Developing African Christian Leaders for Global Transformation

Kimion Tagwirei ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol.10 No. 5 May  2024 Issue Article 7 pp.194-205
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20241057|   Published online 21st  May, 2024.
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Christianity is growing massively in the Global South, while it is declining in the rest of the world. This has changed the trajectory of missionary work. Africans used to be recipients, but are now benefactors who promote the gospel and lead mega-churches beyond their motherlands. Correspondingly, African Christian leaders ought to develop their capacities. While some of them appreciate the importance of leadership development, as confirmed by publicized leadership seminars and conferences, few African churches have contextualized Christian leadership development frameworks.Most problematically, countless Christian leaders have been the subjects of disturbing controversies, and they age and die without having prepared people to succeed them. By failing to do so, they betray the mission of God and the Church. Although having a call is invaluable for ministry and leadership, continuous leadership development is highly necessary for effectiveness, as ministerial needs grow daily while the capacities of Church leaders are limited. Applying grounded research as theory and engaging with contemporary literature, this paper reviewed African Christian leadership, and drew on leadership development models from the Old and New Testaments, in view of Malphurs and Mancini’s (2004) leadership development framework. This paper identified the necessity of contextualizing leadership development, appraising incumbent leaders, and addressing their situational challenges and needs, and recommends consistent holistic capacity enhancement in correspondence with changing times, contexts, people and places.

 Keywords: Christian Leadership, Mission, Leadership Development, Sustainability, Transformation

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Kimion Tagwirei (PhD) is a Postdoctoral Research fellow at North-West University, The Unit for Reformational Theology and the Development of the South African Society, Faculty of Theology, Potchefstroom, South Africa. He studies African spiritualities and leadership, integral mission for sustainable development, and inclusive wellbeing.

Tagwirei, Kimion. “Developing African Christian Leaders for Global Transformation,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 10 no.5 (2024): 194-205. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20241057

© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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