Adaptivity of Church Leadership: A Case of Two Pentecostal Churches in Mwinilunga District of Zambia

Abstract

Transition in churches has propelled the atmosphere of conflicts which exerts pressure on leadership for years now. This brings about a ball in the court of leaders; each leader catches new dimensions and revelation as the world is dynamic. Christianity as a religion is sub-divide into branches, then into denominations (or schools) and finally congregations; this reflects the multiple ways in which religious ideas and experiences get played out by society with different understandings, temperaments, cultural, historical and personal histories. Adaptive challenges are typically grounded in the complexity of values, beliefs, and loyalties rather than technical complexity and stir up intense emotions rather than dispassionate analysis. Hence, this proves to be impossible for authorities to solve an adaptive challenge by issuing a directive or bringing together a group of experts, because the solutions to adaptive problems lie in the new attitudes, competencies, and coordination of the people with the problem itself. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of adaptive challenge in church Leadership in religious transition in Mwinilunga churches. The objectives were to assess the resilience of church leaders and their capacity to engage in problem-solving in the midst of adaptive pressures; to determine the gap between espoused values and behaviour in church leadership during religious transition. A descriptive survey method was employed in which a structured interview guides and questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of 50 respondents. The respondents consisted of 10 Pastors, 10 Church Elders, 10 Deacons, and 20 church members. The findings revealed that leaders lacked resilience and capacity to engage in problem- solving in the midst of adaptive pressures that they faced during the transition – constitution amendment. The relationship between the espoused values and behaviour in church leadership during religious transition was parallel – there existed a wide gap. The study also revealed that leaders did not share the burden of keeping work at the centre of the people’s attention and lacked critical qualities. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made; Leaders need to develop policies and critical qualities to effectively govern their ministries and organisation to reduce on ignorance and as well prevent try and error in leadership. Church organisation or ministries should embrace strategic planning in the running of religious activities. During adaptive challenges leaders should depend on God who manifests his glory through the instrumentality of wisdom and be exemplary and play a vital role as the salt and the light of the world.