provided vocational and employment training for ex-offenders.
He was one of Britain's first black prison chaplains, ministering in several London prisons and Heathrow Airport.
Rev Ade Omooba and Dionne Gravesande, co-chairs of the National Church Leaders Forum, described him as an "exceptional man whose indomitable spirit and unwavering faith blazed a trail of inspiration for countless lives".
"As the visionary founder of Pentecostal Credit Union and a distinguished black Christian pioneer, he empowered a black British community with financial inclusion and spiritual guidance," he said.
"Rev Carmel Jones' legacy resonates through generations, symbolising resilience, compassion, and an unyielding commitment to uplifting others.
"His profound impact on society and unwavering dedication to bridging the gap will forever remain etched in the hearts of those he touched. May his soul rest in perfect peace, and may his legacy continue to inspire.''
Bishop Delroy Powell, of the New Testament Assembly, said, "Rev Carmel was an exemplary leader, a disruptive visionary and a stalwart among his peers in the Pentecostal church movement in the UK. He will be sorely missed and long be remembered."
Rev Jones was part of the Windrush Generation, arriving in the UK from Jamaica in 1955 at the age of 17. He came from a large family with five siblings, and church was an important part in his upbringing. Growing up, he was an altar boy in an Anglican church in Jamaica.
When he came to the UK, he found an Anglican church in Clapham but was told not to come back and he instead joined the Church of God in Christ UK, a Pentecostal church that he was later ordained in and remained a lifelong member of.
In 2020, the church that had rejected him when he first came to Britain - St Paul's, Clapham, in south London - held a service where they publicly apologised to him for the racism he experienced.
Rev Jones graciously accepted the apology stating, "I was a boy of 17, when I encountered here one of the first of many acts of racial prejudice that subsequently occurred in my life.
"It provided the inspiration that led me to founding the Pentecostal Credit Union 25 years later. It led me to the Pentecostal Church, where I still am today and lastly, but certainly not least, it led me to meeting the woman who has been by my side for the last 63 years."
Rev Jones was married to Iveline for 65 years and they had three children together. He is survived by his wife, two children, grandchildren and his extended family.
