Study tears into Pentecostal churches
PENTECOSTAL churches are dogged by corruption, greed, lack of responsibility and competition to outdo each other, a development which has contributed to selfishness and formation of splinter churches, a study by a senior pastor has revealed.
Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) Bulawayo province overseer Dr Nathan Nhira who graduated with a second doctorate in Management from Christ University in India, said this in his study titled, “A catechism of Pentecostal schisms and the efficacy of management in the stabilisation of the church in Zimbabwe”. Dr Nhira’s thesis focused on the complexity in separating one church from the other.
In the study, Dr Nhira identified six typologies which he noted were key in splintering Pentecostal churches.
Of interest, is the leadership perspective which he said carried a plethora of inadequacies, reflecting elements of greed and abuse of power. In the past few years Zimbabwe has seen a mushrooming of Pentecostal churches led by charismatic prophets.
“Clearly, matters of immaturity, ignorance, self-serving interests and motivations, and acts of corruption, lack of responsibility, discipline, transparency and accountability are tearing the church apart. Commercialisation of the gospel is now rampant, resulting in personal enrichment, driven by greed rather than call to serve. Ministries compete to outdo each other through prophecy, healing, miracles, signs and wonders.”
Dr Nhira said management was another perspective which was undermining the operations of the Pentecostal church citing that inadequate control systems, lack of formal organisational structures, issues of conflicting constitution and policies among others continue to affect the church.
“Indeed the crisis of the thesis of the schisms seems borne by the management perspective. Lack of systematic management protocols, absence of strategic and operational skills, resulting in weak governance and poor leadership proved to be the church’s Achilles heel and its most fragile link. There is perceived poor training at theological institutions which lack depth in practical theology, and there is general skills flight and fright generating bad luck, confusions and misunderstanding culminating in fractions, tensions and conflicts.”
In Africa and even across the globe, a number of churches have been breaking from their parental organisations, splitting to form their own wings, a situation which has been directly as a result of leadership and management issues.
Dr Nhira’s study evaluated Value Based Church Leadership Model and a Triangulated Church Management Model, infusing and integrating transformational leadership, corporate governance and management protocols as important aspects of problem solutions.
Apart from being a church leader, Dr Nhira is also a non-executive director of Zimplow Holdings Limited, T N Holdings Ltd and Rubber Products Manufacturers Limited, among other businesses. His latest academic achievements pits him among some of the most degreed people in the world following his 13th educational acquisition in his academics.
Dr Nhira also holds another PhD in Business Administration from Calvary University in the United Kingdom. Apart from the two PhDs, Dr Nhira also holds a Masters of Science Degree (MSc) in Strategic Management from the University of Derby in the UK, Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Charles Stuart University in Australia, Masters in Theology from Visions University in the US. He also holds an array of diplomas in areas such as industrial engineering and leadership development.