Abstract:
This article focusses on women and the organisational leadership structures of the Apostolic
Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe. The aim is to identify the roles, practices and contributions
of women to the developmental agenda in the church. The AFM in Zimbabwe identifies
leadership positions in their various assemblies as pastor (mufundisi), elder (muvhangeri), deacon
(muparidzi) and lay worker (mubati). From these ranks, the provincial and national leadership is
chosen. The access to and participation of women in these offices and leadership positions will
be investigated to ascertain their input to the development of the church and perception of
women in the society. The article discusses the mechanisms for the election of leadership in the
AFM in Zimbabwe. It analyses leadership succession and leadership roles within the AFM in
Zimbabwe from the perspective of gender equity and the involvement (or lack thereof) of
women in policy-making, decision-making and the management of the church. Four aspects of
the Exploratory Descriptive Normative Action research (EDNA) model were utilised from a
practical theology perspective. The article shows that women do not have access to top leadership
positions in the AFM in Zimbabwe even though there are no explicit policies that regulate their
exclusion. It highlights their contribution to the development of the church despite this exclusion
and engages critically with the unspoken assumption that women are not fit to take up the
presidium offices and develop the AFM. The article finds that unquestioned patriarchal discourse
contributes to women’s invisibility, which results in their not being taken into consideration
when choices are made to elect people for higher leadership positions in the church.
Description:
This research is part of the
project, ‘Gender Studies and
Practical Theology Theory
Formation’, directed by Prof.
Dr Yolanda Dreyer, Department
of Practical Theology, Faculty
of Theology and Religion,
University of Pretoria.
