African Leadership Wisdom and Experience: Lessons for Church Leaders in South Africa

Abstract

Christian research projects in Africa have been marred by a notorious and almost deliberate intent of seeking to establish alternative protocols that posit nothing less than the introduction of new objects of knowledge and new theoretical models that seek to upset or at the very least undermine the prevailing paradigmatic indigenous norms. In this article, the authors seek to demystify the complexities of “indigeneity” and “autochthony”, and shed some light on how they impact the preservation of indigenous knowledge, values and norms. The indispensable social values which are deeply rooted in the African tradition, ubuntu and oral tradition are explored to suggest lessons from which church leaders can draw. This, the authors realise through a carefully structured literature review of selected sources. Following the reviewed literature, the authors must align themselves with the sentiments that, if the church in Africa wishes to enjoy relevance and acceptance, it has to approach African problems from an African perspective, liberate itself from the western ‘garbs’ or ‘robes’, and cease viewing everything African as pagan and devilish. Christianity, the authors contend, has a lot to learn, by accessing indigenous knowledge resources from the African people’s culture and oral tradition.